Im in red bluff california and my husband left for basic about 3 weeks ago, and we have a joint account all the money if suppose to go to and i got his first pay and it was only 400 dollar...??? i was told i would get seperation pay and 800 ish dollars for living expenses. i just got laid off and now have NO income comming in but his...who do i contact to make sure i get that pay? i literally. cannot make it without that money. is there someone i call. i try and contact his recruiter but she now doesnt answer my calls. im feeling really scarred and tricked please help if you know anything.

3 weeks and he's already been paid once?? WOW, that was really fast--I'm seriously impressed!

I dunno what rank your husband went in as, but if he's lower enlisted, he's not going to make squat. Pay at lower ranks isn't designed for couples/families. Even as an E3, minus taxes and junk, he's still looking at only about $500/pay period.
All pay is dished out on the 1st and 15th. Separation pay is at 30 days, paid on pay days.

No one's 'tricked' you, they just didn't explain to you how things work.

The fact that there was pay within 3 weeks is incredible. Normally it can take up to 6 weeks for the first pay to appear. Now saying that most likely the reasoning behind it being lower than what is can be possible is because of an advance he had to take to get all necessities when he got there up to $250.

Pay would be prorated, 15th's pay is for the 1st to the 15th, 1st's pay is for the 16th to the EOM. If he went in as an E1 then his pay would be $1294 before deductions per month. Deductions will drop it down to around $800/$850, meaning around $400 per payday. With his advance it would be only around $200/$250. Separation pay will not start until he has been gone for 30 days or longer.

Deductions are:
Federal & State Tax
Social Security
Medicare
SGLI ($27)
FSGLI ($7)
AFRH ($.50)
Advance Pay (up to $300)

There is no living expense pay, there is BAH (housing allowance) and that is included in his Base pay, it is to pay for rent/mortgage and utilities.

No one tricked you, you just were not explained everything.

BAH is in addition to base pay when married. Rates are different based on the zip code of the dependent. As the others have said the first few checks do not include all items, but they will catch up.