Do you have a storage unit?

We had a storage unit when we first got married, living in a small 1 bedroom apartment. We don't have a storage unit now, but our 4,000 sf house, 900 sf garage and 500 sf workshop are jamb packed with stuff that I need to start getting rid of.
 
aja8888 said:
Many people save "stuff" to give to their children someday. The kids generally don't want the stuff though.
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That's my feeling. I don't want DS and DDIL having to clean out a house or a storage unit and feeling guilty because they don't need this or that and they want to get rid of it. I had sterling silver sitting around that I never used and I sold it to Replacements, Ltd. because it's not their style, either. Proceeds went into the kids' 529 accounts.
 
Only once. We sold our home, downsized into an 8X8X16 PODS container, and stored it for 9 months while we traveled.

My understanding is that it is a very good business in our city.
 
athena53 said:
That's my feeling. I don't want DS and DDIL having to clean out a house or a storage unit and feeling guilty because they don't need this or that and they want to get rid of it. I had sterling silver sitting around that I never used and I sold it to Replacements, Ltd. because it's not their style, either. Proceeds went into the kids' 529 accounts.
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My daughter has the Royal Dalton china and has never taken it out of the boxes we put it in :facepalm:. She does have a few family heirloom antiques I delivered to her (LOL). I gave an antique clock my Dad gave me 50 years ago to a nephew in Connecticut, but I drove there to do that. Much of the nice furniture we bought in CT in the 1970's and dragged around for 40 years is mostly given away. Every time I get ready to put out the trash, I look for new things to put in it.
 
We have a large shed that our SIL built for us several years ago. Plus space in the garage.
We try to do a "clearing out" yearly of clothes and "stuff". Got rid of tons when we first retired, getting less now. But still enough to be a pain if we downsize.
We keep working on it. I haven't asked yet, but I think there are only a very few things kids will want. But neither of them have space now either, so we can't do a 'Swedish Death Clean" yet. (DH is Swedish decent, but doesn't like that saying, of some reason :) )
As the grand kids grow, we can get rid of more toys, books, sports stuff and twin beds, as they will be less likely to spend the night.
 
We are trying hard to not let the garage turn into a junk bunker. The cost to build it was as much as a pretty nice car, and we did not spend that to store old junk.

The prior owner had 3 sheds all jammed with stuff. At least he mostly emptied them before we got there. Since then we tore down 2 old crappy sheds to make room for the garage.
 
No I do not. However my friend has 6!!!

She moved (deceased) mom's stuff across the country and packed it all in there several years ago. I have mentioned this is not a good use of funds. . .
 
badatmath said:
No I do not. However my friend has 6!!! She moved (deceased) mom's stuff across the country and packed it all in there several years ago. I have mentioned this is not a good use of funds. . .
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The Storage Wars guys and gals would like to go through those sheds! :cool:
 
A storage unit is an essential part of our current mobile lifestyle.
We have downsized to the point where all of our personal property will fit into a medium sized unit, although we usually rent a larger one for easy access. All very well organized.
 
Yes, I have quite a few storage units that I rent out to others. They never last more than a day when I advertise one is available, and since they aren't subject to the same tenancy laws as a residence, it's easy to evict the tenants if the need ever arises. Almost like printing money.
 
I live in the country on 10 acres of land. No need to pay anyone to store my things.

However, I really think more of y'all should consider renting storage units. Preferably from NSA (National Storage), or Cube Smart. That way my Dividends will increase faster and I can have a better retirement :).

BTW, I'm kind of new here. Been reading the posts occasionally for several years, Now I've decided to register so I can post if I ever feel like it.
 
At one time all my personal property that mattered fit into an Opel Manta and went to college 300 some miles away. IIrc I started the drive about midnight. :angel:
 
This is funny: we discuss how to survive a recession at one topic, and storage unit at another one. On my opinion, the best way to survive recession is not to buy anything which could eventually go to storage (y)
I don't have any storage units, and my garage has just a car in it. There is some old stuff collected in closets but I try to get rid of it as soon as I can.
 
