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You Might Qualify for up to $500

September 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment

I expect that all of you know what Basic Allowance for Housing is, less known is Basic Allowance for Subsistence.  It’s roughly $300 for enlisted and $220 for officers.

Have you ever heard of Family Subsistence Supplemental Allowance (FSSA) Program to help with your financial needs? This program can help you increase your regular BAS to up to $500. You have to apply, you have to qualify. Also: You might not qualify for Food Stamps but you very well might be able to qualify for this program.

Who is eligible?

Service members (SM) on active duty receiving full or partial  BAS are eligible.  This Family Subsistence Supplemental Allowance (FSSA) Program is also available for service members and their families stationed overseas. Note that this does not include soldiers in basic training.

How much?

Under this program, a service member’s Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS) is increased to make his or her household income equal to 130 percent of the United States Department of Agriculture federal poverty line.   The maximum entitlement is $500 per month.

How to Apply?

This program is voluntary and you HAVE to apply in order to be considered. FSSA requires annual re-certification and certification by the service member’s command – totally worth for an additional $150 or so.

Filed Under: entitlements, Military Money Matters, Resources Tagged With: , , , ,

Don’t break the bank when you PCS

August 6, 2011 By 1 Comment

PCSING againWhen I saw our DLA amount the first time, I was elated! Saving money on this move is going to be a breeze. Yeah, right.

The song and dance began:

  • Sorting out and selling STUFF that we don’t need anymore. Unfortunately, I also came to the realization just HOW little we actually get for items we had paid for at one point. I made a mental note to definitely give future purchases more thought. For donated items we kept our donation receipts.
  • In order to prepare our home for rent we would fix all needed repairs ourselves.
  • We needed to rent our home, since we could not sell it without losing our shirt. If we were able to rent our home ourselves we would be able to safe some money. Expenses for advertising would be  still worth it.
  • We researched homes in our new location via the internet and were actually able to save money by finding a rental before we arrived, below our BAH in our new duty station. An extra house hunting trip was not necessary for us this time. We still arranged and got paperwork approved for house hunting permissive TDY for our time in our new duty station.
  • I started making a list of where I am expecting funds to be returned to us. Be it because of pro-rations or deposit refunds. It can be a pain in the neck to get all your money back but stay on it.
  • Putting down a rental deposit and first rent let our savings melt away.
  • In some locations, the military has agreements with local companies so that they would not require military family to pay deposits or at least get the military discounts.
  • Yes, always ask for a military discounts. If the company does not have one, then at least you have tried.
  • Depending on where you are moving to insurance can be an extra cost. We had to get a Fire/Hazard insurance for our rented home and a renters insurance for the new home. Car insurance changed as well.
  • Before we traveled we were looking into signing up with militaryrideshare.com so that we can safe some green being green. Go and take a look at their site.
  • During our travel time we tried to stay on military installations or we popped up our camper. We usually just called a few hours ahead of time and really never had a problem getting accommodations. However: Dog had to stay in the car
  • Instead of eating out 2 or even three times a day. We went to a grocery store to get some yummy, healthier and cheaper choices. Best decision ever.
  • We were meticulous about our receipts. We might not be able to use everything in our taxes or on our military travel vouchers, but I will decide that at a later point.
  • Keep all your receipts for later deduction in your taxes.
  • If you are traveling by car or truck and you carry any personal items with you (and who doesn’t? You will need clothes after all), the you can get reimbursed for that weight. You can get your car weighed on post/base or you can go to a certified local scale. How to video here. More. Take a look at the weight ticket. This is good money, don’t give it away. If you don’t keep anything else, keep the weight tickets and pass them in at inprocessing.
  • If you really want to know what this moves is costing you, you’ll have to write down all your expenses, that are connected to this move.
  • If you are a fast traveller: If you are allowed to travel 3 days to get to your new destination but get there a day early, you’ll be reimbursed per diem only for the time you actually used. I am just saying.
  • On arrival you, rather your spouse will get to inprocessing where among other things the forms needed are filled out to get reimbursed and paid out your allowances. This could be DLA, per diem, mileage possibly TLA. There are special tips for TLE. Don’t miss out on it.
  • At the beginning of the new year, take your receipts to your tax office (maybe on post or on base?) and have them help you with these deductions.
  • If you know where and when you are travelling taking a good look at Groupon.com, Livingsocial.com and YIPIT.com to take advantage of special offers when they come up.
  • I also used coupons and offers that came in through the mail and I am also taking advantage of web  offers coming through Groupon (local daily deals) or YIPIT.com (how does $46 for highlights and a cut sound?)

