Hello! So, Im not sure if anyone has told you or not. But if your planning on living in a garden or a tower home please make sure you have some money set aside for the Navy Lodge. We didn't get our moving money until after get got moved into our tower. To stay in the lodge its around $70.00 a night and that will come out of your pocket until your turn in your DLA form so they can reimburse your money. No one told us that and we stayed in the lodge for 9 days and it was close to $700.00.. I want to put this out there so no one is surprised like we was.

I know some people that paid over $3000 out of pocket before they started getting DLA.

From my own personal experience I paid 2 months of my off base home out of pocket. I got repaid of course it just takes time.

People just need to be aware that when you move somewhere you need to have savings! Money and finances cause stress. Save money and you won't have that too worry about.
www.japanbases.com

Yeah, we had to pay close to 3 grand during our stay at the Navy Lodge......and, that was on top of the $17,000 we had to fork out of our own pocket to move into our house off base!    We weren't reimbursed until 6 weeks after we moved into the house.  So, please, please......be sure to plan ahead and save as much money as possible before you move here!  If you live on base, you won't have such a huge expense, but....we didn't have that option, so we paid out the ying-yang.  This wasn't our first go around, so we knew what was coming and planned well in advance. 

Also, keep in mind, we have pets.....which is part of the reason why we had such a large move in expense.  Most places require move-in costs equivalent to 4 - 6 months worth of rent, which include:

1.  1st month's rent
2.  Gift to landlord (equal to one month's rent)
3.  Agent's fee to the realtor (equal to one month's rent, plus 5% of one month's rent)
4.  Security deposit (equal to one month's rent)

* Extra pet deposit equal to one month's rent (sometimes two depending on the owner)

* Renter's Insurance equal to about 21,000Y

You may have to stay in the Navy Lodge longer than you want to in order for your advance pay to hit your checking account.  We're not military, so I'm not sure how quick they are to get that money out to you if you choose to live off base.  It may be faster (or slower) than what it took us as civilians. 

Just to set the record straight, DLA or Dislocation Allowance is a payment that is a set amount according to your pay grade. (http://www.navytimes.com/benefits) then look for the different types of pays and allowances. You can get this every time you make a move more than 50 miles from your current location unless it is your very first duty station, or you are separating from the military. This is money that has to be requested by the sponsor on paper, and should be requested before leaving the losing command. You can request it at the gaining command, but they can deny it depending on the length of time you have been there. It is "free" money but isn't an automatic that they give it to you. The allowance to which you refer is Temporary Lodging Allowance or TLA. There is paperwork that has to be turned into the command about every 10 days if your stay in the lodge is longer than that 10 days upon moving into the japan area. Upon transferring, if you live out in town you are entitled to 10 days lodging, but if you live in housing then you get one day. This is a time when the advanced pay option may be something to really think about. Unfortunately with moving overseas, everything takes a bit of time to catch up, COLA, (OHA, MIHA if living off base), TLA, and other pays as well.