A PCS can be expensive, but not if you use these money-saving tips
According to MilitaryFamily.com, moving is the third stressful thing that happens in a person’s life and on average a person moves 12 times in their lifetime. As a military member, I moved 5 times in 9 years so I am halfway there as a statistic. In the other 30 years, I’ve moved for each of my 4 college years and once after my military career. I’ve been there, done that and want to share some tricks I learned along the way to keep costs low.
Documents, moving receipts, travel sized items
Using this checklist, you will find a number of ideas you can use to make your PCS move even easier. But when you collect all these items, where do you store them? You go to your local Dollar Tree or dollar store to help save you money on your PCS.
Buy gift cards to get gas points for your PCS
If you know you have an upcoming PCS and you know you will be eating out those last few days, do you know this little trick? If you shop at Safeway and you use the gas rewards they offer, buy the gift cards to the restaurants you will be eating at anyway. They have McDonald’s, Subway, Chili’s, Chipotle and more. Every $1 spent on gift cards equals 2 points on your gas rewards. These points add up so you can save gas on that trip to your new location. Either way, it’s a win-win for you.
Free moving boxes to store stuff temporarily
Most people know to ask local grocery stores for free boxes, but you have to time that right. Did you know you can get free used boxes to pack up your stuff? Uhaul has an exchange program where people who have boxes after moving are trying to get rid of them. You take them off their hands. Or you can post that you need some boxes and see if anyone responds. It’s a great way to get some free boxes. All you have to do is check out the site!
Sell your household goods
Have you heard of Military PCS Sale? It is a website dedicated to military family members and veterans who can post classified ads to sell their household goods. I wish this was setup for me when I was in the military. I had to rely on garage sales and Goodwill to pick up and get rid of my stuff which was time consuming at times. Here is another site you can use to sell your household goods versus relying on Craigslist or other places. When you sell some household items, you have less stuff to pack and maybe even get a smaller moving truck!
Staging costs towards selling if done in same year
If you are selling your home and you have a professional home stager stage your home to sell, did you know you might be able to recoup some of those staging costs? According to Claudia Jacobs Designs, “The costs of staging are subtracted from the proceeds of the sale of the home and decrease the total realized profit.” However, always check with your tax advisor to be sure. This is only true if you stage the home and sell it in the same year. There are some stipulations on what exactly is covered, so keep all your receipts.
Ask for Military Discounts
Many places give military discounts all you have to do is ask. As a home stager, I may recommend a homeowner pack away some items and store them off the property. Ask your home stager or real estate agent if they teamed up with a storage facility, such as CubeSmart, to get discounts on a storage unit. It doesn’t hurt to ask to keep your PCS costs low.
A PCS will cost you but it doesn’t mean you can’t pinch a penny here and there. With gas rewards, free boxes, military discounts and more, you can breathe a bit easier to your next destination.