HPRC's PCS series—Part 2: Moving your stuff

By: Sarah Steward, MS*

HPRC staff often hear from military families looking for tips to make their PCSs simpler and less stressful. Sarah Steward, an Education Specialist at CHAMP, recently asked military spouses Eva, Nathan, Tammy, and Jacky for some smart ways to get organized, prep for PCS, and move your household goods.

Sarah: A reader asked, “This is my first PCS and I don’t even know where to start. Now that we have our orders, what’s the next step to get all the moving plans set? Should I take an inventory of my entire house or is that just extra work?”

Eva: Your Military Service Member should set up most of this. Have a general plan for when you’d like to move and cross your fingers you get close to that day. Don’t inventory your house, but go around with a camera and try to get good videos of all your nicer stuff. This is especially helpful if you need to file a claim for any damages that happen during the move. And have a game plan for what you want to take with you.

Nathan: We take a very casual approach. We put the bags we’re taking with us and the box of important paperwork (marriage and birth certificates, social security cards, etc.) in the car and let the movers go. If the movers show up to our house tomorrow, we'd be fine.

Tammy: Start researching where you’re going to be living. Figure out if you’ll be living on base or off, which neighborhoods are best, and schools (if needed), so you have a general plan. Just inventory the high-value items. Walk through your house and take a video to show the current condition of each item and that things such as TVs work. Write down serial numbers, model numbers, etc.

Jacky: Breathe. The military does a really good job of taking care of you through this process. Sure, the websites are old and clunky, but the system as a whole is phenomenal. I don’t think you need to inventory everything, but it would be helpful to take some photos. You never know when a box is going to get lost, and some box descriptions tend to be very vague (for example, box size, room where it was packed, and maybe a general description).

Sarah: What should be in your “take-with-you” box—the one that doesn’t get packed or shipped with your other belongings? What are the things you wish you had with you while you were waiting for your stuff to arrive?

Eva: We brought quite a bit with us in the SUV. Bring as much as you can with you, so that you have it (and get paid for it!). There’s not really anything I regret sending with the movers.

Nathan: We keep birth certificates, social security cards, and our marriage certificate with us. We also have a “kitchen box” with pans, dishes, knife, cutting board, and flatware. Otherwise, it's just clothes.

Tammy: Take any paperwork you might need at the other end (pet’s vet records, orders, kids’ medical and school files, and birth and marriage certificates). Bring towels, blankets, wipes, hand soap, a roll of toilet paper, and toys for the kids and pets. Pack a set of plastic dishes, flatware (one item for each family member), a frying pan, a few kitchen utensils, and some spices.

Jacky: Last PCS, we headed to an area that gets hit with hurricanes, so one of my 6 easy-to-load-and-unload totes was full of freeze-dried food and a water purifier. We also brought a set of uniforms, a case with our most important documents, and some mementos that can’t be replaced. If it’s irreplaceable, take it with you.

Sarah: What’s been your experience when the packers/movers are at your house? Should you plan to be there or sleep elsewhere because the house will be a mess? Should you take the kids and pets out of the house for the day?

Eva: Biggest piece of advice for moving day is to closely supervise the inventory list! Normally, I would have done this, but my husband was very relaxed, and I felt self-conscious being really involved. However, the inventory list ended up having a lot of problems, including generic descriptions that made it impossible to tell what was really inside the box and some mislabeled boxes. For instance, we had 6 boxes labeled “kitchen” and 5 “toys,” one of which didn’t arrive—and we still can’t figure out what was in there. Also, I saw lots of damage I don’t think was previously there. I wish I had been on top of the inventory guy as he started to make the list to make sure we agreed on everything. We did the pack and move-out in one day, so we hit the road later that evening (after the movers were done). This definitely made the day stressful, but I also felt a lot better about packing the car fully first thing in the morning, not having the kids get weirded out about our house being torn apart, and not having to deal with air mattresses, etc. ABSOLUTELY send the kids away for the day at least. It’s a really busy day and probably not a great experience for them seeing all their stuff getting thrown around.

Nathan: Movers are tough. Even the best mover will mess things up. We try not to leave anything to chance. If you don’t want it packed, lock it up in your car. If possible, we arrange for someone to watch our kids. Keep an eye on the parts box too. Either pack it yourself or know which box it went into. Movers hate putting the furniture back together and will hide or lose the parts box, so they can't do any reassembly.

