Military service members and their families are no strangers to change of addresses – but the process just became more complicated. As of May 1, 2023, the United States Postal Service (USPS) rolled out a new process with the intention of streamlining its change of address (COA) process. The idea sounds good on paper – for those who change their address in person, the ID cards will be scanned in addition to the postal card completed. For those who complete the COA online, the fee stands as verification. However, due to this change in the system, COAs are not being completed in the typical 2–4-week timeline that military families are used to. In fact, the COA process is taking several months to complete.

The Process

For those using the online service, go to the MoversGuide section on the USPS website to complete the form.  The verification of identity is completed by sending a one-time passcode or verification link to a mobile phone number and charging $1.10 on a credit card as a verification fee. The online change of address does not take effect for 7-14 business days.

For those using the in-person verification, once the card is completed, the USPS employee will need either a US Passport, a military ID card, or a state-issued driver’s or non-drivers license ID. The identification may be scanned. A secondary form of identification of a lease, mortgage or deed, voter or vehicle registration card, or home or vehicle insurance policy can be used. The change of address does not take effect for 7-14 business days.

Once the mail-forwarding is completed, your old mail carrier is supposed to pull your mail to be sent to the Central Forwarding Service, CFS. Once there, CFS affixes the forwarding address label and sends it to the next address.

What To Do If…

As one can imagine, with a change in policy at a government entity, the change in the COA process has led to a big slowdown. The CFS is backlogged, and as told by two USPS employees through their Customer Service line, they do not have a timeline for mail forwarding. Their recommendation is not to do mail forwarding at all but to change addresses with each business that has their address. However, changing the address does not help those who held mail while they did not have a forwarding address.

Tip: Keep a list on a Google Sheet or Excel Sheet of every business you receive mail from – banks, mortgage companies, insurance companies, etc. with their website and phone numbers.  Use this list to change your address as soon as you are able versus doing mail forwarding to avoid missing mail. This helps streamline the process when you spend hours on the computer changing each address.

Don’t Do Mail Hold

If you are a military family moving and do not have a forwarding address, consider forwarding mail to a trusted family member or friend. This prevents mail holding, which cannot be forwarded for months due to the backlog.

If It Takes Over Two Weeks

There is an “at least seven days” processing for both online and in-person, which is being extended to 7-14 business days. If no mail is being forwarded and it is over two weeks, submit a service request at the USPS site here, making sure to select the reason for inquiry as a change of address.  Your previous post office should reach out to correct the issue within 72 business hours.

What If Mail Still Isn’t Forwarded

If your mail isn’t forwarded after multiple attempts to resolve it through the local Post Office, or if you are concerned that there is fraud, theft or destruction of your mail, the USPS has an Office of Inspector General (OIG), to route the concern to here. This form is not for customer service complaints. The website also states it is not to be used for delivery problems with mail, however, if speaking to the previous local post office multiple times leads to no forwarded mail, then theft or gross negligence is a concern, and the OIG office can address this.

If you are still without a resolution after reaching out to the OIG, consider writing a letter to your representative if it has been more than two months.

Once the PCS is complete, the to-do list doesn’t stop. Here is who you need to inform of your address change ASAP.

Post Office

Submit a change of address, or COA, as soon as you have a new address. Due to the changes to mail forwarding as of May 2023, it is not recommended to hold mail due to the backlog of mail forwarding. In lieu of holding mail before forwarding, forwarding mail to a trusted family member or friend is recommended. Once you have a permanent to address, change the address with all the companies you do business with limit the need for mail forwarding through the USPS.

Department of Motor Vehicles

Thanks to the Servicemembers Civil Relive Act (SCRA), military members do not need to change their driver’s license with each move if they remain on active-duty service. The Military Spouse Residency Relief Act extended the ability to military spouses to maintain the driver’s license they entered marriage with or maintain the same state driver’s license as their active-duty partner. Due to these laws, neither the military spouse nor the active duty member are required to change their driver’s license through the DMV. Yay! Less lines!

While you may not need to change your driver’s license, you should update your address. Most states allow an address update online and have a provision for military service, allowing for an out-of-state address to be listed on the state driver’s license.

