Military Life News

Military Life News, Commissary Rewards and Military Discounts

How to Kiss the PCS Blues Goodbye

By

Spring is here and that means it’s PCS season, when military families will be moving to a new duty station and starting the next chapter in their lives.

Are you excited about the move or are you feeling the PCS blues?

What can start off as an exciting opportunity and journey can quickly turn into an overwhelming situation causing emotions to swell. That’s when the PCS blues kick in.

How to Kiss the PCS Blues Goodbye

Are you feeling the PCS blues this spring? How do you handle these unique feeling?

Never heard of the PCS blues? Think it’s made up? If you haven’t suffered from the PCS blues, that’s great, but many military spouses do.

The PCS blues are a sense of dread that comes over you as you leave a home, city and family that you’ve become comfortable in and transition to a new environment.

Change is a hard thing and it can wreak havoc on the most seasoned spouse’s emotions.

Depression is real and even if you don’t reach the point of the clinical definition of being depressed, there may be just that lingering feeling of dread or sadness to say goodbye to a life you knew.

That’s the PCS blues.

As a skeptic, you might say military spouses knew what they signed up for when they said “I do.” It wasn’t just the person they were marrying, it was also the military and a life of constant change. We do all know what we’re getting into, that doesn’t mean anyone’s feelings are any less real or unsubstantiated.

Each time the military sends you to a new duty station the routine of settling in begins again. A move can start out fun. It’s a new adventure. You’ll have new opportunities to see things, experience things and discover new things. It comes at a cost though and that’s leaving behind the things you’ve grown to love. Take some time to find closure and say goodbye to those things and then embrace your new life.

This could help ward off the PCS blues.

Follow these 4 tips to keep your emotions in check and make the most out of PCS season.

Say Goodbye to Your Friends

No one likes to say goodbye. It’s hard. It can take a long time to make friends and it’s always sad to leave them as you move on to a new duty station.

Take some time to say goodbye in a meaningful way. Make a coffee date, movie date or play date with your friends.

Create a lasting memory. I started a tradition with good friends at Christmas. Instead of buying commercial gifts we exchange homemade Christmas ornaments. That way, each year we think of each other as we decorate our trees.

You’re bound to have something in common, maybe just an inside joke between friends. Create a way to keep that lasting memory before you say goodbye. Having closure may keep the PCS blues away once you move.

Do What You’ve Been Meaning to Do

Always wanted to try a certain restaurant in the area? Do it.

Been talking about hiking a nature trail in the country? Do it.

There’s no time like last minute to make you finally go for it. You might regret it if you don’t.

Maybe it’s a simple thing like stopping into a local eatery or shop. Maybe you’ve been meaning to taste a regional delicacy but have been too afraid. You might not ever have the chance to do it again.

Then again, moving is constant and you could end up back in that city one day. Why take the chance in missing out though?

Prepare Yourself Mentally for the Move

You do so much prep work when getting ready to move. Organizing the house before the movers come, shutting off and turning on utilities, checking out of school and signing up for new ones can all keep your mind busy. Take a moment to ready yourself for the move as well, not just physically but mentally.

You are moving. This is really happening. Get excited about the move. Don’t just go through the motions.

Kiss the PCS blues goodbye by starting out with a positive attitude.

Yes, it’s sad to leave but there are so many new things heading your way. Look at that as a wonderful opportunity. You will make friends again. You will fall in love with a coffee shop, yoga class or play date in your new town. It is going to be OK.

Get Out of Your House

Once you move into your next home, get out of the house. There are a million boxes to unpack and a long list of things to do, but the PCS blues might set in if you don’t check out every once in a while.

Take a break from it all and and get out of the house, and out of your head. Contact your ombudsman or FRG leader. Look on social media for local meet-up groups. Join a gym and sign up for a class. Go explore your new town. Take a walk in the park and get some fresh air. You need a break and you might just meet someone that will turn into your next best friend.

