The one about moving
So, moving is apart of military life. Especially if you stay in for more than one enlistment. We all know that.
Let's talk a little about it.
We've moved 5 times (I'm including the initial moves, and I say moves because we were moving things from two different locations when The Husband was first stationed in 29 Palms).
We've done DITY (Do IT yourself) moves every time. Only once has one been totally out of our pocket because I moved back to Vegas to finish school.
I loathe DITY moves. There is nothing I hate more than a DITY move.
Contrary to what you will hear over, and over, and OVER again... you do NOT make money when doing a DITY. On the move from NC to CA, we broke even, barely. On the move from Vegas to 29 during the husband's first enlistment, we lost money.
The DITY does not make you money. The military does not give you money on top of your normal expenses to move yourself.
HOWEVER...
You are entitled to something called a dislocation allowance (or DLA). THIS is what will make you your money. When the gov't PCSs you, you are entitled to DLA. This is for time, travel costs like food and hotel, and for the general inconvenience of having to pack up and move your life. Be sure to look into this. Especially if you are PCSing more than 500 miles away. However, you are NOT eligible for DLA on your first PCS. i.e. When you or your spouse first enlist and are sent to your first duty station.
Also... when tax time comes you cannot claim your move on your taxes if you do a DITY and get reimbursed for it. Do not do that.
For any other questions feel free to refer to the TMO Website.
Let's talk a little about it.
We've moved 5 times (I'm including the initial moves, and I say moves because we were moving things from two different locations when The Husband was first stationed in 29 Palms).
We've done DITY (Do IT yourself) moves every time. Only once has one been totally out of our pocket because I moved back to Vegas to finish school.
I loathe DITY moves. There is nothing I hate more than a DITY move.
Contrary to what you will hear over, and over, and OVER again... you do NOT make money when doing a DITY. On the move from NC to CA, we broke even, barely. On the move from Vegas to 29 during the husband's first enlistment, we lost money.
The DITY does not make you money. The military does not give you money on top of your normal expenses to move yourself.
HOWEVER...
You are entitled to something called a dislocation allowance (or DLA). THIS is what will make you your money. When the gov't PCSs you, you are entitled to DLA. This is for time, travel costs like food and hotel, and for the general inconvenience of having to pack up and move your life. Be sure to look into this. Especially if you are PCSing more than 500 miles away. However, you are NOT eligible for DLA on your first PCS. i.e. When you or your spouse first enlist and are sent to your first duty station.
Also... when tax time comes you cannot claim your move on your taxes if you do a DITY and get reimbursed for it. Do not do that.
For any other questions feel free to refer to the TMO Website.
Why do you continue doing DITY moves if you don't make any extra money and they are so much more stressful??
ReplyDeleteSorry. Blogger went down right as I got this comment and then I went out to dinner with a friend followed by dropping off dinner for The Husband at work.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question: A mix of ignorance and necessity.
When we first moved to 29, we were young and new to the Marines and under the impression that we would make a ton of money. That was what we heard after all. We didn't.
The move back to Vegas was voluntary so we didn't rate any repayment for that.
When The Husband PCSd to North Carolina, all of our belongings were in Vegas. The military would not move our things from Vegas, only 29 Palms. So that was a DITY. Plus, if we would be staying in NC, we would have to pay out of pocket at one point to finish moving all of our belongings to NC when I finished school. The Husband didn't take all of our stuff to NC since I still needed some of it in Vegas. We decided to wait that one out to see if I would be going to NC or if he would be coming back to the west coast.
When he came back to the west coast, like I explained above, some of our stuff was in Vegas and the military would not move stuff from Vegas.
As for the stressful part, moving in general is stressful. DITY or not. I should have said "I loathe moving" instead of "I loathe DITYs".