After all was said and done. I took a look at our numbers and was very happy to find that we actually did fairly well. For the immediate cost. What is not included in my calculations are new sign up cost for children in programs and activities, which usually show up at a later point in time.

As always, I am sure I forgot something or you have some great ideas to safe some more green.

Filed Under: Allowances, entitlements, entitlements, Military LIfe, Military Money Matters, PCS'ing Tagged With: , , , , , ,

What’s a BAH Waiver?

August 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment

A BAH Waiver allows the soldier and his family to receive BAH other than the soldiers duty station location, when circumstances require dependents to live separately from the service member.

How can it be that the soldier is NOT where his family is?
Instances are:

    • The soldier and family PCS’d to a new duty station and the service members unit is deploying with 12 months of arrival.
    • Soldiers with dependents in educational programs, such as college or vocational schools, they do not wish to interrupt.
    • Soldiers with spouses who want to continue their employment at the old duty station.
    • Low/cost waiver – service member is ordered to another duty station (close by) and decides that the family should stay in their old duty station. Service member keeps BAH for the old duty station, orders must state “This is a no/low cost move and shipment of household goods and movement of dependents are not authorized.”

  • Soldiers departing for Professional Military Education (PME) for 12 months or less may receive the BAH rate at the dependents location or the previous duty station (if that is where the family is located).
    • Waiver only applies to soldiers with dependents
    • Soldier receives only limited PCS entitlements, such as low unaccompanied baggage weight allowances (O1-O3 = 600lbs, O4-O6 = 800lbs, O7-O10  = 1000lbs,Enlisted = 500lbs), as well as limited financial moving allowances (DLA at the w/o dependent rate…etc)
  • Soldiers who have dependents with EFMP considerations that warrant the dependents to live at the old duty station.

Lots of info and resources here

Depending on the situation requested supporting documents might be:

  • a copy of soldiers’ orders
  • letter of educational institute
  • letter from employer
  • letter from physician or EFMP coordinator substantiating the medical situation

Filed Under: Allowances, entitlements, Military LIfe, Military Money Matters Tagged With: , , , ,

Travel Voucher, DITY Move Checklist

July 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

travel voucher, dity, forms, checklistFilling out forms is not fun, but if you want to get paid, this is what you have to do. To make it easier for you, I have listed important forms here.

Travel Voucher -print it out or fill it out online. Some JPPSO’s actually supply the form to you, but it varies.

Application for DITY Move and Counseling Checklist

Consider this:

  1. Make sure you have a fairly accurate estimate on your household goods weight. It’s iffy, because Finance is very strict and if you overestimated your weight, subsequently received too much money, this excess in funds will be simply taken away from your paycheck. SURPRISE!!

  2. Even if you move yourself DITY?PPM, your household goods are ‘insured’ up to $50,000. Well, sort of. Your goods are insured against acts of god. Storms, possibly accidents. I would not depend on this and consider buying separate insurance for the trip. If you break any items when you DITY – most likely you are out of luck if you try and recover any damage, since this liability rests with you.

  3. You are entitled for temporary storage up to 90 days.

  4. Remember your weight tickets! I recently read that you will HAVE to weigh empty first and THEN full.

  5. DD Form 2278 and weight tickets must be submitted to paying office/TMO/ITO to receive incentive payment. Provide Rental Contract (not required for Air Force and Army.)