However, car registration may be required. An active-duty member may maintain car registration in the state of their home of record, but if the non-active-duty military spouse is on the registration, the registration must be changed to the new state.

Make sure to learn the requirements of each state for inspections. For instance, in the state of California all cars over a certain age must have a SMOG inspection even if they are not registered in the state of California.

Voter Registration

In most cases, voter registration is linked to your driver’s license. You may need to update your address separately with the voter’s registration. Ask your DMV, and check in with the local county you are registered to vote in.

You must have an updated address to receive an absentee ballot. Absentee ballots are sent out several weeks before the election date, so update it ASAP to ensure timely receipt of the ballot. Your vote matters; make sure your voice is heard!

Professional Certifications

Whether you are a teacher or health professional, make sure to update the address on your national and state-level certificates and licenses ASAP. This prevents missing any renewal deadlines. The internet typically can be used to update and renew licenses nowadays, but some states mail a verification code to update the address or pay for renewal, so make sure to update the address to avoid a lapse. You worked hard for those certifications!

Auto and Homeowners Insurance Company

Your auto and homeowners’ insurance are billed based on your current location. You can continue to pay for auto insurance in California if you are now three months into living in Virginia, but if there is a car accident in Virginia and your listed address is not correct there may be an issue with paying for damages. Make sure to update your new physical address for accurate charges and necessary insurance adjustments. Each state is different in what is covered for homeowners’ insurance – earthquake insurance that is required in California may not be needed in Alabama. States with “no fault” laws will have higher monthly rates and more coverage.

Call your insurance company directly if you have questions about what is covered.

Don’t forget to shop around if the prices are cost-prohibitive. Insurance brokers may be a great resource for quotes with multiple companies.

TRICARE

Updating your address with TRICARE will ensure you are linked to the right region for insurance and are able to be seen in the local area. If you are living in a hotel or temporary living facility for a time period, you can use that address until you have a more permanent one. Changing TRICARE regions ASAP is vital to ensuring timely visits, especially if the transfer of prescriptions is needed.

Credit Card Companies

If you are not signed up for e-billing, you must change your address with each credit card company to avoid missing billing statements or notices.

Banks

Just like your credit card companies, you want to update your address with any banks you utilize. This will ensure statements, end-of-year tax statements, and notifications are mailed to you in a timely manner. Don’t forget about banks utilized for mortgages.

Taxes

Your change of address may affect your taxes if you change your home of record. The military service member is assigned a “home of record” upon entering military service. This home of record is typically the state the service member lived in when entering service. Some service members, like pilots who do a lot of training Florida, change this home of record to Florida when they are training. Florida offers no state income tax, meaning military members take home more of their paycheck no matter where they reside. As long as both the non-active-duty military spouse and the active-duty member hold the same residency, taxes can be done in the same state jointly, and no change in where state taxes are filed.

Thanks to the Military Spouse Residency Relief Act (MSRRA), the income tax is the same with each move if military spouses hold the same state residency as their active-duty spouse. Make sure to clarify with your Certified Public Accountant (CPA) before tax season to ensure everything is up to date.

Make sure all your address ducks are in a row, even if it is before your household goods arrive and the first box is unpacked. It will save a lot of frustration and headaches later.

Get the Help You Need Now

Military life is normally stressful – long hours, deployments, separations, frequent moves, long phone calls to change health care locations to find new doctors, and dentists, enroll in school, find new jobs, etc. Add in the mix of the pandemic and maintaining the same military operation tempo and moves throughout it, and there is a higher stress level for these families.

Mental health is health. If you or someone you know is experiencing an emergency, dial 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. The National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is available 24 hours a day in English and Spanish and can be reached at the number 988.

Don’t go without the support you need.

Mental Health Appointments

Learn more about how to set up an appointment to receive mental health care through TRICARE.

Time-honored traditions of Halloween include costumes, trick or treating, and pumpkin carving. If you want to add Halloween décor this year, don’t miss these budget-friendly ideas. Whether you are financially recovering from a PCS or just want to be as budget-conscious as possible, these ideas are for you.