Moving to a new location can be hard. Don’t be so hard on yourself. You’ll make friends again. You’ll fall in love with the area, and then it will be time to do it all over again.

Are you feeling the PCS blues this spring? How do you handle this unique feeling?

How the Proposed Military Family Stability Act May Affect PCS Season

By

The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee recently had a hearing on a bipartisan bill that was originally introduced to Congress in October. This bill is known as the Military Family Stability Act of 2015. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo. introduced the bill with cosponsors Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, and Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C.

The point of the Military Family Stability Act is to ease the burden of a PCS for military spouses and family members.

All of these senators along with high ranking military officials agree that legislation needs to be created to provide a framework to help military families have stability in their lives and that the Military Family Stability Act may help this.

How the Proposed Military Family Stability Act May Affect PCS Season

The Military Family Stability Act is intended to give military families flexibility when a PCS takes place.

As we all know, the one constant in military life is that anything can change at any time. Verbal orders for a PCS aren’t set in stone. You get excited, or not, about a move only to have it changed in a blink of the eye. When you finally get orders on paper families can feel a bit more confident that a move is coming up. Still, things happen and the active duty service member might not PCS at the scheduled time.

All of this instability can create an uneasy situation at home.

Chief of Staff of the Army, General Mark Milley, stated that having stability on the homefront is crucial to operational readiness and that the Military Family Stability Act could potentially help reach those goals. Specifically, he said,

If we want our soldiers to be ready to focus on his combat tasks and training; or when deployed, to focus on the enemy; then we owe that soldier to make sure that their family is being taken care of with good schools, good health care, that the spouse has a job.

The Military Family Stability Act is intended to give military families flexibility when a PCS takes place. It would allow them to leave their current location up to 6 months ahead of the service member’s report date to their new assignment or to stay behind up to 6 months after the service member relocates.

This Military Family Stability Act would allow families to continue to get the housing allowance at the current location with dependents while the service member would receive temporary unaccompanied housing or compensation at their current location. The Military Family Stability Act would particularly help families with working spouses or children in school.

Uprooting your life, especially when you’ve found a job you like or your children are in the middle of a school year can be frustrating. The Military Family Stability Act would allow families to continue in the current location to finish a job or school year. In turn, it would give spouses time to look for new employment and to scout out new schools.

There are some exemptions, but to be eligible for this:

  • The spouse must be employed or enrolled in a degree, certificate or license-granting program at the beginning of the covered relocation period.
  • The service member and spouse have one or more children in school.
  • The spouse or children are covered under the Exceptional Family Member Program.
  • The service member or spouse is caring for an immediate family member with a chronic or long-term illness.
  • The service member is undergoing a PCS as an individual augmentee or other deployment arrangement.

Army Secretary Patrick Murphy spoke up at the meeting stating that life has become harder for military families since 9/11. He argued that,

It’s the families that have borne the cost, and have been really stressed. We’re trying to do everything possible to make sure that they know that we are committed as an Army team and an Army family.

Everyone on the committee agrees that treating families with respect and taking care of their needs are big factors service members take into consideration when deciding to stay in the military. Hopefully, the Military Family Stability Act will be able to make that decision an easier one.

What do you think of the Military Family Stability Act?

How You Can Save Money with a Hotel Loyalty Program

By

Military families travel. A lot.

They aren’t afraid to embark on an epic road trip during their kids’ spring break. They travel for holidays and every 3-day weekend. Heck, military families travel even when they are moving from one duty station to another. The summer PCS season is also prime vacation time for military families.

Are you planning a family vacation for spring break or this summer? Are you mapping out your PCS route from Maine to California? Do you want to save money when booking your hotel rooms for this trip?

Consider a hotel loyalty program.

A hotel loyalty program is a convenient way to save money when you are traveling. More and more hotel chains are offering loyalty programs to reward frequent customers.

Each program works a little differently. As U.S. News and World Report wrote in an article comparing hotel loyalty programs,

There isn’t one best loyalty program that would suit the needs of every traveler. Each rewards program targets different preferred lodging styles — from boutique to business-friendly — travel habits and goals.