  6. Furnish two weight tickets within 45 days from the start of this move. If you do not do so, you are consenting in this form  to collection of all government costs of this move from MYPAY. (also see #1)

  7. When it comes to weighing your vehicle – PLEASE- do NOT try and cheat in any way. It is not worth it! Do not think “No one is looking.”

  8. If your orders are modified or cancelled and affect this shipment, you will have to immediately notify the shipping office at point of origin (or port, if any) AND destination.

PCS and TDY En Route Travel Advance Request

  1. Complete this form within 20 days of your sign out date

  2. All authorized travel expenses are paid at 80%

  3. DITY authorized advances will be paid at 60%

  4. No advance DLA authorized for married soldiers with deferred travel for dependents or if they do not relocate within 60 days.

Claim for temporary lodging expenses


Groupon: Get the Best Deal in Your City Today!

Filed Under: entitlements, Military Money Matters, PPM (DITY) Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

PCS News: Online Hotel Bookings

July 5, 2011 By 1 Comment

PCS DFAS News DFAS (Defense Finance and Accounting Services) published in their PCS news this important information in regards to reimbursements for online hotel bookings.

When you PCS you will get per Diem pay to help you off-set some of your travel cost. No itemization necessary. HOWEVER, if you would like to get reimbursed for your lodging expenses an itemized hotel bill is necessary. Lots of tips on TLE here. If your claim/voucher gets denied due to insufficient paperwork you could possibly lose $1000. So read this and remember!

  • Note the Changes: Reimbursement for Online Hotel Bookings
  • Timeframe: For any travel after November 1, 2010
  • YOU will need or reimbursement: an itemized (every night needs to be stated on the document) hotel invoice is necessary.

In order to be reimbursed for a hotel booked using an online booking agent (Orbitz, Travelocity, etc.) itemized receipt from the hotel is necessary. The receipt from your online reservations will not be considered a valid receipt.

Seems too that in the previous years/months it was possible to simply submit a “lost receipt” statement as a replacement for the itemized hotel receipt. That is not an option anymore.

Filed Under: Allowances, entitlements, Military Money Matters, PCS'ing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

I bet you didn’t know:”PCS Customer Service”

June 11, 2011 By 1 Comment

I bet yoDFAS get paid for your DITYu didn’t know that there is such a thing as PCS customer service. I was surprised. This term is a little bit misleading. This customer service refers only to PCS travel voucher payments and not to your general PCS procedure as there are many moving parts to this puzzle, think: JPPSO, TMO, Finance and so on. You might not need this info right NOW, but bookmark it or know where to find it.

Military PCS Customer Service

When completing a Military PCS move, service members will in-process with their local Defense Military Pay Office (DMPO) at their new permanent duty station.  The DMPO will then submit the PCS travel voucher to DFAS Rome for processing.

Please contact your servicing DMPO for submission information and for any additional questions you may have regarding your PCS voucher.  All PPM/DITY (when you are packing and moving yourself) claims must first be checked by the servicing Transportation Office for approval of weight allowance.  After approval by the Transportation Office, vouchers are to be submitted to DFAS Rome for processing. PPM/DITY Claim forms must be submitted through fax, or mail.  Fax numbers and the DFAS Rome mailing address are listed below. Usually your finance, JPPS Office will help you with questions as well.

