SUMMARY KEYWORDS
partial, pack, receipts, military families, packing, military, move, nation, big, pay, u haul, truck, housing, tips, pcs, location, people, purge, buy, friends
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Welcome to the MilHousing Nation podcast where we bring you stories from real military spouses who have been in your shoes, from new spouses to veteran spouses. You’ll get tips, tricks, and actionable steps that can help you along your military life journey. Now, here’s Ashley Peebles. Hello, hello, hello, MilHousing Nation. I am so glad that you have joined us today. So what we’re going to talk about is the Hot Topic among the military community when it comes to PCS. And it is, how crazy of a year it is to PCs last year was definitely insane. With all of the COVID restrictions, with orders being yanked. And I think a lot of us thought that when some of the mandates went away, the mass mandate or vaccine came out. I think a lot of us thought that we were in for a better PCs season with maybe less bumps and bruises for all of us, right. What we did not see coming was the nationwide labor shortage, right. So in our forums at MilHousing Network, all everyone’s talking about are these horror stories of what’s happening with their moves. All of these military families are trying to lose and they can’t get movers, the transportation office is doing everything they can to find people to pack up our military families and get them across the nation to their next DSM. But there have been some incredibly
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horrible stories, truthfully, just some really bad things happening. As far as there are some families that I heard of, that had all of their stuff packed onto a truck, and no one to drive. We have people that are ready for Packers to show up that don’t show up. We have people that are getting called saying hey, we’re going to come tomorrow pack you up. And then we are picking it up two days from now without notice. So as if being a military member, then PCs thing is not hard enough. The stresses that we’re running into this year with a nationwide labor shortage, have definitely put a new twist on the crazy, I guess we’ll say. So I was doing my research earlier. And I saw that most of the trouble are coming from six states in particular, whether you rpcs in inner outer Washington State, South Dakota, California, Texas, Colorado, and Hawaii, if you are coming out of those states, or going into those states, it seems like you guys are having the most trouble. They said that it really could be attributed to in the last 20 years, they have not seen anything like this, but they’re half as many workers as we had a year ago, half. So if they’re half as many drivers and packers and movers out there, then we’ve got half the resources for the transportation office to really pull from. So I know that the transportation office is doing the very best that they can. So you guys myself, we are no strangers to giving a whole lot of grace. But I will say make certain that you are emailing that you’re calling and that you’re staying on top of things so that you and your family don’t get pushed under the rug. The next thing that I wanted to go over today, really, if you know that you’ve got PCs coming up, maybe you’re from one of those states or going to one of those states, and you’ve been considering doing a full duty move or a partial duty move. That’s what I wanted to go over today, because of this nationwide labor shortage. We have so many families who are getting split up for an indefinite amount of time, the military members going before the family. That way, the families have to handle the whole pack out by themselves. So there’s a lot of people are turning to the DD moves in before the fall video of partial demons. So I thought it was a great podcast to go over today just to give you kind of the best tips that I could find out there from my personal experience, but also the experience of our MilHousing Nation community and everything that I could Google online. So let’s dive right in. All right, right off the bat, if you are looking to do a full duty move, that means that you’re going to pack up all of your stuff. And you’re going to get it from point A to point B in a do it yourself move. There’s also something called a partial duty move. And what that means is if you’ve got large pieces of furniture, that you don’t necessarily want to move yourself you do partial. So what that means is you can pack up all the small stuff, you can pack up everything that’s manageable for you and your family, throw it in u haul and you’ll get paid for the work that you did. But if there are big pieces like that one of them that they’re sorry, if you’re listening via audio, I was just pointing to some big pieces in my room that came from England that are such a pain in the rear to move in and out of all of our houses. Those are the
