Pulling up to the gate and entering your super secret code can make you feel like you’re On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. But storage units can cost you big bucks- and unless you are Goldfinger it may be smart to rethink your self-storage strategy. In today’s video Lorie Marrero is sharing strategies that you can use when considering storage solutions. Refining your storage needs and soon you will have your own Quantum of Solace. These Clutter Video Tips are posted frequently here on our clutterdiet organizing channel. You can search Twitter for #ClutterVideoTip also to find comments on our organizing tips. Lorie Marrero is the creator of ClutterDiet.com and the author of The Clutter Diet: The Skinny on Organizing Your Home and Taking Control of Your Life. Lorie also serves as the national spokesperson for Goodwill Industries International and ambassador of the Donate Movement.
Hi I’m Lorie Marrero creator of the Clutter Diet book & online program, we’re talking about the shocking truth about storage units.
1 in 11 households in the U.S. has a storage unit & of all the storage units worldwide, 89% of those are here in the U.S. In the U.S. we have 21 square feet of storage space for every household, that means it’s about 7 square feet for every man, woman, & child in the U.S.
You may use storage units in a period of transition. Death, divorce, a move. If you’re building a house or if you have lease terms where you need to get out of one place & stay somewhere temporarily before you move into the next, it makes sense to have a storage unit. But if you have temporary housing for an extended period, you have to do the math.
You might think that you’re keeping this unit for a short time. 13% of people think they’ll use the unit for 3 months; 18% use it for 3-6 months; another 18% use it for 7-12 months; 22% of people use the storage unit for 1-2 years. 30% of people use a storage unit for over 2 years. The average medium-size storage unit in the U.S. is about $125 a month. If you keep that for 2 years, that’s $3,000. Larger storage units can be around $250 a month. If you do that, you’re spending about $6,000 over 2 years. If you have a treadmill, sofa, mattress & a few other miscellaneous things. That could be $3,000. So if you keep that for 2 years, you’ve already paid what it would it cost to replace all of those items. Then when you get them back, they may be damaged by pests or climate or water.
Another reason people might have a storage unit is because of an inheritance. They have a sudden influx of stuff they were not expecting & they’re not prepared. If you put that stuff in a storage unit, have accountability to a deadline with somebody. Hire someone to help you go through it, bring in family members, do it soon because it’s costing you money. When you inherit a big windfall of stuff, you’re going to find out a lot of it you won't want to keep.
On the flip side, if you are keeping all that stuff for your kids, in my experience, they don’t want it. Please do not pay the storage unit cost to keep that stuff for your kids that they’re just going to say no to later.
Another reason that people have a storage unit- I’m just going to be blunt with you guys- I love my viewers, but listen, it’s laziness. You don’t have time to go through your stuff, you’re going to have a garage sale one of these days, & you put it all there, because you haven’t taken the time to maximize your own storage space. Here’s some more shocking stuff about storage units- 65% of the people that have a storage unit have a garage; 47% of you have an attic; and 33% of you have a basement. You have storage. Maybe you just haven’t gone through your stuff & you haven’t gotten realistic about what you really need, so now you’re creating a personal annex of your belongings that you’re paying for.
A work-around for this is garage racks. They are an absolute quick fix miracle for garages. You can gain 128 cubic feet of storage in your garage with these overhead racks. Try that instead of paying for the storage units & having the rental go on and on.
We have 3 reasons why it’s a good idea to have a storage unit. 1) If you have maximized your storage space & you need to have another place. 2) If you have a temporary situation where you need the space to stage out things in transition. Or, 3) If you have items that are difficult to replace. Antiques or things you’ve collected around the world that you could never collect again. There is a value that’s beyond the replacement cost of the actual item.
When you see those statistics, the shocking truth is, it’s a cost that most of us can’t afford. Think about that & we’ll see you next time.
May you always be happy & grateful for having more than enough.
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