When it comes to pay, anyone who has ever lived the life will relate to my next statement.
As a 2nd Lt., you will say when I make 1st, I will finally have money, then when you make it you will say when I make Capt, I will finally have money. This will go on for your entire career, and end with when I retire.
DO NOT GET ME WRONG...because Bullet and I are conservative financially, the AF gave us the opportunity for me to stay at home with the kids, but we also did not go on yrly vacations. We lived very comfortably, but we did sacrifice. We owned our Honda for 11 yrs, but because we did that Bullet was able to buy his corvette. It should be noted that he had the beater car and I always had a new one (never more than 4 yo). We never bought homes that were so overpriced we knew the military could not buy in the neighborhood. I never went into the local WalMart or Target without running into my friends and even the Wing King's wife! Heck, the best source of shopping is actually on base and it is not the BX...it is the THRIFT SHOP! (Go back to curtain rods to understand)
You will never be a millionaire on military pay, and that includes having flight pay, even when the enlisted believe you make a million + flight pay.
That being said, you will be able to live a very nice life, and honestly the pay should be a non-player. How many people in this country can say they lived all across the globe. People still to this day come in my house, and say "Oh that's neat where did you get that?" I answer I got it when we lived in England, Alaska, Kansas, etc. I never missed not taking yrly vacations, because where we lived allowed me to experience it without paying for it....Think about it, people spend thousands of dollars to visit the UK for 2 weeks or Alaska, you get it for free!
When you go AD your new family (AF) will teach you how to make the buck go further. The military understands that the pay is low, that is why the BX/PX/NX exists, but the commissary, the Class 6 (alcohol), Movie theater, Gym, golf course, bowling alley, MWR, O'Club, etc exists. If you elect not to use these places it is truly your loss. These places will stretch your dollars further than you can imagine.
For example...MWR typically has Auto hobby shop, where you can get your oil changed much less than in town. They typically have a framing shop, where you can get prints framed at nominal cost, and if you take the class, you only pay for the supplies. They have an outdoor rec, where you can rent campers. You can get discounted tickets to amusement parks. Space A is also a great thing, but you need the time freedom to really use it. The golf courses are great and cheap. For Bullets retirement we paid 175 for a round with carts and that was for 18 people. You can't find that on the economy for a private course....of course the joke is the AF builds the runway 1st, O'Club 2nd, and golf course 3rd
As I said your pay won't be incredible, and yes, you have that medical, it really comes down to how you utilize the perks that will stretch those dollars.
One other thing...going back to buying a home...Let's use the DC 1500 BAH. This amount is not taxable, in other words the govt does not acknowledge it, but the mtg companies do. You buy a home with a 1300 mtg (under the 1500 BAH, which you will get). You make according to the IRS @33K, however, you get to knock off 15K for your mtg. Your taxable income is now at 18K, even though you really made 55K. HUGE HUGE HUGE.
The other tip, always check out the residency benefits for the state you are assigned to. For example, in NC, if you become a resident, and are PCS'd, but your child goes to college in state, you do not pay OOS even if you are now in another state. In FL., they have no state taxes. There will be requirements to prove your resident, but most of the time it comes down to DL, bank account and voter registration.
LASTLY...
MOST IMPORTANT... the military allows you to take advance pay....equaling 1 month. BE VERY CAREFUL. Great to have this lump sum, but remember you will pay for it over the course of a yr and that can hurt. For example, 2700 may be your base pay, now remove fed, state, FICA, etc. and you are at 2000...take the 2700, and you are at 1750. No problem right because you live on base. Take that spanking new car pmt of 500, insurance at 200, cable/phone at 200 and you are at 800, food 250, and you are at 550. Not much more than you are making as a cadet, it can be a tight yr until that is repaid. The smart officers take that to pay off credit cards or car pmts that have interest, some use it to invest in the market. If they use it to pay off credit cards they quickly cut them up. Don't take it as freebie money because if you do, you will go deeper in debt...now you will use it for that 52" plasma, when you had a perfectly good 36".