DITY moves actual experiences

[ssmithcr]

I recently matched at Madigan and am looking into doing a DITY move to get there. I don't have a whole lot of stuff and I'm thinking of just moving it myself to make some extra money. I know all the procedures for doing a DITY move and have heard all the horror stories as well as some success stories, but what I'm looking for is how much money people made on their moves. Examples like, I moved from here to there and made X amount of money on it. I know that it is all based on weight, but I'm having a hard time estimating how much all my stuff weighs even using the army's spread sheets. If you can only make a couple hundred dollars on the move it's not worth it to me. So prior service guys let me know how much money you made on the moves.

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[USAFGMODOC]

I moved from Tampa to Texas with a 16 or 18 foot UHAUL full of my 3 bedroom house stuff... Truck broke down in La, I scratched some of my nice wood furniture and broke a large dresser mirror (and you can't make a claim for a DITY)...

I did have a car in tow as well, and all told--- I think I made 800-900 dollars , but this money is also TAXABLE, so you don't really make that much for the headache....

I have done 6 other PCS moves via military movers, all in all it works pretty well.... have had some minor scratches, few broken glasses and minor things but at least you can put a claim in for it (even though you don't get full reimbursement price)....... It's kinda nice to sit on your butt and watch your stuff get packed and not sweat about it!

I'd recommend military movers unless you just want to keep all of your items with you and have instant access to them... My 2 cents

 

[runningmom]

I did my moves before children (3 moves total: Tx to FL, FL to SC, SC to RI) as DITY and generally made in the $400-600 range without issues. I wouldn't recommend moving a 3 bedroom house as the previous poster mentioned, but as a single person moving a one bedroom apt, it wasn't bad at all and all your stuff is immediately available.

 

[st0rmin]

I recently matched at Madigan and am looking into doing a DITY move to get there. I don't have a whole lot of stuff and I'm thinking of just moving it myself to make some extra money. I know all the procedures for doing a DITY move and have heard all the horror stories as well as some success stories, but what I'm looking for is how much money people made on their moves. Examples like, I moved from here to there and made X amount of money on it. I know that it is all based on weight, but I'm having a hard time estimating how much all my stuff weighs even using the army's spread sheets. If you can only make a couple hundred dollars on the move it's not worth it to me. So prior service guys let me know how much money you made on the moves.

I moved from Maryland to Washington (Madigan) and made around $1500. It was actually a pretty good experience for my family.

 

[PharmD2MD]

I've done partial DITY moves for most of my PCS's. I have a motorcycle that I don't trust the gov't movers with, so I rent a trailer and tow it with my truck. Since I don't have to rent a truck and the trailer is cheap, I usually make out ok for minimal effort.

 

[Heeed!]

Barney, the security guard at the hotel I stayed at along the way, called UHaul to verify the truck in his parking lot was actually rented by a person in the hotel. Since he transposed two digits, UHaul told him my truck was actaully stolen. When I awoke in the morning to continue the journey, I learned my vehicle had been towed. After locating it, I learned the tow company had broken the axle or shocks or something underneath the truck while towing it....and they couldn't fix it because the UHaul weighed so much. ("NO DUH! My entire house is inside!") Anyway....I recommend you just ship your stuff.