and will probably continue to be until it is over! lol! we are moving back home, to oklahoma, and are planning on doing a DITY move. i've noticed that people say that they've made so much on their move and i've seen some say that their overage wasn't worth it. i've also seen people talk about having to pay money back. why do some make money on their trip and some have to pay back? i'm all kinds of confused. lol! 

I kept all receipts made sure i weighed the truck empty and full got it signed dated and all that jazz. Turned everything in asap and got $8900 back. we banked 7500 

wow! i hope we can do the same! i know that it all depends on weight and whatnot. i've just seen so many confusing threads. some say that they don't pay for motels and others say that they do. i'm beginning to wonder if it all comes down to who you talk to! lol! 

Some of the time it comes from over estimating the weight you have on your truck. When you go to the TMO class to fill out paperwork they will have a sheet with household goods and how much they weigh. You do an inventory sheet writing down a rough guestimate of what you have and they base your advance (if you want it) off of that amount. Writing down some crazy amount that will not be close when you weigh your truck is what gets you in trouble.

We did it 3 years ago and made a little over $7k after we paid the moving truck, movers, rent, hotels, gas..etc. 

okay! well, hopefully, we can hit a TMO class soon! i'm already not really wanting to do a DITY move but my husband really wants to. i'll be the one with the kiddos, though! lol! i'll probably end up with the dogs, too, since he'll be driving the penske truck!! 

Some people don't estimate their weight correctly and wind up with too little weight. As they were already advanced money for the extra weight they claimed, they end up owing.

If your over weight, they won't give you any extra money but you won't lose money for it.

People spend too much on hotels, food and travel instead of being sensible. They figure the military gave them 150.00 (an example) a day for expenses they should spend 150.00 a day.

That's just some of the reason's. 

People spend too much on hotels, food and travel instead of being sensible. They figure the military gave them 150.00 (an example) a day for expenses they should spend 150.00 a day.

that definitely won't be us. my husband is wanting to do this move just to make the money off of it. 

It's all about how many extra hundred's of pounds of weights you can load in the trailer before the weight station! lol

Anyone who depends on making money on their move has other issues, it's meant to get you where you need to be at no expense to you not to line your pockets. 

It's all about how many extra hundred's of pounds of weights you can load in the trailer before the weight station! lol

lol! i don't think i would have the balls to do something like that! i'm sure people do, though! 

jdoll- look into Movex.com

You load up the Semi and they drive it and weigh it for you! It was way worth it for us to do it that way! 

Anyone who depends on making money on their move has other issues, it's meant to get you where you need to be at no expense to you not to line your pockets.

we're not depending on it. my husband doesn't really mind moving and his thinking is if he doesn't mind doing it and could possibly make money off of it, then why not? 

lol! i don't think i would have the balls to do something like that! i'm sure people do, though!

Honestly i've never done a DITY move myself, but have heard plenty of stories. I believe the scam involves putting several hundred pounds of weight in the trailer and getting the trailer weighed as "empty" then removing all the weight and loading your stuff and getting it weighed again as "full"...i could be wrong that's just how i heard people use to do it years ago. 

You load up the Semi and they drive it and weigh it for you! It was way worth it for us to do it that way!

where did you move to? 

From Jacksonville, NC to here 

i'll definitely check into it. we're only going 1300 miles, though. 

Honestly i've never done a DITY move myself, but have heard plenty of stories. I believe the scam involves putting several hundred pounds of weight in the trailer and getting the trailer weighed as "empty" then removing all the weight and loading your stuff and getting it weighed again as "full"...i could be wrong that's just how i heard people use to do it years ago.

Or I've heard since they pay up to XX amount of weight people bulking up the truck when it's full to get the max. weight allowance $. It's so dumb and not worth it to get caught! 

We had one really bad TMO experience and that was it, they are never touching my stuff again!!

Our one "trick". Make sure you fill the truck up with gas before you weigh it full :-)

The housing wait list is so long here TMO offers you either a Dity or TMO move when you finally do get housing.

We moved up here (I'm on Lejeune) from PI and banked $6000.00. It's only 350 miles!! Moved into housing from off base, (a measly 10 miles!) and made another $4500.00.

It all went into the youngsters college fund, haha! 

