Bringing a motorcycle to Japan

[villanelle]

I am told that it doesn't work like BAH. You only get whatever your rent is, up to the max. No pocketing the rest, so you might as well live in a place that costs the full amount. You can, however, keep whatever you don't spend of the utilities allowance which I believe is about $900.

 

[MasterBates]

How critical this is depends on how the next round of court goes. I'm just hoping to have the court shenanigans wrapped up before I leave the RAG.

 

[ghost]

How critical this is depends on how the next round of court goes. I'm just hoping to have the court shenanigans wrapped up before I leave the RAG.

COLA and OHA rates. For OHA, the housing allowance is based on your rent. Additionally there is a utility allowance that is in addition to that and you can make some money here. The current utility allowance is about $700 for a single O-3. As long as you don't live in a huge place and run the AC/heat 24 hours a day, you will never approach this. So figure about $1200 a month or so for COLA and plus the $700 and is you should be pocketing enough money. Both of these numbers change constantly based on the exchange rate.

 

[MasterBates]

Thanks Ghost.

I just wanted to make sure I would not be eating Ramen and drinking water only for 3 years.

 

[MasterBates]

Am I understanding it right where the MIHA is sort of like DLA, and a 1 time thing to pay deposits, get utils turned on, etc?

 

[ghost]

I am not sure what that is supposed to cover and when they pay it. When you rent a place in Japan, you need to pay four months rent up front. The rent, a fee the land lord, a fee to the agent that you used and a security deposit. When you first move in, the government will give you enough money for three of these. You have to pay the deposit, but you should get it back when you move out. It is fun when you pay all of these since nobody takes checks there and you need to get around 5 thousand dollars cash from the bank.


But you will be eating ramen ... It's a real meal there (and good).

 

[MasterBates]

Okay, so I'll need ~$5k to get a place smaller than the Puma, but I'll only need to pay $1250ish of it? The govt' pays me the rest?

 

[ghost]

You can still get DLA when you move there too. Just don't stay in the BOQ too long. I don't remember if I got the MIHA or not. The first paycheck after moving out in town was 5 or 6 thousand more than normal and I woud not have noticed 500 or 600.

 

[ghost]

The housing allowance will give you enough for a 3 or 4 bedroom house if you want that. A one or two bedroom apartment should be easy to get. You should have the money for the deposit, but you can take advanced pay (repay over 12 months) if you need that to cover the deposit. But for rough numbers, 1200 out of pocket sounds about right.

 

[MasterBates]

Thanks. Just wanted to make sure I would not need to be showing up with $5-6k cash on hand or be stuck in the Q.

Now if I can just convince the other 3 guys in my class that "you don't want Japan"...

 

[Pags]

I just wanted to make sure I would not be eating Ramen...

What part of "living in Japan" don't you get?