Here are 3 things to consider when reviewing the perks of a hotel loyalty program.

How You Can Save Money with a Hotel Loyalty Program

Are you a member of a hotel loyalty program?

1. The frequency of travel for you and your service member.

Take a moment to review your most recent hotel stays. How often did you book a hotel room in the last year? Did you stay in a hotel once a year or every few months?

Let’s say you, as a military spouse, don’t travel very often. But, your service member does. He or she may have a job that requires frequent travel for classes or training. When your service member is traveling for the military, do they stay in a national hotel chain? If the answer is yes, then a hotel loyalty program may be a good fit for your family. He can earn the points during his military travel and you can use those points later for a free night during a family vacation. It’s a win-win.

2. The hotel chain’s locations in relation to your frequent travel spots.

Geographic coverage is a super important factor to consider when reviewing a hotel loyalty program. Like I said earlier, lots of hotel chains are offering loyalty programs.

But not all hotel chains are nationwide. So if you sign up for a hotel chain with locations primarily in the Midwest, but you are living and therefore traveling in the Northeast, this hotel loyalty program would not benefit you.

This isn’t a problem with the Best Western Service Rewards program. With more 4,000 hotels worldwide, you are nearly guaranteed to find a Best Western on your PCS cross-country route.

The Best Western Service Rewards program, which benefits service members, allows members to:

  • Earn 10 points for every U.S. dollar spent on qualified hotel room rates
  • Receive a military discount of 10% or more on room rates
  • Automatically be upgraded to Gold status, which allows you to earn points faster

With the Best Western Service Rewards program, your points never expire, there aren’t blackout dates (so you can use your points to book a room during Memorial Day weekend) and you have access to their exclusive reservations line.

Always review a hotel loyalty program’s policy regarding the expiration of points and blackout dates. Nothing is more annoying than not being able to use the points that you earned because of blackout dates or your points expired before you could use them.

3. The benefits and savings of the hotel loyalty program.

A hotel loyalty program should be beneficial so pick one that benefits you. Do you want to earn free hotel rooms for future trips? Then find a program that rewards travelers with an easy-to-navigate points system to get you that free room in the future. You should know how many paid nights are required to earn a free stay.

Do you want to be upgraded occasionally from a standard room to a suite? Then pick a hotel loyalty program that rewards with free amenities.

Don’t forget to ask if the rewards can be shared with your spouse. It’s frustrating if your service member earned a crazy amount of points during her TDY, but then you can’t use those points for a free night when you’re driving to Grandma’s house with the kids.

A hotel loyalty program may help you save money when traveling, as long as you understand how it works. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and review the program’s policy before signing up for one. You want to find a program that works for you. Use the program to your advantage and get ready to enjoy the benefits as a loyal and frequent customer.

Are you a member of a hotel loyalty program? How does it help you save money when you travel?

How 2016 BAH Rates May Affect Your Family

By

Every year military service members and their families wait to find out what is going to change with their BAH rates. BAH, which stands for Basic Allowance for Housing, is based on your ZIP code. This allowance is supposed to be put toward your housing costs.

How the 2016 BAH Rates May Affect Your Military Family

On average, BAH is only meant to cover 98 percent of housing costs instead of 100 percent.

If you live on post, you are not going to get BAH but you won’t have to pay rent either. If you live in privatized housing on base, you receive your housing allowance and pay it to the private housing manager each month.

If your BAH rates have gone up you will be making a little more each month. On average they have gone up $54 per month this year, nationwide. However, the amount that the BAH is supposed to cover is down 2 percent.

This doesn’t mean that you can’t find a place within the limits of your monthly allowance, but that on average, BAH is only meant to cover 98 percent of the costs now instead of the full 100 percent that the allowance used to cover.

If your rates have gone down, you don’t need to worry at first. They will not change until you move or when your service member gets a promotion. Then they will be adjusted based on your location and rank.

