Section 01
The day your orders drop.
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The first 72 hours set the tempo for the entire move. You don't need to solve everything today — you need to capture everything today. Get it out of your head and onto this list.
- Read your orders cover to cover. Report date, detachment date, and any special conditions (joint spouse, EFMP, school age) drive every other decision.
- Tell your spouse/partner in person if possible. Not a text. Not a group chat. This news deserves a real conversation — and so does hearing their first reaction.
- Calculate your true PCS timeline. Count back from report date: house-hunting leave, HHG pickup, final out, travel days. Write the hard dates on a single page.
- Start a PCS binder (physical or digital). Orders, amendments, POVs, HHG weight tickets, receipts — everything lives here. Nothing gets deleted until 12 months after the move.
- Tell kids age-appropriately, in a calm setting. Younger kids need reassurance about what stays the same; older kids need agency about what they get to choose.
- Reach out to me first — wherever you're headed. If you're moving to or from Tennessee or Kentucky, I'll handle it myself. If you're reporting anywhere else, I'll connect you with an agent and a VA-savvy lender I trust in that market, and stay in the loop so nothing gets dropped between us. Either way, start the conversation early — even eight months out is not too soon.
- Call your current mortgage lender if you own your home. Ask about prepayment penalties, assumable options, and timeline for payoff. This info informs whether you sell, rent, or assume.
- Open a dedicated PCS savings account — even if it starts at $0. Every reimbursement, every unexpected expense flows through here. Keeps vouchers clean.
- Begin preliminary school research at the new base. District boundaries, magnet programs, EFMP resources, sports cutoff dates — all take time to sort.
- Breathe. Eat a real dinner. Sleep. You have time. Panic is a tax on your next 90 days. Pay it later, not tonight.
From Lola · Field Note No. 01
When I got my last set of orders, I had my daughter and a Maltese in the car by sundown.
I know how fast the walls close in on Orders Day. My best advice: don't try to solve the move tonight. Tonight, you capture. Tomorrow, you triage. By day three, you've got a working plan. Every family I've moved in TN and KY has followed roughly that rhythm — and every single one made it.
Section 02
The 12-month horizon.
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If you got lucky and have real lead time, this is where the move stops being a scramble and starts being a strategy. These are the items that save thousands of dollars and dozens of headaches later.
- Automate monthly PCS savings. Target $2,000–$5,000 by move day. DLA covers some of it; reality covers the rest.
- Research the new BAH rate for your rank + dependency status. BAH at Fort Campbell is not BAH at Fort Knox — your buying power changes.
- Pull your credit reports (all three bureaus). Fix errors now — disputes can take 60 days to resolve, and you need clean credit for the next loan. See what your score does to your rate →
- Get your VA loan entitlement statement from eBenefits or your lender. Know exactly how much entitlement you have remaining, especially if you own a home you're keeping.
- Start the declutter in honest bursts. One closet per weekend. Nothing that hasn't been worn/used in 18 months gets packed on the government's dime.
- Make the sell-or-rent decision on your current home. Talk to a realtor AND a property manager at least 9 months out. The math is real and personal. Work through the decision here →
- If selling: start the light-touch prep. Paint, declutter staging areas, fix what buyers will flag. A year of slow work beats a month of panic repairs.
- Visit the new base if at all possible. Even a long weekend. Drive the neighborhoods. Eat at the diner. Your online research lies to you in both directions.
- Identify your "must-haves" and "deal-breakers" for the next home. Write them down. When you're exhausted on house-hunting leave, this list saves you from settling.
- Research schools for every kid. Not just the rating — the programs they'll actually use (IEP, gifted, marching band, JROTC).
- Spouse career planning begins now. MSEP employer list, license reciprocity in TN/KY, remote options, SECO counselor appointment booked.
- Pet logistics: vaccines, microchip, records. Some breeds can't ship by air in summer. Some bases have breed/weight restrictions on housing. Check early.
- Medical: note every ongoing prescription and specialist. You'll need continuity-of-care letters, and some referrals don't transfer cleanly.
- If EFMP-enrolled, start the gaining-base screening paperwork now. It's often the long pole in the tent.
- Pull your last two W-2s, LES, and tax returns. Your next lender will want them before you even sit down. Have them ready and clean.
- Quietly keep your debt-to-income steady. No new car, no new credit cards. Your buying power for the next home starts getting calculated 6 months before closing.
From Lola · Field Note No. 02
The 12-month move is the quiet superpower most families don't know they have.
Families who reach out a year out close on homes without rushing, without settling, and usually with thousands of dollars more in equity on the sell side. If you've got the runway — use it. If you don't, we adapt. Either way, we move.
