Soldiers fear loss of cost-of-living allowance

My heart wouldn't break. I never got it.

Me either. You know the ones who'll belly ache the loudest? The same ones that spend thier CUA on stuff other than uniform upkeep.

PLD payments going towards a 5th wheel or 3000 sq ft house. Yeah, some will be bitchin.

I don't get it, never have. They joys of living in "cheap" Petawawa. Should still be getting desolation pay up here.

Even if we lose our LDA, I wont be crying, but what will burn my bridges is if they go ahead with an LTA cut. Not a fan of the idea where they post me thousands of km away from my whole family, and kill the program which effectively covers my travel expenses once per year to go home.

I'd be more unhappy about the LTA cut too.

But with being posted to Chilliwack and home being the Okanagan Valley, I never got anything anyway!

I never got it because when I was Reg Force, I didn't take a cost move. As a Reservist, I don't get it unless I take a move. Sucked when my LS was making as much as I was as a PO2 all those years ago when they brought it in..

Got no pity as a class B guy on shore without sea pay and with no PLD when I hear some CPO2 or PO1 bitch about how poor he'll be.

I went from the west coast to southern Ontario where my PLD dropped from $800 to $100, to say it hurt would be an understatement but after 18 months I have learned to survive without it. If they get rid of PLD it should be done gradually not all at once, especially in areas where it is a significant sum.

On another note I was reading in the Globe and Mail that it was a surprise to some members that they were not supposed to make financial decisions based on PLD, I dont know about them but I remember reading that in messages when it first came out, not really much of a surprise....

There were a number of articles about soldiers moving to Edmonton back around 2005 or so, with many complaining they could not afford housing due to skyrocketing prices here. As far as I understand it, isn't that what the PLD is supposed to pay for? Higher costs of living in certain parts of the country?

I have to agree with Lewis Mackenzie on this one - this is chump change when compared to the whole defence budget and if the DND wants to cut costs so badly, maybe they should focus more on project overruns - like the Chinook acquisition which has ballooned to almost double its original estimated price.

This is old news. In 2008, we were told it was being phased out over a few years starting in the Capital Region. Like someone else posted, the ones whining are the ones who used it to buy big boy toys, etc.

I would be more pissed off at the loss of the LTA.

They did away with CUA 7-10 years ago. Now its a point system.

I was advised by my clerk not to use my LTA too early this year because they may claw it back in 2012, and that they probably wont know if it will be or not until the end of the year (if it's after Christmas, then it'll be useless to me anyways).

As for the points system, at 4 years in I still have all the DEUs, PT gear, etc from Logistics Unicorp that I was initially issued in St. Jean. Waaaaay to much money is wasted on that shit if people are maxing out their points every year.

They did away with CUA 7-10 years ago. Now its a point system.

Typo, "spend" should have been "spent" and "thier" should have been "their"

Where have I been? I always thought my 'cost of living allowance' just meant I got extra ammo in a hot zone.

Yeah I suppose that's true. I guess the Cpl's/Pte living in 920 a month PMQ's with 3 kids and can't afford to live on the economy MUST be spending all there extra monies on the jacked up pickup trucks, home theaters, etc. You know its the I never had it so why should they/ I was never trained that way why should they/ It was this way when I went through so it should still be that way attitudes that are holding back the CF and causing guys to leave after 3-5 years in.

I am the sole income provider in my family, with 3 children. We can't afford child care to the tune of 600 a child a month. I got turned down for child care subsidy, ironically because my 675 PLD bumps my salary into the too much range. Now that its being included separately from pay maybe that will change something maybe not.