Now, if the rate that you are supposed to get paid when you change rank is lower than it was before the change, you will be grandfathered in to your old rate. This is good because no one will receive less than they are getting in the previous year unless they are making a change.

I always used to enjoy that first paycheck of the new year when our LES reflected our new BAH rates. We were lucky in that all our time in active duty Army, the rates always went up. This didn’t mean that we would run out to buy a bigger house or spend more on rent but having a little bit extra each month to put toward our bills was always nice.

When buying a house, we knew we wanted our mortgage to stay below our BAH. Luckily we can make that happen in our current location but that might not always be the case. You should keep in mind that off-base rent might be pretty close to your BAH since a lot of the landlords know the BAH rates and charge based on that amount.

If your BAH does go up, put the extra money in savings or use the money to help with your debt. You will be glad that you did.

In the case that your BAH is going down and being close to a move or a promotion, think about how much you will be getting after the change. You might find yourself frustrated because of the change. You might have assumed you would be making more money once you got promoted but sticking to a budget will be your best bet. Make housing choices based on the new amount and you won’t run into any financial problems.

If you are planning a move to a new duty station, check the rates for the next year. When trying to decide on where to live, you will need to know how much in BAH you are going to be getting. Ideally, you should have your BAH cover your housing, including utilities, but that isn’t always a possibility in all areas.

With proper planning, you don’t have to worry if your BAH fluctuates. You can adjust and figure out how to make the new rate work for you and your family.

Is your service member’s BAH increasing in 2016? Click here to find out so you can start planning for any future moves or changes to where you are living.

 

Your New Duty Station Checklist

By

Welcome to your new duty station. How many PCS moves does this make for your family? I’m in my 17th house now, so I’ve done my share of checking into new duty stations. If this is your first move or 20th, make sure you fully get to know your new military installation.

Once your boxes are unpacked, follow this checklist to get familiar with your new surroundings.

Your New Duty Station Checklist for Every PCS

After you unpack your last box after a PCS, what’s the next thing you do?

1. Talk to Your Sponsor

Each time you PCS, the service member is given a sponsor. This is a fellow service member that is already stationed at that location who is familiar with the area. Their job is to help make your PCS an easy one by helping you get settled in and get to know the area. Take advantage of this help and make contact with that person.

2. Find the Commissary

I love the commissary. You’ll spend a lot of time here so go ahead and find out where it is and what the hours of operation are.

Some commissaries are closed on Sundays and Mondays while others are open every day.

Make sure you plan your shopping trip accordingly. Stop by the commissary for a few minutes on a day you don’t need to do your big weekly shopping just to see what the selection is. Some commissaries are quite small and only offer a few things while others have a vast selection.

3. Find the ITT Office

The ITT office is a great resource. Each one offers different services which could include: travel and vacation packages, travel insurance, car rentals, flights, tours, concerts, national events and local tickets. Universal Studios, SeaWorld, DisneyLand and Walt Disney World packages are really popular. You can save a lot of money by purchasing tickets through the ITT office.

After a PCS, you might want to plan some family fun. Contact your ITT office to see what’s going on in your area.

4. Locate the MWR

The Family Morale, Welfare and Recreation Program offers an abundance of activities for families. After a busy PCS, you’re going to want to get out and have fun.

The U.S. Army MWR has 223 fitness centers, 192 child development centers, 137 swimming pools, 86 outdoor recreation centers, 79 bowling and family fun centers, 78 Army community service centers, 76 libraries, 66 auto skills centers, 48 golf courses, 54 arts & crafts centers and 12 riding stables.

There is surely something fun for your family to do to relax and get to know your new duty station.

5. Check Out the Base’s Fitness Center

Why pay a monthly fee to work out at the gym in town when you can go to the fitness center for free? Many locations have a mother and child area where you can work out and keep an eye on your little one.

If you’re self-conscious about working out in front of others or are intimidated by large crowds, go after 9 a.m. when most service members will be back to work and the gym will be quieter.

