I volunteered at the end of 1971 after beating the draft, the pay was still very low, but improved.
A married PFC with kids and 3 years in service, and collecting combat pay, is going to be making a sizable income and benefits package today.
It is one reason that single moms like to enlist, it is quite a career today.
My pay was about $90 something for just about two years. The big raise didn’t come until I passed that.
When I mustered out in 76, my base pay was about $600/month as an E-5. My off base housing in England ate up over 1/3 of that right off the bat. Rates and utilities nearly got another third. The car, insurance and food got the rest.
There was a potato shortage when we were there and they got really expensive. My wife used to go out with the baby and pram for a stroll and she followed the tractor pulled potato carts going through town cobblestone streets because she just KNEW some of them potatoes would fall off. That actually saved us a good bit of money....that and 25 cent packs of macaroni and cheese and cheap hot dogs. That last year there was the worst of all eight years.