As an O-4 over 18 years her base pay is about $6500 a month. Add another $1500 or so for housing and subsistance and she's making $96,000 a year. They shouldn't need beans and rice.
Not at 96,000 a year they wouldn’t likely need beans and rice . . . but debt can chew you up regardless of income. My point was general, people that do illegal or immoral things “for the children” have lost their balance and often end up hurting the children as well as themselves.