Don’t put it off. Dig to the bottom of that last PCS box and find your workout clothes.

6. Contact the CDC or Base School

Do you have children and need child care or to enroll them in school? Contact the Child Development Center to see if they have openings. If there is a wait list, it doesn’t actually go first-come first-served. There is a priority level index. You can get on the list however and enroll your child in another program in the meantime.

Contact the base school before you PCS, if you can, to find out what records you need to bring to register your children in the school.

7. Join a Spouse Group

There’s no better way to get to know a new installation and feel at home, than to make friends. No matter how many times you PCS, you will still want to get know other military spouses who know the area.

Having good friends can really make a difference in your experience living in a new place.

Contact your command ombudsman or spouse liaison. Join the enlisted or officer’s spouse club. Get online and look for base groups. Try Facebook or Meetup.com for example.

Each PCS is different. It can be a lonely road if you sit at home alone. Get out and get to know your new installation. Make friends and get involved. This could be your favorite duty station. It’s up to you to take advantage of all it offers.

After you unpack your last box after a PCS, what’s the next thing you do? What’s on your new duty station checklist?

10 Situations that Hurt a MilSpouse Friendship

By

Have you ever had a friendship with a military spouse end? It hurts. Sometimes it is something you have done that you feel terrible about. Other times it is something someone else has done. Sometimes the death of the friendship is just circumstances and the way things have to be.

Here are 10 situations that can kill a military spouse friendship and how to avoid them.

10 Situations that Can Kill a Military Spouse Friendship (And How to Avoid Them)

What do you find are the factors that may end a friendship among military spouses?

1. Being Friends with the Commanding Officer’s Wife

We always say that rank shouldn’t matter among military spouses, however, in some cases it does. Can you really be friends with the commanding officer’s wife?

When I was in Germany meeting the high-ranking officers’ wives was easy to do because of how small the post was. I made friends with them but not in the same way I could have been friends with other spouses. There is a little bit of a line there. Sometimes a friendship can die out because you just can’t take things any further because of rank.

On the other hand, if military spouses know where that line is, you can still be friends and learn a lot from one another.

2. Being Friends with Your Neighbors

Making friends with your neighbors makes sense. Doing so means you have people that live near you that you can depend on.

However, if something comes up in the neighborhood, the situation can kill a friendship.

I have seen this happen quite a few times. The best thing to do is always be a good neighbor, don’t cause drama with other military spouses and remember that everyone should be treated with respect.

3. Too Much Gossip

I know I am guilty of gossip, we all are. Nothing will kill a friendship faster than hearing that your friend is talking bad about you. Hearing that hurts your soul and makes you feel like your friendship wasn’t real to begin with. Try to stop gossiping yourself and be a better friend than that.

4. Moving

This one is hard. A friend moves away – like military spouses always do – and life isn’t the same anymore. The friendship changes and for some the friendship dies. In my experience, when a friend moves away, in order to keep the friendship alive both people have to try to keep up communicating with each other. If one of the friends doesn’t do that the friendship will die.

5. Your Children Don’t Get Along

You might have a friend who is perfect for you but things can fall apart if your kids don’t get along. Military spouses spend a lot of time hanging out together with their kids. If there is trouble there, the friendship might not be able to last. In some cases there isn’t much you can do about this other than getting together without the kids.

6. Your Spouses Don’t Get Along

Just like with the children, sometimes friendships fall apart when spouses don’t get along. Everything might be fine during a deployment but once the spouses return things can get a little tense and getting together might be more difficult. This is a hard place to be in. You would have to just hang out without your spouses around.

7. Becoming Too Busy

Sometimes two military spouses can be friends, get together often and then one or both of them become busy. This can cause the friendship to fall apart. One of the friends might be wanting to get together and the other doesn’t have time anymore. If you feel like you are too busy all of a sudden, still try to make plans with your friends. You don’t want to lose them because of how busy you are.