PPM/DITY Submission Information
General Customer
Service Questions		 1-888-332-7366
DSN: 699-0300
Select Option 1
Email: DFAS-IN.Travel@dfas.mil
PPM/DITY Claims Fax: 317-275-0277
DSN: 510-366-0277
Mailing Address DFAS Rome
Attention: Travel
325 Brooks Road
Rome, NY 13441

via DFAS


Filed Under: Allowances, entitlements, Military Money Matters, PCS'ing, PPM (DITY), Resources Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

TLE explained

May 13, 2011 By 1 Comment

tle informationLucie Holloway who is a talented photographer,(you have to see her photos) shared her knowledge on some military entitlements when a fellow military spouse was asking about them.  There is a lot that can be said, but I think Lucie has pretty much covered everything:

You are  allowed TLE (temporary lodging expense) for up to 10 days. This means you can stay at on post hotel (or off post in certain cases) before heading out to your new duty station or when you are waiting/hunting for a house once you arrive to your new duty station. So for example, you can use 5 days of TLE at your old duty station and 5 day of TLE at your new duty station: http://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/site/faqtle.cfm#Q1

The lodging rate may vary post to post, I believe. Susanna says: Yes, it does . Find the information on the website mentioned above. Then there are percentages of which I think the most important numbers you need to know are: 1 member and 1 dependent = 100% , each dependent 12 and over receive 35% and dependents 12 and younger receive 25%. ( there are exceptions for this as well, but going through all that would be too much now) Your reimbursements will not exceed $290. If you want to know how to budget read here. Your 2011 allowances are here. And if you want to avoid the 10 biggest PCSing mistakes read this.

If you spend more than what the daily rates are (for per-diem or for TLE), you will NOT get reimbursed, so plan accordingly and wisely. Don’t book a 5-star luxury hotel for $500 a night. You will still be receiving your BAH as you travel to your new duty station, so if you do spend more than what the military will pay you back, don’t forget you have your BAH coming in too.

For TLE, a statement/certificate on non-availability is necessary (to be presented to finance when filling out reimbursement forms) if staying off post. In order to get this statement, the family must first check with the on-post lodging to see if rooms are available there. If not, then they can proceed to find a hotel off-post and be sure to receive this certificate.

Many on-post lodgings do not allow pets or have limited availability of pet-friendly rooms, thus the family is forced to stay in an off-post hotel. In this case, they may not get the certificate of non-availability (it may depend on the on post lodging and its staff) and may not get reimbursed for the expenses while staying off post. Even some hotels off post do not allow pets. The pet fees (on or off post) are quite high at some places and most of the time, non-refundable. Families will more than likely lose money, if they have pets, but as I said – the BAH should cover any additional expenses.

Speaking from experience and our recent PCS move: When we arrived to our new duty station, we checked with the lodging on post only to find out no rooms are available. Finding a hotel off post was a long process as all the hotels off post did not seem to be in a nice/safe area and 90% of the hotels near the post did not allow pets. Our options were limited and we had to search in a different area (about 15 -20 min drive to post), where daily rates were much higher and pet fees were $150 per stay, non-refundable. However, even if we did not have a pet, we would choose this hotel anyway as it was in a safe and nice area and provided comfort and everything we needed. The daily TLE rate for lodging ($77 for our new duty station – rates vary post to post, I believe) did not cover the whole amount of daily rate of the hotel off post that we stayed in.

We were also given many mixed information regarding the TLE rate for our new duty station. One person said this, the other said that. We got no straight answer until we were filling out our reimbursement paperwork and realized we made a few mistakes. I advise the spouses to attend briefings with the sponsor to learn and ask questions. The briefings I attended were with the finance/travel office (they talked about per-diem rates, MALT, POVs, TLE). Transportation office briefing was another one I attended with my husband (they talked about PPM (dity) moves, weight tickets, etc.)

The TLE covers food and lodging. If someone stays with family/friends, they are allowed to write it down on the paperwork and will get reimbursed for the food portion of it if and ONLY if the family and friends live within a certain mileage from the post (50miles or so). We stayed with a friend that lives about 70 miles away from post thinking we will at least get money reimbursed for food, but no such thing happened as we did not know the friend lived too far away!).

