A few things come to mind, the short term of figuring out housing, and the long term of financial responsibility.

Housing: Depending on your post, this may vary.  My first duty station was in Germany (Wiesbaden aka Clay Kaserne) were single officers weren’t authorized to live on post due to space.  So upon getting to my duty station, I was issued a Statement of Nonavailability and was promptly booted out of the housing office to find an apartment.  To that regard, I recommend AHRN’s website.  I’ve used it for my PCSing to great success.   For BOLC, I was put into Army lodging (AG BOLC is only 2.5 months long).  For my classmates where there wasn’t room at any lodging on post, then they were issued a statement of nonavailability and then given a list of hotels they could check in at that would honor the statement.

Financial Responsibility:  Look, you’ve already said it, it’s weird after graduation realizing that you don’t have literally anything to live off or out of when do you finally find a brick and mortar place to sleep in.  The bottom line up front is that you need to make a logical and financially responsible decision.  Yes, you’ll be “making 2LT pay” and that’s more than what you’re probably used to.  However, listen to the advice I once had a mentor tell me: Always strive to live the pay grade below what you’re at.  So, yeah, as a 2LT be as mindful of money just as you were (or should have been) as a Firstie. Realistically, you might be saying, okay, sure, but I will have more in the bank than that, so what gives? What gives is this: You’ll have a deposit for an apartment, utilities, groceries, etc. to start paying and that can be a shock of what stuff costs when you aren’t used to it.  My recommendation is to live frugally the first few months and then when you feel comfortable with a baseline, expand from there.  When it comes to getting furniture and kitchen dishes and a table to eat at and appropriate civilian attire (see one of your peer’s post on first duty station),  I simply recommend that you prioritize: what matters to you so much that you are willing to pay for quality time now (pick 1 or 2, maybe 3 items), and what can you live with something that simply works until such time that it needs replacing (most everything else)?  Also, do your homework and shop around, that will help you be able to know if the product you’re eyeing makes sense to invest in or if you’ll be replacing it 6 months.

I personally bought a bed as my second big post-graduation purchase. (My first was a laptop that wasn’t my cadet laptop!)  My logic: I was tied of sleeping on government mattresses that doubled as a storage space that I barely fit on anyway due to my height. This really mattered to me, so I invested in it.  I did my research and shopped in stores and took my time.  Since I bought a new bed, I went frugal on dishes and got a standard line from the PX (ex: Corelle), as well as some cheap pans/pots + 1 cast iron skillet.  Cooking and eating healthy is something that I deeply value, so I bought those right away, but stayed frugal. (Also, consider the financial burden of always eating out.  Buying groceries and meal planning is significantly more financially responsible. Not that you can’t ever eat out, but again think of that baseline of expenses and then see what room to maneuver you have.)  A few years later (maybe 2?) I saw a set of high-end pots and pans miraculously on sale in the corner of the PX; my husband and I decided a few years after graduation that it was worth the investment to graduate to pans that could go from stove top to oven without melting, which again came back to eating healthy and meal planning.   My couches were purchased from Ikea, a sort of middle of the road decision based on geographical circumstances.  I have a dining table that was on sale at a department store, which included 4 chairs.    So Where am I now, 5 years post-graduation with these things? I still have the same bed I bought (which is probably nearing the end of its lifespan, a timeline I am financially comfortable with), I still have the same laptop (just with a few innards upgraded about 4 months ago), I still love my cast iron skillet as well as my PX-deal pans that I do an extra clean on every few months to maintain their lifespan, the Ikea couches are still kicking (although I’m thinking it’ll be time in the next year or so to rotate them out, depending on how they survive our next PCS ), and I love my Macy’s sale table in my kitchen and it fits in a small apartment and house square-footage.   By balancing my decisions of big and small purchases, I am able to invest in quality of products that suit my lifestyle and also have money in the bank for when I need it.   On a final note of financial responsibility, get a credit card and use it as your primary form of payments, and then pay it off like clockwork.  Mine is from my bank that I have set up to pay automatically every month; it helps build financial credibility.  Credit Cards are also an extra layer of security to your checking account.