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Things that I would always make sure we’re on the military side of the partial. And usually those big pieces of furniture are not ones that are make it or break it when you get to your new location. If it’s a big arm wall, even if it’s your your king size bed, if it’s something big like that, usually, it’s something that you can do without even if it’s delayed a little bit on the road or delayed or when it comes to delivering it to you. So does that really want to do a partial movie, or decide whether you want to do a full ad, when when it comes down to it, what you’re going to be doing is you’re going to be reading the U haul, you’re going to be buying the packing supplies, you’re going to be doing all of the packing, and then you’re going to get reimbursed from the government up to 95% of what they would be paying the moving company to move you. So it really is
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an effective way to get your things from point A and point B. It’s an effective way to be completely in control of your mood, anger things. And it’s a really effective way to make some extra income if that’s something that matters to vainly it’s also an effective way to lose your mind because it’s stressful backing up your whole house and moving it past me because I know, but at the same time in the year where so many crazy things are happening, and it’s hard to get a moving date. And it’s hard to get people to pack you out. Maybe this is the year did you give a partial or a full duty ago and make the extra income? So our best tips are, number one, get the biggest truck you can and stop pretending that you’ve got less stuff and you do. We all have more than we think we do. And one of the horror stories that I’ve already heard this year from a friend of mine was they rented too small in the U haul. And they had to pack unload repack, unload repack three to four times. That is not anyone’s affair. There’s not the effective use of anyone’s time guys. Get the big truck. Once you’re on the road, it’s really not that bad. Get that 26 footer, you’re going to be reimbursed for the truck. And save yourself some grief because unloading A u haul and loading it back up in your driveway is a surefire way to test your marriage. Right. So get the big truck you’re going to be reimbursed for it. We’ll be right back after this message. Hey MilHousing Nation listeners. I’m Lindsey Litton, co founder of the MilHousing Network. Today I briefly interrupting this episode to bring you credit monitoring and credit tips with ID IQ. Id IQ is an on a mission to educate and help military families protect their identity and monitor their credit. Today I’m joined by Darren Rhoda with ID IQ. And he’s going to be giving us three ways that we can protect ourselves from identity theft. Darren, welcome. We’re excited to chat with you today. Thanks so much for having me. I’m excited to be here.
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All right, well, when it comes to monitoring your credit and your identity, what should a person know if their identity is stolen? Well, you know, first of all, ecommerce has really changed a lot about how we shop, and and where our personal information goes. And the COVID pandemic, really, it took it to another level where folks have just changed the way they do business buying and selling and retailers have done the same. So a lot of personal information over the past 1218 months is out there that maybe wasn’t in the past or it is volume. So we’re seeing an increase in the theft of identities, bank account takeovers, Social Security, being stolen and opening up new accounts, in your name, and so forth. So the best thing to do is really, you got to pay attention, you got to educate yourself, you want to pay attention to what’s happening with your credit. You want to pay attention to your bank accounts. And we have a few tools that can help your folks do that.
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Awesome. So if something does happen, and a damage has occurred to your credit, what can they do? And you know, how can they repair that damage after a theft has happened? Sure, absolutely. And we’ve got a lot of experience with this. The staff that handles the remediation process, has years of experience in the direct to consumer credit space, understands this world very well. So after a police report is filed, you call us up with the case number and we get to work and we basically Usher you through the entire process. We contact the credit bureaus themselves to turn over any any false accounts that might have turned up any leads that aren’t really attributed to the consumers account. We also have a million dollars in the coverage that’s sponsored by AIG. So if there’s financial damages as well, if you have to take time off work to help, you know, to go to court to repair things, if you need daycare assistance, all those monies goes towards that in the rectification remediation to get you back where you were before.
