They received $30 a month and $20 had to be sent home.
Yep, enough money for cigarettes and maybe a beer or two and not much else. Not enough money to get into trouble with. The men who participated were likely democrat voters for the rest of their lives; the CCC made such a positive impact on most of them.
It also allowed them to slip into military discipline fairly easily when WWII came up since they were fit, used to taking orders, wearing army uniforms, and living in army tents.