As a military spouse, you probably bear the brunt of a PCS (DITY) move. Beforehand your service member, like a hopeful gold digger of old, told you tales of all the money you could make (maybe thousands of dollars!) if you moved yourselves. But you’ve heard the do-it-yourself rumors, too. Those horrific stories of families who, like the pioneers, came to the end of road busted, broke and bedraggled.
So is a DITY (now called a Personally Procured Move or PPM) worth the hassle? It depends. On these pages you’ll find the scoop on what has changed in recent years. And you’ll hear DITY stories from milspouses who’ve done it.
Here’s the biggest news: Reimbursement rates decreased in April 2017, when the services changed to the Defense Personal Property System. The new system made moving companies bid against each other and that competition lowered prices for the military. That change was a cost-saver for the government, but it generally decreased the reimbursement for military families. They now receive about 95 percent of the amount the military would pay a moving carrier for the same work.
So is a DITY (now called a Personally Procured Move or PPM) worth the hassle? It depends. On these pages you’ll find the scoop on what has changed in recent years. And you’ll hear DITY stories from milspouses who’ve done it.
Here’s the biggest news: Reimbursement rates decreased in April 2017, when the services changed to the Defense Personal Property System. The new system made moving companies bid against each other and that competition lowered prices for the military. That change was a cost-saver for the government, but it generally decreased the reimbursement for military families. They now receive about 95 percent of the amount the military would pay a moving carrier for the same work.