Did you set financial goals earlier this year only to have a permanent change of station (PCS) threaten to derail your family’s budget? You’re not alone. Other MilSpouses have learned how to keep their family finances intact during a move — and so can you! Here is valuable advice from their experiences.

PCS-proof Your Finances

by Maria

“While the government provides relocation allowances to help cover the costs of a PCS, those allowances may not be enough to cover all of the expenses you will incur.” To keep your financial house in order, keep these tips in mind:

• One way to PCS-proof your finances is to have money set aside to help cover unreimbursed expenses you encounter to move or set up your new home. Many MilSpouses refer to this as a PCS fund. A great way to boost this fund is by selling unused items you don’t plan to take with you.
• Have a healthy PCS fund to cover the cost of lodging, food, and incidentals. Even if you’ll get reimbursed, it’s nice to have discretionary funds set aside to pay off credit card balances or pay for utility deposits, new bathroom rugs, curtains, etc.
• Rebuild your PCS fund as soon as you arrive at your new duty station to give yourself ample time to save up for your next move.
• In addition to a PCS fund, build an emergency fund with a minimum of $1,000 but strive for 3-6 months of living expenses for your family. This will come in handy as unexpected expenses arise.
• Use these two worksheets to help you estimate your costs for the move.

More tips on PCS finances from MilSpouse Kelly

House Hunting

by Valerie

“As soon as we find out where we are PCSing, I rush to research everything I can about houses for sale, houses for rent and floor plans on base. It’s always hard to choose if we should live on or off base as both options have a lot of positives and negatives. For me what it comes down to is how far our money goes off base versus how much space we will get on base.”

More tips for house hunting

Moving OCONUS – Plan Ahead

by Ellyn

“One thing we were not prepared for was two and a half months in a hotel without any of our household items. The military did pay for the hotel, but we had to pay out of pocket to compensate for everything else such as our meals out, our rental car and other basic household goods. Most of these household goods were items that we purchased previously, but our shipment took between two and three months to arrive. My advice for future moves is to set a daily budget and have that money saved ahead of time — especially for time you’ll be staying at a hotel. Other things that we found important to budget for were contracts (such as a new phone plan, internet plan, etc.) and to have money saved to replace items that are damaged during the move.”

More tips on OCONUS finances

Benefits of a Personally Procured Move Across the Country

by Robyn

“Last spring, my dear husband came home with orders for a cross-country move. We chose to do a full Personally Procured (or do-it-yourself) Move. This would give us the flexibility we needed to make a door-to-door move, avoid waiting on delivery appointments, make a little extra money and have more control. As an incentive for conducting a PPM, you are allowed to receive 100% of the Government Constructed Cost (GCC) for a partial or full PPM. The GCC is the cost the government would have paid for the move and/or storage done by a Transportation Service Provider hired by the government. The upside is that you get to receive the payment and keep anything that is left over minus taxes! It is a lot of work, but it can pay off in the end.”

More tips on Personally Procured Moves

Affordable Family Adventures During a PCS Move

by Sonia

“Back in 2014 we had our first family PCS from Florida to Alaska. We did this with our 15-month-old, 6-year-old and our dog. We stayed at places with free breakfast and also made PB&J sandwiches for lunch to save money. Additionally, we only went out to eat for dinner and tried our best to keep everything under $50. We also saved money by staying with some of our closest friends on the way.”

More PCS adventures: Check out your local Morale, Welfare & Recreation office for budget-friendly things to do as you move, from discounted lodging and events to free access to national parks and museums.

Pets and PCS

by Hoai

“Having pets in the military presents a unique circumstance, and military families must consider the added cost of taking pets with them every time they move. When we moved to Colorado from Georgia, we had to keep our dog in mind when looking for hotels along the way as well as factor in hotel pet fees that added up to several hundred dollars. We are moving overseas now and thankfully, since our dog is small, he can fly in the cabin with us. Large dogs must fly as baggage or cargo and based on my research, that can cost anywhere from $1,000 to $7,000 per pet.”

More on moving with pets: The new Pet Travel Allowance provides reimbursement for costs related to relocation of one household pet during a permanent change of station move.

For more information and resources before, during, and after your move, check out our PCS page.

Mandi Moynihan is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional who has been with MilSpouse Money Mission since its inception. She also served in the Army and is the spouse of a retired service member.

MilSpouse Money Mission® is a Department of Defense resource that offers FREE personal financial education specifically geared toward military spouses. There is a Money Ready guide for various stages of financial life, a MilLife Milestones section to help you through the big moments in your military journey, a blog, spouse videos, quizzes, calculators and more!