Candlesticks

What witch or wizard doesn’t have candlesticks on their table or mantlepiece? While candlesticks were commonplace in years past, they aren’t part of the normal pieces in our homes now. If you don’t have any candlesticks at home, you can flip wine glasses upside down to make candlesticks. These won’t hold long tapers but do well for shorter candles. After flipping the wine glass upside down, spray paint or paint with black or white matte for a spooky candle look.

Looking for a flame-free candlestick? Try out paper towel roll candlesticks. Cut paper towel rolls in various sizes. Put tape in the top of the tube, creating a pocket for a battery-operated tealight. Test out the tealight to ensure the tape up top is secured, will handle the weight of the tealight, and will last for prolonged use. Use a hot glue gun to add “dripping” at the top of the roll and down a third or halfway – this can be done haphazardly to represent what a natural dripping candle look. Once the glue is dried, paint the glue-covered tube with black acrylic paint. This paint is cheap, usually a dollar or two at Michael’s or even Dollar Tree. Once dried, cover the raised areas with white tape to give the illusion of prolonged dripping. When ready to use, put the tealight on the top turned on, and display your spooky candles.

A word about button batteries –  be sure to use tealights with the battery pack secured with a screw that a small child cannot get out to avoid accidental swallowing. If there is ever a concern that a child may have swallowed a button battery, this is an emergency and requires an immediate ER visit to evaluate.

Spooky Candles

Found jarred white candles? Make them spooky by removing the labels and using a Sharpie to add ghost faces to the front.

Or mix up the jarred white candles by adding fall-themed washi tape around the outside of the candle jar.

A countdown candle can be made by adding dash marks to the jar, making sure to burn the candle every day, counting down to the end of October 31^st.

Making image transfer candles can be done at any time or season. It is especially fun at Halloween because you can put almost anything on the candles. The trick is printing onto tissue paper – you will have to wrap the tissue paper around a piece of printer paper or secure it with invisible tape, being careful to secure it to printer paper with invisible tape at the top and bottom (this will be cut off). You need to print on the non-shiny size of the tissue paper. Cut out the tissue paper image. Place the tissue image on the candle, and place wax paper over the top of the image and candle. Using a hair dryer, continuously blow air on the image for 20-30 seconds. If holding the candle and wrapping paper, wear an oven mitt to avoid heating your hand or fingers. Test the edges of the image by gently pulling the wax paper back to see if the image transferred. If it didn’t completely transfer, repeat the process. Once heated, run over the image with your oven mitt hand to add pressure to the image transfer.

Centerpieces

Make a candy corn centerpiece with wine or liquor bottles and paint. Remove the label from the wine bottle, and prepare spray paint or paint in orange, yellow, and white colors. Spray the entire bottle white and allow to dry. Then add a yellow portion on the bottom 2/3; once dried, add an orange portion on the bottom 1/3. Allow the centerpiece to dry completely before adding it to a table and filling it with fake flowers or leaves. Always use cardboard under your spray or paint surface to avoid leaving behind paint colors that do no desire to do.

If you prefer your candy corn in candy form, add some to the bottom of a wide-based vase and add a candle in the center for another fall-colored look.

Looking to add a spooky element to a vase you have at home? Grab a cheap spider web and some spray paint – purple, black, grey, and silver are all good choices. Wrap the vase in the spider web and spray paint with your color of choice. If you have a plastic spider at home, you can add the spider before or after spray painting. Another option is using hot glue to make the outline of a spider web on the vase, glue a spider down, and then spray paint it. Fill the vase with purple, black and orange flowers for the ultimate flowered centerpiece.

Eyeball flowers: Yup, you read that right. Make any plastic flower spooky by hot gluing plastic eyeballs in the center. You can leave the flowers like this or spray paint to the desired colors.

Dishes

Need some bowls for treats or a party? Wash out and spray paint the dollar pumpkin/cat/ghoul trick-or-treat pails and spray paint in black.

The Skull and Bones dish was a hit last year. Using items from the Dollar Tree of a short glass candle stick, a glass dish or plate, and a plastic skeleton are dressed up with pain. Hot glue the dish to the top of the glass candle stick. Take apart the skeleton and arrange its pieces on top of the dish, hot gluing each piece. Let it dry for a few days, and check for loose pieces before painting. Once completely secured and dried, paint with white for a uniform base color. Once dried, spray paint with rust-oleum metallic – silver or gold – to give a complete look. This will give it the look of a real dish. If serving food without wrappers, make sure to place a liner on the dish before placing the food.

