News 12 at 6 o'clock, August 28, 2008

FORT GORDON, Ga.---Soldiers start out making very little money and Mrs. Petraeus came today to help them take care of what little they might have.

Specialist Albert Durant isn't in any financial trouble and he wants to keep it that way. "Finances are really important to me because they dictate how I get to live my life and how things go," says Durant.

That's why he and close to one hundred other soldiers came to hear Holly Petraeus talk about what the B.B.B.- The Better Business Bureau can do for soldiers like them. "They're very young. They're very inexperienced. They really need a lot of educating," says Mrs. Petraeus.

Educating, on how to make sure they are financially smart. "You don't want to dig yourself in a deep hole that's so difficult to get out of," says Mrs. Petraeus.

Mrs. Petraeus knows how difficult it can be for military families. She's a military wife, married to the general running American forces in Iraq. She showed the crowd her and General Petraeus' first two investments, a car and a foosball table, which was their first piece of furniture.

"I'm just one of many military members who have gone through deployment time and I can certainly understand how difficult it can be to be the one here at home trying to keep things running," says Mrs. Petraeus.

The most important thing Mrs. Petraeus is trying to get across to soldiers is how to avoid scams. "Just because something has great graphics and looks reputable, doesn't mean that it is," says Mrs. Petraeus.

Mrs. Petraeus does have some advice that can help everyone. "The best thing you can do is just sit down and make a list of all your expenses every month and see where you're money is going and are there places you can cut back," says Mrs. Petraeus.

Specialist Durant also has some advice for his fellow colleagues. "Make sure you read the fine print and don't try to overspend money that you don't have," says Durant.

A good lesson, these soldiers won't have to learn the hard way.

Mrs. Petraeus told me she's seen her husband three times in the last eighteen months. We did ask her about her husband, the general, and she politely said she was not here today to talk about him.