PCS to Okinawa – Expenses Part 2

Planning Your Oconus Move – Lodging Costs

Once you’ve planned out your household costs for your OCONUS move as we covered in part 1 of our expenses guide, it’s time to think about lodging and travel costs. These can roughly be broken down into:

• TLF or hotel accomodation prior to your move. Don’t forget to budget for time at your CONUS or OCONUS location prior to the move to Okinawa. Often forgotten cost!
• TLA accomodation in Okinawa. This is where we can help! There’s a wide variety of TLA accomodation in Okinawa including on base at facilities like WestPac Lodge on Camp Foster, Camp Courtney and Camp Hansen TLA Lodging facility but there’s also a wide variety off base if on base TLA lodging is full in Okinawa. Look out for our next article on what to look out for when choosing off base accomodation.
• Off base moving costs. If you’re going to be living off base after TLA then you need to budget for first month, last month, security deposit, utility fees, pet fees and agent fees. It’s also worth checking out G.I bill pay for after you move in who can handle all your monthly Okinawa bills for you.
• Pet Fees. Don’t forget your furry friend and any kennel fees at both ends as well as necessary transport/vet costs.
• Travel costs. Things like gas costs, rental cars, airplane tickets. Make sure to budget for any travel to your station.

The good news is that although the list of costs is a long one, there’s a lot of help available depending what you need to pay for. Apart from reimbursements, per diems and advances there could be loans available depending on your situation to cover off base moving fees. Just try to save as much as you can for the move then if you end up with too much……celebrate with a great Japanese feast in Okinawa!