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For the damage occurred. Wow, that’s huge. Darrin. Yeah. So obviously his military families were constantly on the move or in and out of different countries. So identity theft happens, right? Absolutely. So what is the first step if somebody wanted to learn more about how to protect their identity that they can take, just to kind of learn more about the services that you just talked about? Yeah, I think it’s I think what I would suggest, first and foremost, before, you know, they dive into anything full bore is, I would go to our website, I would, I would Google ID theft in the military, I think just understanding how it happens, how devious and how creative these people are, we’ll give them an understanding about where these steps occur, and how they’re doing it. And then go to our website, and you can take a look at all the different coverages on everything we look at, in real time to help protect you and notify you in the event. There’s something that’s just not right, or something that changes to your profile. It might be something you did, but it might be something someone else did. But I would I think education is first and foremost. And if they go to ID iq.com, there’s a wealth of information there. We’ve got blog posts, we’ve got so much educational material, they don’t even have to go sign up if they’re not comfortable yet. But go educate, get educated on all we have to offer on the site. Awesome. Well, as a special guest, we’ve got a special discount for all of our MilHousing Nation listeners. So if you’re listening to this, you want to learn more about ID IQ. Take a look at our show notes. Because we have a very special link where you can get special incentive incentives and pricing for some of the services that Darren just talked about. Darren, thank you so much for being on the show today. And I bring you back to MilHousing Nation. Next, just about all the packing supplies. If you go to a store, and you grab up a whole bunch of tape, that is still not gonna be enough. If you go to the store and you buy boxes, it’s still not enough. You love bubble wrap, still not enough. Buy it, it is reimbursable. And that’s some chains, you have way too much. You have to save your receipts. Anyway, that’s gonna be one of our tips, take it back and get your money back for it. But one thing that’s always been frustrating to me in the middle of it, is having to stop when I’m on a roll and go get more boxes, or stop and go get bubble wrap or stop and go get 10 we never have enough tape. And if you’re anything like Let’s lose the tape all the time, I want word blasted tape go I’ve just had it. Five seconds ago, I just saw it. I just had it my hand. And our family of four is always grabbing that tape. So make sure everyone has their own get everybody a little gun, your take your packing supplies, it’s gonna be reimbursed grab more than you think. Because it always takes more than anything. All right, next, you can put a sign up and send out an email and text your neighbors have all of your friends and family at your current location and say, have beer, we’ll pack right? Will you pack? Or I will have pizza? Will you help me pack? And that’s here’s the thing when we’re leaving a duty station, our friends want to spend time with us? Do they want to pack? No, but will they Yes, because we are a team in this military, we are a military family, we’re all gonna have to move and we’re gonna have to do it multiple times, we are the best team that I can imagine. So get your neighbors, get your friends, grab some beer, grab some pizza, grab some cokes for me, and have a packing party and just have as much fun with it as you can. You don’t have to do it all yourself, people will definitely help you. And with those big pieces of furniture, if you’re not doing a partial duty, and you’re going to do it all yourself, set a time with your you know, muscley neighbors, that they’re going to come over at seven o’clock. And that is when you’re going to move the big stuff. You know my husband and I with our two teenagers, we can usually do everything. But when it comes to some of the bigger items and going up and down the stairs, we always bring in our friends, we always bring in the neighbor’s Can we make sure that we pay them what whatever their food or drink of choice is, because it is worth it not to break your back with the two of you trying to do everything yourself. Alright, next up, when you are looking at doing a partial duty, know that the government will store your things at the future location for up to 90 days. So you can schedule your pack out for those big things like the arm or like the king size bed. You can schedule that early if you’re not needing it where you are now, get into your new location, get moved into your house, and then schedule a convenient time for them to deliver those larger items. The partial ditty is really an incredible tool for you to utilize. If there are bigger pieces of furniture that you don’t need really on this end or that end that are flexible for you think about unloading that Armand just put the stuff on the ground. And when you get your new location, do this
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thing until it arrives, and it’ll save you some backbreaking work. All right, next step, stock up, buy before and purge after. So what do I mean? stock up on things you need, buy the things you want at your new location before your move, and purge after you get there. Now, actually, why in the world would you be telling me not to purge as I’m packing? Why would you be telling me to pack everything that I own if I know that I’m not going to need?