I learned my lesson when DW's mom went to the nursing home and failed to pay for her storage unit. The guy called DW and we went out to check what was in the unit. It was literally junk, not worth bringing home (rusted out bikes, old used tires, scrap wood, broken chairs, etc). DW's mom had paid over $100/mo. for over 10 years! No way for us.
 
We have 4.....All here on the property. I built an 8X8 storage shed for our Daughters stuff between moves during collage. When we moved here into the camper bought a 12x20 shed and they moved the other one here as part of the deal. Then got a deal on a 12x32 garage shed, and a 24Ft enclosed trailer.
A lot of stuff still has to go.
 
Another "No, never." We've never been big on "stuff," and after our sons all graduated college, we went through the second floor of the house and got rid of everything that wasn't furniture suitable for guest bedrooms. Now, the only stuff on that floor consists of our travel clothing an equipment, ranging from cold weather gear to scuba gear.

About 25% of the basement and a set of gorilla shelving in the garage store tools, which I still use when we are at home. Also have lawn tools/chainsaws, floor jack, compressor, etc. in the garage.

All of the nontravel stuff, along with the tractor, will likely go when we get around to downsizing (well, except for necessary homeowner tools!). My one downfall is the library and ancillary bookshelves in our MBR. The books, however, also likely will have to go when we move, as I doubt we'll have sufficient luxury of space to allow for dedicated book rooms.

Like many here, we've helped parents move to assisted living and want to make the process as pain free as possible for future selves.
 
Lorenzo said:
The shed project evolved from simple storage into a he-shed-she-shed with full-on HVAC, plumbing, etc. In the end, we realized we could have stayed in the condo and spent the same amount of money we put into the shed into renting a storage unit for 40 years.
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He he he. We almost did this! Like I said, we have a lot of onsite storage already. But I still have bunch of big tools and lots of lumber sitting in some old rundown barns/sheds which are almost falling apart. We planned to build a yet another metal building. But this time, I estimated cost beforehand. The cost of the building was way more than (10x) than the stuff I was going to store. I gave up the building idea. I will still build something someday but it would be just a space with a roof and walls built with mostly reclaimed/free materials.

FWIW the last 60x50 "workshop" I built with a budget of $80K turned in to a $150K "grand space" with fully finished HVAC space with 2 full baths, laundry, guest room, loft, bar, she room, he room and a big open space for events. I keep saying to myself that I will rent this space to recoup some money. We shall see if my pipe dream comes true.
 
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If I need more space, I rotate old stuff with the new in the garage. We added a car cover to park the cars under as my "office" is in the garage.

I've considered a smallish adu office added, but not yet motivated to build it.
 
Koolau said:
I learned my lesson when DW's mom went to the nursing home and failed to pay for her storage unit. The guy called DW and we went out to check what was in the unit. It was literally junk, not worth bringing home (rusted out bikes, old used tires, scrap wood, broken chairs, etc). DW's mom had paid over $100/mo. for over 10 years! No way for us.
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Yeah- the math on this is really depressing- unless you're the owner of the storage unit! :)
 
We knew where we wanted to retire, a place where we'd vacation 2-3 times per year. We got a stoage unit to keep bikes/skis/clothes. We also used it to start moving the stuff we wanted in the new house.

It cost us about $120/mo. But it made vacationing, and the eventual move much easier.
 
Related to the whole storage topic, I have to laugh when people have $1K (or less) worth of stuff filling up their garage, and then $100K of vehicles sitting outside.

Only time I have used storage was between moves and when new house was not ready for move-in and was out of the old house. So short term convenience.
 
finnski1 said:
No but I seriously considered building some as a retirement business. Once paid off they seem like cash cows.
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My buddy bought a dilapidated complex. Fixed all units. Raised prices. Filled quickly. Payback was 3 years.

With that said, he is struggling to get another one with good financials. Obviously, market dependent.
 
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