Before turning any paperwork to finance/transportation for reimbursemet after the PCS move, I would advise it is critical to make copies of everything from the move (hotel bills, gas receipts, toll tickets, etc.) The only thing we did not make copies of were food receipts. Turn it originals and keep the copies for your records to verify you got paid for everything you should when the money goes through.

We do not collect advance pay prior to moving. It is easier for us to keep track of our expenses using money out of our pocket. It seemed as an extra hassle and trouble for some to fill out more information on their paperwork prior to Simple, Powerful-Mac Cloud Servers from Go Daddy!PCSing. However, some families do not have the finances to proceed with their PCS move without advance pay.

Mariotts, Best Westerns, Holiday Inns, and Homewood Suites offer government rates. Of course, some of these discounted rates may not apply to all properties during holidays, etc., but for the most part, I have always seen government rates available.

I ALWAYS make sure I do a very extensive re-search about any hotels we are planning on staying at. We travel often and so I know what to look for in hotels and what suits us the best. I use www.tripadvisor.com to read hotel reviews. It’s an excellent website. My iPhone was also my best friend during our PCS move. I was thankful for its internet capability and found/researched about each hotel that way since we decided to “play it by ear” during our drive to our new duty station.

I never book hotels through Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, etc. I ALWAYS go directly through the hotel itself as I get one-on-one personal attention on the phone, always ask for military discounts, and it’s much easier to cancel/change a reservation, if necessary. So far, about 90% of the time, our hotel rooms have been upgraded upon check-in (and we travel a lot!). Whether it is because we booked directly through the hotel or not, I’m not sure, but I am still determined to never book anywhere but through the hotel directly. I sometimes use the travel websites mentioned above to look up hotels by their star rating and what’s available in certain areas around the property.I see one that I like, I go directly to the hotel’s website for pricing, etc. I found my technique extremely helpful and it works every time. Same goes from plane tickets. These days, all the websites seem to have the same pricing when it comes to plane tickets. It may vary by a few dollars, but I always think, “what happens if I need to make changes/cancellations?”

As always, I visit the Army Community Service upon arrival to our new duty station. This is where I get lots of information which helps me get to know the post/base better before I start exploring it on my own. I love the support and classes they offer.

Your husband should attend a briefing with the transportation/finance office prior to moving to get more info on rates and how it works. Good luck.

I would add the links to DLA and MALT :

http://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/site/otherratesDLA.cfm
http://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/site/otherratesMile.cfm

for TLE, a statement/certificate on non-availability is necessary (to be presented to finance when filling out reimbursement forms) if staying off post. In order to get this statement, the family must first check with the on-post lodging to see if rooms are available there. If not, then they can proceed to find a hotel off-post and be sure to receive this certificate.

Search & Win

Filed Under: Allowances, entitlements, entitlements, Military LIfe, Military Money Matters Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Returning to Japan

April 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Family Members are returning to Japan 2011If you are an eligible family member (EFM) who departed under the authorized departure FROM Japan to the US and would like to return to Japan now, you will qualify to receive transportation as well as per diem for your travels. If your sponsor is due to PCS within the next 60 days then ,unfortunately, this will not apply to you.

For Non-command Sponsored Dependents:

If you were transported to an OCONUS safehaven you maybe provided return transportation to the Permanent Duty Station (PDS) in Japan. If you have been taken to CONUS then you are not authorized return transportation, except with special permission.

Safe Haven Allowances for Military Command Sponsored Dependents

M&IE which means lodging, meals and incidentals:

a. The lodging allowance is paid for commercial lodging and must be documented by a receipt (!) ask if you need a statement of non-availability. Reimbursement for lodging is not authorized if staying with friends and relatives. Tax for lodging in CONUS and non-foreign Outside CONUS (OCONUS) locations is a separate reimbursable expense.Safe haven allowances are not reduced until the 31st day at the safe haven. (see below)

b. Meals and incidentals: You should be able to receive this allowance regardless of whether you are staying with friends or at commercial lodging. Make sure it is on your travel voucher that you pass in at finance, if not ask why!