8. One Deploys, One Does Not

Military spouses can be friends going through military life together when one of their spouses deploys and everything changes. This doesn’t always have to be the case but sometimes jealousy can take over and the friend with the deployed spouse might try to fade away.

The best thing to do is to understand that your friend could be hurting because their spouse is gone and yours is not.

9. Leaving People Out

I have been in situations where we had a group of friends and then people split up. They decided to get together and leave others out. Try not to leave people out on purpose if it’s possible to include them in your get-togethers. Not all military spouses have to be invited everywhere but if you suddenly stop inviting people when you used to do so, they are going to notice.

10. Having a Baby

If two military spouses were friends for a while and then one has a baby, the friendship can change and even die. This happens because the one that had the baby is now in a different stage of life. In order to avoid this both friends need to understand the change and embrace it.

What do you find are the factors that may end a friendship among military spouses?

Dear Santa, Military Spouses Really Want…

By

This year, I’m having a very difficult time putting together my Christmas wish list and the same goes with my husband. We had the “what do you want for Christmas?” conversation as we were putting together our tree over the Thanksgiving weekend and couldn’t pinpoint anything specific to get one another.

What Military Spouses Really Want for Christmas

What do you want for Christmas?

In reality, we both already have what we truly want, especially for this holiday season. I get to see my family and spend it with my husband. I’m the happiest of campers!

That brought me to think about what us, military spouses, actually want for Christmas.

Sometimes, it’s not something that our families can buy for us. Instead, it’s a feeling, desire or something we can’t really grasp with our hands that we want for the holidays. It’s those certain things that military spouses value more than a new gift wrapped under the tree.

Military life presents circumstances that other families don’t get to endure. Despite some of the things that we may not actually get this holiday season, there is always a silver lining to our wishes that we have to remember.

Here is a short list of true desires that I feel like are on military spouses’ minds during the holiday season.

Dear Santa, this Christmas I really want…

…to locate that significant item lost from your last PCS.

We had a winter PCS to northern Virginia that took place in January 2014. My husband was coming back from an overseas assignment and spent some time in Texas before he had to report in early February 2014. When we were settling into our new home, I realized that the very first Christmas present my husband gave me when we were dating was missing. It’s a silver tennis bracelet that I adored.

I pretty much turned our new home inside out without avail. Ironically enough, my mom wrapped up a special present for me for Christmas 2014. She found that bracelet in my old bedroom as she was preparing for my holiday arrival.

Military spouses may not always find that trinket lost, so those memories become what we treasure. I was so happy it was found, but the moment that my husband gave me that gift is what I take with me.

…to spend the holidays with family from far away.

The holiday season brings joy to us and also inflated airline prices for travel! Military families have to pick and chose their battles as far as spending a great deal of time and possible money to see their extended family. Thank you supply and demand.

Despite the monetary challenge that military spouses face for travel, we have wonderful tools that help keep us connected for virtually no money. The Internet is amazing and we can practically see each other no matter where we are located. I was able to “be in the room” when my dad blew out his candles in September for his birthday.

…to have my service member home for the holidays.

Deployment rears its ugly head more times than we’d like, which can take away our loved one from us for Christmas. It stinks when it does. I don’t think I’ve ever met a military spouse that thought otherwise.

My husband was overseas for the 2014 holiday season and I’ll admit I might have complained about it more than once. But, military spouses really do have it nice with technology. When duty calls for our service member, there are ways military spouses can connect with them, similarly to our separated family members.

My father would tell me stories of him having to wait in the USO to use the phones there to call my mom when he was away. Also, he would have to wait for snail mail of Polaroids to keep track of my growth as a child.

Military spouses can use smartphones to email photos to their service member and vise versa. I was lucky to get to see my spouse on Christmas and New Year’s Day, while he was away.

What do you think military spouses really want for Christmas?

Is DoD’s PCS System Wasteful, Inefficient?

By

Arizona Republican Senator John McCain released a statement criticizing the government for wasting money by not budgeting for PCS (Permanent Change of Station) moves.