When we moved from 29 Palms to here we got 6000. You can make money and its set up so if you do it right you will make money or else no one would want to move themselves. The military saves $$ when you move yourself. So to say someone who made money moving themselves is scamming or ripping of the government is wrong. Just make sure to save all receipts. When people owe money back its cause they were given to much advance pay because they over estimated the weight or they used TMO and where over the allotted weight amount. We have friends who have had to pay a couple grand cause they did TMO and the total weight was more than the allotted amount. Another reason its good to move yourself. You dont have to worry about being over. 

Dity Movers 

the link won't load :( 

I can't seem to fix it either but it's ditymovers.com They have some great tips on how to have a successful dity move! 

I think part of the problem now is you get less money. You used to get 75% of what they paid the pros, now its like 50% 

Honestly i've never done a DITY move myself, but have heard plenty of stories. I believe the scam involves putting several hundred pounds of weight in the trailer and getting the trailer weighed as "empty" then removing all the weight and loading your stuff and getting it weighed again as "full"...i could be wrong that's just how i heard people use to do it years ago.

How it works is you have bare bones (empty tank, etc) when you weigh it empty... then bulking it up (those 5gallon water jugs, full tank etc) when you weigh it full. I've also heard of peole hiding people in the trailer to add weight. The bigger the difference between "full" and "empty" the more money. 

Sorry to thread jack, but since the topic is up, can you do a DITY move when the government moves you back to your home of record after EASing, or is that a TMO move only? I know my husband will learn all this in the TAPS class, but thought I'd ask here. 

Sorry to thread jack, but since the topic is up, can you do a DITY move when the government moves you back to your home of record after EASing, or is that a TMO move only? I know my husband will learn all this in the TAPS class, but thought I'd ask here.

I know when you retire the government will TMO move you anywhere you want, when you EAS i believe it's only to home of record.

I do not know if DITY is an option for either though i had no intention of doing a DITY move i planned on having TMO move me so i never inquired if DITY was an option. 

You can do a TMO/DITY move as well. We did that from lejeune to here. 

You can do a DITY move when you EAS (or retire). When you retire, TMO will ship your stuff anywhere. When you EAS, they will ship it to your home of record only. If you want to go anywhere else, you have to do it yourself. Someone told me that they will only pay the mileage from where you're stationed to your home of record though. Make sure he looks into that. Things change, so it could be outdated now. 

Weigh masters can check to make sure you really are weighing the trailer 'empty.' I don't think I'd be trying to fraud the government over a little bit of money. Also, the dity move paperwork clearly states that you are supposed to have your tank at full at both times you weigh. These are just the rule...but I'm sure some people get creative and aren't above stealing. 

We have made money on all of our DITY mo es. Our trick is to use ABF. It is just like tmo but you do the work yourself. The reason we use ABF is because they charge by how much space you use not by your weight. If you have 30,000lbs but only use 10ft or you have 5,000lbs and use 10ft you pay the same amount of $$. Another trick we learned is with ABF if you go online and do an online quote and then call them to ask A. For the military discount and B. For weight tickets they will give you the online quote (which gets a online discount) and you will get the military discount, which will pay for half of your weight ticks. Another great thing about using ABF is the wait time is much shorter. Instead of having to wait 2-3 weeks for your stuff to arrive and be delivered, most time with ABF our stuff arrived to the area before we did. And you don't have to worry about driving a moving truck. We have done 3 DITY moves in 3 years so if you have any questions let me know. One last thing. If you have a smaller family with pets most motel 8's will not charge you for pets and the cost of the rooms are not allot (considering you usually will only be sleeping there) if you have a larger family with pets (like us, we have 7ppl with 2 pets) we use residence inn. It coat a bit more then motel 8 but they are pet friendly, you can get a 2bed room suite for $150-$250 and you get a free breakfast. Hope this helps 

With a DITY you are paid 95% of what TMO would pay a contractor like Mayflower to do your move. The government actually saves 5% over a TMO move by letting you move yourself.

When we moved on base we loaded up the truck three times, (last trip was just garage/yard stuff and wasn't weighed) we didn't stop to get gas every time.

Oh, and they do take taxes out of the final DITY check so be prepared for that. I don't think everyone realizes that money is taxable.