DobbinsBlythe
11-21-08, 07:19 AM
Ok, so all of us spouses will have to deal with this at one point in an enlistment or another... if not SEVERAL times. I'm by no means a know it all on this subject but I've found a lot of things helpful.
1st thing. Plan your projected move date and get a calendar if you don't already have one! Get yourself prepared. Don't wait till the last minute b/c you'll be swimmin' in up crap creek. Usually they give you orders six months out (if your monitor is nice and Admin doesn't sit on them :D )
2nd, find TMO. TMO is the Travel Management Office... it could be titled something on different bases. Basically TMO arranges to have your things packed up, shipped, moved, stored.. etc. They can also talk to you about moving yourself (a DITY or do it yourself move) or even a Partial DITY (When you have the movers move basically everything, and you take what you need in your car--you get paid for the weight you take in your car so don't pass this one up.)
3rd. MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHAT KIND OF MONEY YOU HAVE, HOW MUCH YOU HAVE TO SAVE, and WHAT ENTITLEMENTS YOU GET!
This last part is REALLY important. When you move, if you move to a house, remember you'll be paying 1st month's rent... a security deposit equivalent to it, background check fees/application fees, possibly new appliances, pet deposits, etc. I can't tell you how many new people to this base I've seen come in completely unprepared after having orders for 6 months. One guy came in from overseas with a foreign national spouse and two children... had NO money on any sort of plastic form of payment. No car, only cash. (How many hotels let you reserve a room on cash? Not even TLF--temporary lodging facilities. Much less, rental car if you need it, moving truck if you need it.. etc)
Money is everything when you move.
Here are some things to consider in regard to money when you move:
1. You get DLA every time you move. DLA is a Dislocation Allowance. The chart is located on the perdiem site:
http://perdiem.hqda.pentagon.mil/perdiem/dla.html
DLA is not paid until you actually move and report in (and it usually takes about 60 days to finally receive all the money from your move...sometimes)
You CAN REQUEST ADVANCE DLA!!!!!!!!! (notice the exclamation points? This is important). For an E4 with dependants this year.. that's about 1800 bucks. I'd say that's important to have BEFORE you move so you don't incurr as MANY out of pocket expenses for the move.
2. Hotels... You pay for hotels up front. It's not free. You get reimbursed later (see above where I said it takes a while to get your money!!!!!!)
3. Don't be an idiot and plan on living at your new duty station for a month before reporting in. BAH is different everywhere.
4. Save all your receipts while you travel. Hotel, Gas, Food, Water, Oil changes (especially if you move across country), basically anything move-related. On your spouse's orders, it tells you what all he/she's entitled to as far as how many days of travel is allotted. During those days, you get everything reimbursed. REIMBURSED. (I can't stress that enough)
5. GOVERNMENT TRAVEL CARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok look, out of pocket expenses during a PCS can amount to THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS of dollars. If you have a government travel card, it can help with your move. You will be allowed to use it for hotels, gas, food, all those travel related expenses above. (Not for a new pair of Jimmy Chu's.... >.<) It will at least help with the move. Remember you have to PAY IT BACK IN FULL THE NEXT MONTH so don't spend all your cash. And don't rely on your reimbursements either--especially if it might take longer than 60 days. If it takes longer than 60 days and they keep giving your Marine the run around.. speak up. A Marine Spouse's voice is MUCH louder than any Brass wants to hear. Trust me.
Make sure your Marine has his new chain of command and contact info for them.
That's most of what I can think of this morning.. I'll add more later.
OH! If you're interested in checklists for PCS moves, hit me up via PM.
I hope you find this useful. If anyone else has USEFUL advice, please share!
God Bless!!!!
1st thing. Plan your projected move date and get a calendar if you don't already have one! Get yourself prepared. Don't wait till the last minute b/c you'll be swimmin' in up crap creek. Usually they give you orders six months out (if your monitor is nice and Admin doesn't sit on them :D )
2nd, find TMO. TMO is the Travel Management Office... it could be titled something on different bases. Basically TMO arranges to have your things packed up, shipped, moved, stored.. etc. They can also talk to you about moving yourself (a DITY or do it yourself move) or even a Partial DITY (When you have the movers move basically everything, and you take what you need in your car--you get paid for the weight you take in your car so don't pass this one up.)
3rd. MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHAT KIND OF MONEY YOU HAVE, HOW MUCH YOU HAVE TO SAVE, and WHAT ENTITLEMENTS YOU GET!
This last part is REALLY important. When you move, if you move to a house, remember you'll be paying 1st month's rent... a security deposit equivalent to it, background check fees/application fees, possibly new appliances, pet deposits, etc. I can't tell you how many new people to this base I've seen come in completely unprepared after having orders for 6 months. One guy came in from overseas with a foreign national spouse and two children... had NO money on any sort of plastic form of payment. No car, only cash. (How many hotels let you reserve a room on cash? Not even TLF--temporary lodging facilities. Much less, rental car if you need it, moving truck if you need it.. etc)
Money is everything when you move.
Here are some things to consider in regard to money when you move:
1. You get DLA every time you move. DLA is a Dislocation Allowance. The chart is located on the perdiem site:
http://perdiem.hqda.pentagon.mil/perdiem/dla.html
DLA is not paid until you actually move and report in (and it usually takes about 60 days to finally receive all the money from your move...sometimes)
You CAN REQUEST ADVANCE DLA!!!!!!!!! (notice the exclamation points? This is important). For an E4 with dependants this year.. that's about 1800 bucks. I'd say that's important to have BEFORE you move so you don't incurr as MANY out of pocket expenses for the move.
2. Hotels... You pay for hotels up front. It's not free. You get reimbursed later (see above where I said it takes a while to get your money!!!!!!)
3. Don't be an idiot and plan on living at your new duty station for a month before reporting in. BAH is different everywhere.
4. Save all your receipts while you travel. Hotel, Gas, Food, Water, Oil changes (especially if you move across country), basically anything move-related. On your spouse's orders, it tells you what all he/she's entitled to as far as how many days of travel is allotted. During those days, you get everything reimbursed. REIMBURSED. (I can't stress that enough)
5. GOVERNMENT TRAVEL CARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok look, out of pocket expenses during a PCS can amount to THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS of dollars. If you have a government travel card, it can help with your move. You will be allowed to use it for hotels, gas, food, all those travel related expenses above. (Not for a new pair of Jimmy Chu's.... >.<) It will at least help with the move. Remember you have to PAY IT BACK IN FULL THE NEXT MONTH so don't spend all your cash. And don't rely on your reimbursements either--especially if it might take longer than 60 days. If it takes longer than 60 days and they keep giving your Marine the run around.. speak up. A Marine Spouse's voice is MUCH louder than any Brass wants to hear. Trust me.
Make sure your Marine has his new chain of command and contact info for them.
That's most of what I can think of this morning.. I'll add more later.
OH! If you're interested in checklists for PCS moves, hit me up via PM.
I hope you find this useful. If anyone else has USEFUL advice, please share!
God Bless!!!!