Is DoD's PCS System Wasteful, Inefficient?

With all the government monitoring out there, it is hard to believe that there is no government oversight with PCS moves.

More than 600,000 service members and their families PCS each year. As chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, McCain received the Government Accountability Office’s report which criticized the government for not tracking the money spent on PCS moves and did the math. This lack of oversight is costing the government a lot of money.

In a statement Sen. McCain said

Despite the crippling effects that sequestration is having on our military services, the Defense Department continues to throw millions of dollars out the door as it fails to adequately manage the costs and budget for service member relocations.

The government has been spending more on PCS moves lately, with a remarkable increase over the last 14 years. That is an increase from $3.8 billion annually to $4.3 billion last year according to the Government Accountability Office’s report.

Interestingly enough, these costs are rising while the number of PCS moves continue to go down. Annual moves are actually down 12 percent. In 2001 for example 731,000 troops had PCS moves while only 646,000 moved in 2014.

Why are PCS costs so high?

PCS moves incur fees for shipping household goods, storing them and issuing travel allowances, temporary lodging expenses and other costs. Officers are allocated more money for PCS moves than enlisted service members and the Air Force has more officers than any other branch. Having troops PCS more frequently then they are suppose to is also causing an increase in cost.

There are time frames set by the government for how long a service member is suppose to be stationed in one location. The time actually allocated between PCS moves is not being followed or tracked. While commands are suppose to report how long service members are in a location, they are not doing so. They are also allowing troops to PCS before they are scheduled to.

The entire PCS system is not being monitored at all. With all the government monitoring out there, it is hard to believe that there is no government oversight here. Because DoD does not evaluate whether the PCS system is efficient, it cannot identify changes that need to be made to lower costs or to determine how to control it.

The Government Accountability Office’s report recommends that DoD initiates a system to report all PCS budget data, evaluate the PCS program often and make a point to seek out data on why service members are moved before their minimum station length is reached. It would also recommend required waivers for early PCS moves.

DoD agrees with Government Accountability Office’s recommendations. What will actually happen now or how long it will take is undetermined. One thing for sure is that military families will be keeping an eye out for changes to PCS moves.

What do you think? Do you agree with Sen. McCain? Do you have any suggestions on how DoD can save money when military families PCS?

 

10 Things You Can Make Using Boxes

By

It’s PCS season. Who just moved? I did and if your house looks anything like mine, it’s covered in boxes.

I had this great idea of having the movers do a full unpack so that they would take away the empty boxes and I wouldn’t have to pay to recycle them here. The movers arrived before 9 a.m. and left at 6 p.m. During that time, the only boxes that got unpacked were the ones my husband, my friend and I did. I was exhausted, they were exhausted and the movers were ready to be done.

Needless to say, all the boxes didn’t get unpacked and I have a house full of empty moving boxes. Now what?

10 Kid-Friendly Things You Can Make Using Moving Boxes

How have you reused moving boxes? Share your pictures with MilitaryShoppers.

While I saw it as a giant mess of boxes and packing paper, my 21-month-old son thought it was fantastic. He ran around the boxes, hid in them and jumped out shouting “peek-a-boo!” all day. It was nice to get a laugh and it made me think, there has to be something I can do with all these boxes. Did someone say Pinterest?

I thought I was a creative person; these people took it up a notch.

Here are 10 kid-friendly items you can make using moving boxes.

