For those affiliated with the military you are given a few move options when it comes to a PCS move (Permanent Change of Station). I consider us very lucky that we are given these resources.
~You can opt to the have the military move you completely.
~Partial DITY (Partial Do it Yourself), which means the military would move most of your stuff but you can load your vehicles with necessities and move those items. You will be paid accordingly for the weight you move.
~Full DITY (Or as I call it, a move that there is simply not enough alcohol in the world to make me do). This is when you move all of your belongings to your new duty station (unless it's OCONUS). You have the potential to make a good amount of money this way but as of late those numbers have been going down.
Kyle and I have always been in agreement, Partial DITY moves are the way
to go. Of course everyone is different, but this has always
worked for us. Since we are only 52 days away from move #4 I thought I would share why we choose the Partial DITY option.
* I have ZERO desire to pack my belongings. Kyle and I both are control freaks. We know that we each have our own ways of packing, it is bound to cause some sort of disagreement. I will prep some things before the packers arrive but that's it.
*I don't want to drive a uhaul and neither does he. I would rather someone else take on that responsibility.
*As I said earlier some people focus on the money you can make on a full DITY move, but it has been slowly decreasing over the years. With a Partial you can still make a little bit and not have the stress.
*I don't want to have to worry about finding people to help load our stuff into a truck or off load it at our new home.
*If we don't have a home at our new duty station secured prior to arriving, the military will put our belongings in storage free of charge for 90 days. This is a HUGE help.
*This may sound silly but the movers will come back and take all of the broken down boxes and packing paper when you are done. Yes please!
*The packers/movers are professionals and they know what they are doing. Of course, we have heard some horror stories about moving companies but they have been few and far between. We have never had more than a few small items broken. Heck, that could happen if we packed our stuff but we wouldn't be reimbursed for it.
*Now that we have E, packing would be incredibly difficult. I want our moves to be simple.
*I actually like the idea of living simply for a bit. Since we take household items with us like a coffeemaker, tv, air mattress, gaming system, camping chairs we are able to "camp out" until our stuff arrives. We have had to do that a few times and it's actually fun. With the addition of E, she will still have toys and her pack n play.
As I said earlier everyone is different and some choose to move themselves. Do whatever makes sense for you and your family. Kyle and I would like to get through a move with our marriage intact haha.