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Well, it’s simple math, ladies and gentlemen, because the military is going to pay you based on the way now it is fraud. If you go out, and you take cement blocks, and you feel that Turkey, do not do that. But what I am saying is if you own it, pack it and purge at the new location, bless the people at the new location at the airman’s attic. Also, if you’ve been looking at a new home gym that you know you want, at this new, amazing place, you’re gonna live by it before those weights are white, and it’s a lot of weight. And that is just more money in your pocket for packing it up. I will add our last partial didn’t move that we did, we knew we were going to need a refrigerator. So we bought it on the front end, we drove right up to Lowe’s, they loaded that refrigerator and washer and dryer actually on to the U haul that was the first thing we picked up, they loaded the refrigerator, the washer and dryer onto the wall for us. Then we packed up the rest of our stuff, we headed up to Virginia where we were moving, and all of that caring for our weight. So stock up all the things you need before buy the things you know you’re gonna want it your new place before you leave, and then purge after you get there and get paid for all of that weight. It is just the perks of the game, right? You pack it you can pay for. All right next up way your truck before and do not forget, people forget to weigh their truck before and after. All the time, I cannot tell you how many times I’ve had, my friends and my family forget to weigh the truck. So you’ve got to weigh the truck so that you’ve got an empty ticket. If you can win that trip without a full tank of gas, go for it. Whenever you are waiting, after you are fully packed up, make sure that you have a full tank of gas. Because every ounce counts, don’t forget. And then you’re going to want to make sure that you save all of your receipts. So save your receipts for the truck for sure. Save the receipts for your boxes for your tape for your bubble wrap. also save the receipts for your tolls that you’re going through, you don’t really need a receipt unless it’s over $75. But every time we drive through, I try to keep a note a running tally of all of the tolls that we’re paying. And of course, we keep all the receipts. So the best practice there is to get one of those receipt bags, put it in the console, if every time you buy anything that has to do with the move, the receipt goes straight in there. Because the rule is if there if it is not on paper, it didn’t happen. And if you don’t have that receipt, you’re not going to get reimbursed. So if the gas station doesn’t spit you out a receipt you’ve got to go in and get they’re not going to accept it if you just take a picture of the pump. So make sure you have all your receipts, keep them organized. That way you get all of your money when you get to your gaming location. And then up small tip just to add in at the end, I would make sure that you have some cash and some smaller bills for your tolls. Not all toll booths across the nations will set will accept cards at some of them will not accept anything over 20. So just make sure that you’ve got some cash in that little zipper pouch that you’re keeping in your vehicle, that you’re keeping all your receipts and that you also have some money to pay your tolls. Whenever you’re looking to do a partial duty a full day or a full military move, it’s going to be stressful, there are going to be things that pop up out of nowhere that you never expected. But as long as you follow these simple tips, you keep those receipts you get a big enough truck, you bought enough packing materials. So you’re not having to run back and forth. You don’t try to do it all yourself, you have some friends come over to help. All of those things are going to make the moving experience so much better for you. But at the end of the day, if you’re moving yourself expect to be exhausted it while you’re packing, expect to be exhausting while you’re driving to your new location and expect to expect to be exhausted when you get there and finally get there packed. And I’ve never known a full duty or partial duty move where the husband and wife did not lay down on their game when they finally got finished and say I’m never doing that. Right. But look at all the pluses with the the economy that we’re living in right now. The nationwide labor shortage the fact that when movers move you they evidently break stuff. Head Some of us have had things like just mysteriously just
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Looking around, say stolen but you all know that things mysteriously disappear. The beauty of doing it yourself, you keep control, you maintain that control, and you can make some extra money on the other end for it. So I hope these tips were helpful to you. I hope that you guys will subscribe to the podcast we will have another one coming out in just a short couple of weeks. And make sure if you love awesome t shirts as much as I love a good t shirt, make sure that you go to our MilHousing Network page. And you hit up all of the amazing t shirts that we have. The one that I’m wearing today says fluent in movie quotes and sarcasm. It’s one of our movie nine t shirts that we have. But there are some really great shirts on there for our military family and all of them are adorable. So make sure you go hit those up. If you guys ever need us to focus on a certain topic or if you’ve got a great topic that you just want us to dive in on, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us here at the MilHousing Network in the healthy nation. I hope you guys have a super wonderful rest of this crazy PCs season. And I hope your July is super blessed to have a great day. Thank you for listening to the MilHousing Nation podcast. To connect with MilHousing Network, visit us online at MilHousingnetwork.com