  1. Give your child a box of crayons and let their inner artist come out.

    10 Kid-Friendly Things You Can Make Using Moving Boxes

    Source: Berry Sweet Baby

  2. Cut a box open and draw roads for your child’s cars to drive on.

    10 Kid-Friendly Things You Can Make Using Moving Boxes

    Source: Jennifer Perkins

  3. What little kid hasn’t dreamed of having their own race car?

    10 Kid-Friendly Things You Can Make Using Moving Boxes

    Source: Our Life

  4. What’s the one thing you will have set up the night you move in your new home? Your TV. Drive-in movie anyone?

    10 Kid-Friendly Things You Can Make Using Moving Boxes

    Source: Our Life

  5. Simple games like this will entertain your toddler while you unpack.

    10 Kid-Friendly Things You Can Make Using Moving Boxes

    Source: HireAHelper

  6. How about an awesome elevator?

    10 Kid-Friendly Things You Can Make Using Moving Boxes

    Source: Repeat Crafter Me

  7. This family actually had a cardboard box-themed birthday party. I love the train.

    10 Kid-Friendly Things You Can Make Using Moving Boxes

    Source: Sean Walker Photography

  8. A girl after my own heart. Hello coffee shop!

    10 Kid-Friendly Things You Can Make Using Moving Boxes

    Source: 45wall design

  9. How about your own town?

    10 Kid-Friendly Things You Can Make Using Moving Boxes

    Source: A Beautiful Mess

  10. You just moved and the kids left their friends and family. Why not make mailboxes and they can get excited about sending mail to them.

    10 Kid-Friendly Things You Can Make Using Moving Boxes

    Source: iKat bag

Do you have bubble wrap left over too? Make bubble wrap hopscotch. Who could resist the sound of the popping?

10 Kid-Friendly Things You Can Make Using Moving Boxes

Source: Sean Walker Photography

Some of these projects will only take a few minutes, whereas others will take a bit more effort. Be as creative as you want or just send your kid off with some crayons and let them use their imagination. You never know what they will come up with.

10 Fun Ways Kids Can Reuse and Play with Moving Boxes

Do your children like to play in empty moving boxes?

How have you reused moving boxes? Share your pictures with us.

How to PCS Without Your Service Member

By

PCSing is stressful whatever the circumstances, but having to do it without your service member by your side can make the stress that comes with moving even worse. However, spouses move by themselves all the time. For whatever reason the service member just can’t be there to help with the move.

When my husband joined the Army he was sent to Germany and my son and I had to wait in the U.S. until all the paperwork was taken care of. I know that sometimes they send everyone over together but that just wasn’t the case for us. We waited 4.5 months to join him.

A very long 4.5 months in which I had to get all the paperwork we needed submitted, schedule the move, clean out the apartment, get the car ready to ship, drive the car to the shipping location and fly alone to Europe with my son.

That move was one of the most stressful moments in our military history. I was also brand new to military life which complicated the whole process. I wasn’t sure what to expect and I didn’t quite understand how the military worked. I made some mistakes but looking back I think information like this would have really helped me.

How to PCS Without Your Service Member

What tips do you have for tackling a solo PCS?

Here’s a short guide to PCSing alone.

  • Make lists. Create a PCS binder to keep everything together. Find out what you need to do and when you need to have it done by. Put everything on a calender. Then, make everything you have to do that day for the PCS a priority. Keeping organized will go a long way in getting you through it.
  • Make sure your Power of Attorney is up to date and won’t expire during the PCS. The worst thing would be to have the POA expire during the process when your husband is on the other side of the country or even the world. You want to be able to do anything you might have to do and you will need a POA to get that paperwork done.
  • Ask for help. Can one of your parents, siblings or best friends come out and help you? I am not sure what I would have done without my parents coming out to help me during the moving process. They watched my toddler while the movers came. My mom helped me drive up to St. Louis to drop off the car. Not everyone will have this option but if you think someone might be able to help you in this way, ask for it.

  • Talk the PCS over. Make sure you and your service member is on the same page. If one of you is going to be picking out your new home, make sure you are clear on what you are expecting. Make sure you both know what your expectations are. Talk the process over when it starts to feel a little too stressful. Remember that others have done this before and you can too.

Whether you are PCSing to the next state over or going overseas, there is going to be a lot to do. By staying ahead of the game, keeping organized and talking with your spouse about what needs to be done, you will make the process a little easier.

Have you moved without your service member? What tips do you have for tackling a solo PCS?