Posted: 5/30/2007 7:59:30 PM EDT
|
So my home is building up clutter at an alarming pace since my fiance has moved in over a year ago. Most of it is not junk, we just don't have a good place to put everything. We live in a 2 beadroom waterfront condo and storage space is considered a premium. So I go to my neighborhood storage center, a very nice facility. All units surrounded on all sides by steel walls and very safe and secure, 100% air conditioned 24/7. A 5x10 unit cost me $150/month (That's $1800/year) The value of the stuff in there is not necessarily so high. So in essence, within a year, I could have theoretically bought most of the stuff that I have in storage new again, rather than wasting my money on storage, yet it doesn't seem right. It's not really a financial drain or anything. I'm just finding it ironic that the cost to store items around here costs more than the value of the items. The inconvenience I'd have to go through to store somewhere else more cheaply is not worth my time and aggrevation. |
|
From a business stand point, you really cant think of an easier way to make money. People would rather pay you to keep their stuff out of their way, and you do it for a small fee. Its win/win. Aside from the initial investment, you dont have a whole lot of upkeep/monthly bills, and you figure 1800 a year per unit for a large facility with 100 units, thats a real chunk of change. Edited for spelling |
|
You need to learn to organize. AFTER the house was "full", I had to give up the den so my son and daughter could have seperate bedrooms, AND added a pair of mountainbikes, AND a 5x14 foot model railroad for my son... Start thinking vertical...everything has to have a place...look at shelf space over doors, under beds, crawlspace, unused bathtubs, you show innocence when you frefer to "storage space". It's not about space...it's about volume. LOOK inside your cabinets, how much unused volume is in there? What's hanging on the inside of the cabinet doors? On the outside? Closets? Look at every shelf you own. How many have 300 2 inch tall items covering a whole shelf, that's 14 inches tall? How many three foot tall tables do you have taking up space that could house a six foot set of shelves? How many pairs of pants hanging in the closet that you aren't going to fit into until you are reincarnated as as a praying mantis? Take a walk down the shelving aisles at Wal-mart, followed by the Tupperware aisle , followed by the closet organizer aisle, followed by the office organizer aisle, followed by the hardware section...big things are fit into minimal spaces on big shelves. Tiny things fit into tiny drawers in small cabinets on big shelves. If you can see sheetrock in any room in your home, other than on the ceiling, you aren't maxed and don't need a storage unit. Same goes for doors. I used to say "it can't be done", too. Now I know better. There's room, room for everything I have and want, room for a bunch of stuff I'll probably never use, and if done right, you can walk right to any give item and put hands on it without moving anything else. It takes an effort, and a concious decision, then planning and execution. |
I have a small storage that costs $62 per month. I haven't visited it in months. Obviously, I can live without everything that's in there (except for an M1 Garand that I never unpacked  ) I need to empty it and put that $744 per year towards something worthwhile...
|