I would also recommend having your mounts completed here at home. In my case, I feel the quality work completed by my local taxidermist is well worth the increased mounting cost and (as already pointed out) when shipping is considered and posssible damage repair actual savings are really questionable.

Your other point of completing your mounts at your own pace as funds allow is also a valid consideration. I have kept salted skins well wrapped in heavy plastic, duct taped and frozen for six years that I later had mounted with no ill effects. I am told that 10 years of storage in this manner is not unusual.