Save Money on your PCS Move with these Tips
Moving is not cheap, or easy. Planning ahead with a budget when you are moving yourself, and when you are traveling on your PCS can help you save money by being creative to make it fit the budget. Save money further with these tips to help you stay within that budget!
DO-It-Yourself/Personally Procured Move (DITY/PPM)
Borrow Equipment
Ask on local social media groups or throughout your neighborhood if anyone has dolly to borrow to help you move boxes in larger stacks than one at a time. You can save the rental fee, and save time with moving more goods at once.
Free Boxes
During peak PCS time, there are usually posts for free boxes on base neighborhood and Nextdoor applications. Keep your eye out for them to score some for your PCS. You can start packing away holiday décor in preparation for your summer move now.
Use What You Have
Use blankets and towels to wrap precious items like framed pictures in lieu of packing material. Just make sure to not pack the box too tightly as this can lead to items breaking. Use kitchen towels as stuffing in hollow vases or around corners of dish boxes. Washcloths make great stuffing in loose corners of boxes allowing them to stand up to stacking in the UHAUL or POD. Wrapping paper can be great packing material for dishes too.
Price Compare
When you are looking for moving companies to go with to ship your belongings, or packing materials to purchase, don’t forget to price compare. It is easy to go with the first place that can handle your move, but it may not be the cheapest and may not save you the money. Call around to multiple locations.
Reimbursement
Don’t forget that DITY/PPM moves are now reimbursed at 100%. This means that if you move yourself, the government will pay you 100% of what it would pay a moving company to move your belongings. This means you don’t just get reimbursed for what packing materials you purchase or what you pay for the POD. It also means you need to stick within that limit to make sure you aren’t spending over what you will be reimbursed.
PCS Trip
While you may not be moving your own home goods, you can save money while on the PCS move itself with these tips.
Stay On Base
Staying at military hotels usually can save you money in comparison to regular hotel rates. Any DOD members can stay at other service branch bases so don’t forget to look up Air Force, Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard bases along your route. Ask about TDY housing when you check in. Some bases have homes assigned for TDY assignments. This means your family is in a home with laundry facilities and a full kitchen for the price of one hotel room. This TDY housing is sometimes near a park to let your littles run around while you prepare a fully cooked meal with ingredients from the Commissary. This is is a nice break in the trip monotony of take out and smaller hotel rooms.
Don’t Forget your Per Diem
Even before you leave your home base, you can move to a hotel. You can do this for a day or two before you move into your new home too. This is often cheaper than paying daily rent and you can get these hotel fees reimbursed as they are part of PCS expenses. That’s budget wise!
Hit up the Grocery Store
The grocery store can save you money on meals on the move, and for packing materials. Prepared meals like salads, sandwiches in addition to snacks of fruit and vegetables will help you fill up in a healthy way and keep your wallet fuller. Consider plastic bags and paper bags as packing material for boxes, and to help divide out things for packing on the trip.