Luminaries

Have some old mason jars, paint and candles at home? You have all you need for DIY luminaries. Search “Halloween Village Printables” online, and several free images pop up. Bring these out. You will need to cut them out, including cutting out the holes in the windows. The first step is cleaning the jars to prepare them for painting. Paint the jars with what you have on hand or desire – you want a shimmer paint so the jar remains opaque for the light to shine through. This is not a necessary step.  Place the printable stencil in the jar, and trace the outline with a black paint pen. Fill in the outline. Once this is complete, let it dry. You can place candles or battery-operated string lights in the jar, which are ready for use. Another idea is the Mod Podge the stencil, with all windows cut out, on the outside, but this is not water resistant, so keep that in mind if the luminaries are being used outside.

September is here! After the summer season, it can feel like it took forever for September to arrive, but at the same, this year has gone by so quickly! Now that Fall is here, it is time to get out and enjoy fall-centric activities. Get out for some family fun, some for free, this Autumn!

Waves of Honor

Busch Gardens and Sea World parks around the U.S. host a trick-or-treating daytime activity for kids. It is not scary but typically fall-themed with scarecrows, hay mazes, story times, and trick-or-treating. In the last few years we attended, no chocolate or nuts passed out, meaning no worries about nut allergies while participating. If your active-duty family still needs to use the Waves of Honor program ticket, use your ticket for a daytime ticket during the trick-or-treating days. It is typically offered on weekends and Halloween days if it occurs during the week. This means that the family fun is entirely FREE!

Busch Gardens parks are in Tampa, Florida, and Williamsburg, Virginia.

Sea World parks U.S. locations are in Orlando, Florida; San Antonio, Texas; and San Diego, California.

Howl O’Scream

Busch Gardens and Sea World’s answer for the adults and older kids who enjoy a scare is the Howl O’Scream program. This is an evening event and will need a separate ticket. You still need a separate access ticket if you are there during the day. It is a favorite event for those who enjoy scary movies and being scared. This is not for the easily scared.

Unique Trick or Treating

If your family is a big fan of LEGOS, both coasts host Legoland parks, where Brick or Treat events occur every September and October. It is trick or treating, with the bonus of one DUPLO brick handed out amongst the treats. It is very kid-friendly, without scares. There is some loud music in some areas, but you can usually ask team members which areas to avoid the noise adverse.

Unique Fall Fun

Baseball season lasts through early October, and their weekend games are often host to fall-themed giveaways or activities. The San Diego Padres hosts KidsFest every Sunday two hours before games for families – kids can run the bases on specific dates, some giveaways occur, and enjoy myriad activities, including face painting, bounce houses, and other activities. Check out your local area baseball team to see if there are specials for fall to check out a local gem while spending time together.

Library Campaign

Check your local library for a calendar of activities for fall. These are frequently totally FREE and open to all ages. We have lived in six locations worldwide in the last decade, and there has always been some sort of activity for trick-or-treating at the library. This is great for younger kids that won’t be up for the evening trick or treating. Local businesses like reptile houses have brought reptiles to the library to share them with kids, and librarians host readings of their favorite kid-friendly stories. Checking out local happenings also connects you to other families in your area, creating a great network.

Local Happenings

Check out local schools or non-profits for fall festivals or evenings to support local charities. The local outlet mall may host an event for fall showcasing local businesses or resources – a great way to enjoy an outing and learn about the area. Local schools may host a fall festival where a small cost supports the school, and you can enjoy activities like face painting, a cakewalk, or even a haunted house.

Before heading to the commercial pumpkin patch, check for local pumpkin farms or businesses. Support local and check out the local fare.

Check out local magazines, newspapers, and even social media pages to learn what activities there are in the area.

The fall season may not mean cooler temperatures every place and climb military families live, but it is a change in seasonal activities. Get out and explore for some family fun this fall. What are you planning to do or explore?