Tammy: Get kids and pets out of the house whenever possible. You’ll want to be at the house, so that you can supervise and answer any questions. We normally keep air mattresses, blankets, and towels in a “do not pack” area so we can stay at the house that night. If something doesn’t seem right (for example, the movers are very late or giving you information you didn’t expect), reach out to your move coordinator right away!

Jacky: You have to be there to watch the movers, and that’s a really good idea anyways because those guys will try and say they’ll pack things better when they get to the warehouse, but they won’t. If you can get the kids to a friend’s home or hire a daytime sitter, things will be much easier. I’ve done moves where I had to wrangle 2 kids while monitoring the movers, and it’s a bit much.

Sarah: What are the pros and cons of a do-it-yourself (DITY) move? What about a partial DITY? Or letting the military move you altogether?

Eva: I was really surprised how unorganized the whole military move was. They couldn’t even give us estimates of when our stuff would arrive, so we didn’t really know how or when to schedule our arrival in our new home. And our stuff ended up coming 2 weeks after the “deliver by” date. We did a partial DITY: We filled up our SUV with as much as we could take, including toys, air mattresses, toiletries that movers wouldn’t take, etc. However, next time, I’d strongly consider doing a full DITY to have more control over the whole process. I haven’t quite managed to convince my husband of this yet, so it’s definitely not an easy decision! The advantage of the 2-week late delivery is that they were actually pretty great about reimbursing us for purchases of “necessities,” including a set of patio furniture that we used in the kitchen until our stuff arrived, a stroller, and half the cost of our food. I don’t know if it always goes this well, but I was really surprised how well this part of the process went. On the other hand, I’ve been floored by the slow and painful claims process. We didn’t have any horrible damage, but there were some issues with damaged goods, and the moving company is contesting about half our claims. This has been going on for 5 months, and they’re incredibly slow to communicate with us.

Nathan: We’ve done a partial DITY. It was great because we were able to keep enough clothes and toys with us to live for a few months.

Tammy: I think it all depends on your strengths and what stresses you out. If you’re super organized and don’t mind coordinating the move and reimbursement yourself, you can definitely figure out how to save money or have more control with a DITY move. If you know you’ll be anxious about every detail, let the military do the moving. We always let the military move us because I’d rather let them coordinate everything and just go with the flow. That makes the move easiest on my family, so that’s what we do.

Jacky: You can make some serious money doing a DITY. If the DoD had provided the correct numbers on the cost of my move, I would have profited $20,000 after taxes on the move alone. Plus, if you get a portable moving-and-storage container, you can control how things are packed and have greater peace of mind that they’ll stay in the condition you packed them in until you unpack them. A military mover loads your stuff in the truck, unloads it that evening, loads it on another truck with other peoples’ stuff, ships it cross-country, unloads it, loads it onto another truck, and then delivers it to your house. Keep in mind there are many opportunities for drops, and it shows on your furniture. But with a full DITY, you only have your renters or homeowners insurance to protect your goods. Also, never do a full military move stateside. Always do at least a partial DITY to get paid for the things you’re taking with you in your car.

Sarah: What about families who plan to move themselves and get reimbursed by the military? Any tips on doing this successfully?

Eva: I haven’t done this, so I’m not sure if I’m qualified to give advice. I think the big thing would be to not look at it as a chance to make a lot of money but have more control over the process instead. Don’t be afraid to hire movers to come and help you pack and load. It’s worth the extra money to not kill yourselves during the process. Moving is stressful enough. Do what you can to make things easier. This ties in with another piece of useful advice I got: Don’t be afraid to splurge a bit on hotels while traveling. It makes a big difference being in a nice hotel with a decent pool, family suite with separate rooms, etc.

Jacky: About 3 moves ago, I looked into a full DITY and found 1-800-PACK-RAT to be the best value. But whichever company you choose, be sure to stress weigh tickets. And get it in the contract if you can because it’s a pain to close out a move with just an estimate.

Now that you know the ins and outs about moving your stuff, make sure to take a look at part 1 of the PCS series for useful tips about moving your family. Check out HPRC’s list of PCS hacks too.

Sarah Steward, of the Henry M. Jackson Foundation, is an Education Specialist for the Consortium for Health and Military Performance (CHAMP) at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.

* The views expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences or the United States Department of Defense.

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