Take a look at your rates

First 30 Days
Dependents age 12 or older receive up to 100% of the locality rate
Dependents under age 12 receive up to 50% of the locality rate

Days 31-180
Dependents age 12 or older receive up to 60% of the locality rate
Dependents under age 12 receive up to 30% of the locality rate
read the regulations

Save up to 50% off Vacation Rental Deals!
Save up to 50% off Vacation Rental Deals!

Filed Under: entitlements, Military Money Matters, OCONUS, Travel

What if your BAH rates are going down?

April 19, 2011 By 1 Comment

2010 BAH rate is protected

Mid-December of 2009 the Basic Allowance for Housing rates for 2010 were published. Find BAH rates of 2010 the past 12 years at the “DoD Per Diem, Travel and Transportation Committee” Website.

Service members with permanent duty within the 50 United States receive a Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH), when government quarters are not provided. BAH is based on housing costs in local civilian housing markets and therefore fluctuates yearly. Other factors determining the amount of BAH is based on geographic duty location, pay grade, and dependency status. While it is not the intention to compensate for ALL housing cost, BAH aims to cover rent, insurance and utilities.
#1 in Identity Theft Protection

In 2010 you will in general only see a small increase in BAH compared to the previous year. This is mainly due to an increase in rental vacancies and a decline in rents various areas.

Overall, the BAH is in place to help service members pay for adequate housing. It is stated that military housing officials from each installation begin collecting data from the local rental market as early as January each year. They are looking at appropriate housing. It is not considered that E5 live with his 3 dependents in a 2 bedroom apartment.

If you live in a more metropolitan area you will find that BAH rates are generally higher and change more frequently, than the rates of rural areas where rates tend to be more stable.

If my BAH goes down then I have to pay rent out of pocket!

Those who do notice the BAH rates lower in their area than last year shouldn’t worry, because an individual rate protection law is in place. The policy protects those who already are under a rental agreement. So if BAH rates in their area are lower Jan. 1 than on Dec. 31, the previous, higher rate applies.

Does rate protection keep me from getting rate increases?

No. An individual is authorized the larger of: (a) the January 1 published BAH for grade and location; or (b) the housing allowance being paid on December 31.
Monster

Filed Under: entitlements, Military Money Matters Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Dislocation Allowance 2011

January 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Dislocation Allowance 2011You may be authorized a Dislocation Allowance (DLA) when relocating your household due to a PCS. This allowance is a reimbursement TOWARDS your relocation expenses.

Here are a few facts:

  • Generally, you are authorized only one DLA payments but there are exceptions – contact your finance office to get details.
  • You maybe authorized to receive DLA on your first move when the active duty service member has dependents that are moving WITH him to the new permanent duty station.
  • No DLA is authorized  when you move from your last duty station to your home of record (usually, when you are leaving the service)
  • PCS allowances are usually granted when your stationed for more than 20 weeks at one location (look at your orders!)
  • An active duty service member will receive DLA at the without-dependent rate if no dependents are moving and he/they are not occupying Government quarters at the new permanent duty station.
  • You will receive partial DLA if you are ordered to move into government quarters. With privatization and renovations going an this important.

read JFT Regulations here more about DLA

Dislocation allowances have slightly increased. You might see an increase of $30 to around $50. Not much, but everything counts. In order to get Dislocation Allowance your Active Duty Service Member MUST in-process at the finance office or online. If you have NOT presented your travel voucher, or you have been told that you have NOT received it, then re-submit it. Please ensure that you keep copies of all receipts and paperwork that you submitted. If you feel you have not been helped properly, leave a comment on ICE – Do NOT flame and leave your contact information so someone can get in touch with you.

dislocation allowance 2011 for PCS

Secondary DLA Rates 2011

more 2011 PCS allowances:

Filed Under: Allowances, entitlements, entitlements, Military Money Matters, PCS'ing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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