Do you have a storage unit?

[Aerides]

We have a two car garage built in 1980, and two cars would be a pinch, so only DH parks inside. My car stays in the driveway.

But we also have our laundry (washer/dryer) and an old fridge in the garage. And I took over half of it with a home gym. We have some storage racks on the back wall, but try to purge as much as we can.

We have too much stuff stored inside in closets (not clothes...stuff) and I try to clean and and donate often.

 

[iloveyoga]

No storage unit here and I have made many efforts to clean out our stuff since I retired. And I try not to buy things I don't need, which sounds easy..... but is not really. I have watched a family friend across the street from us clean out a family home that was at least close to a hoarding situation. It has taken them almost two years and many, many hours of cleaning. Not to mention two full size dumpsters heaped to the top. I don't wish that on anyone.

 

[Walt34]

We rented what ended up being two storage units when our house was being built. The drive was about an hour and a half from near DC to WV and everything we could live without for a while (mostly tools, yard maintenance stuff, and hobby stuff) and would fit in the pickup truck we moved ourselves during the near-weekly drives to see the house being built. When the actual "moving day" came the movers were packed in an hour and a half, and emptied their truck (the same day) in an hour.

We emptied the storage units within a week of moving and closed them out. It all helped a lot because when we put the old house on the market it sold in three days, in part because it had the bare minimum in it required to live there when it was being shown.

 

[Jerry1]

We have a two car garage built in 1980, and two cars would be a pinch, so only DH parks inside. My car stays in the driveway.

I don't understand why they make the garages so small. I'd like enough room to park and actually be able to open my car door to the first stop without bumping into the other car or the wall. I didn't understand this until I saw my first house being built with a 19x19 garage. They need to be about 24X20.

 

[Dreamer]

We have never had a storage shed and our 2 cars and 1 truck are all in the garage. However, I do need to go through our house and do some decluttering, especially paperwork and grandchildren's old toys.

We did pay for my sister-in-law's storage unit one time. She called my DH crying that she could not pay and they were going to keep her stuff. I called the storage unit place and asked how much she owed and was politely told that they could not give me that information. I told them that I was going to pay over the phone and they quickly gave me the info. It was probably money down the drain, because I have a feeling that it was not paid in the future.

 

[albireo13]

We have one, temporarily. We cleared out our basement since we are finishing it off into more living space. Once the project is done, by this Summer, we will clear out the storage unit and keep only what will fit in our house.

 

[disneysteve]

I don't understand why they make the garages so small. I'd like enough room to park and actually be able to open my car door to the first stop without bumping into the other car or the wall. I didn't understand this until I saw my first house being built with a 19x19 garage. They need to be about 24X20.

Our house in Philly you probably would have needed to climb out the window to exit the car and you might have sheared off the side mirrors pulling in.

When my cousin had his house built in Florida in 2009-2010 he paid thousands extra to move the entire house back 3 feet and get an extended garage so his car would fit.

 

[Koolau]

Heh, heh, can a garage be too big? I've owned two houses with attached garages. They were 24 X (20?). Could have been bigger for my needs though we could get two full sized cars inside. I notice now in our old town on the mainland that everyone builds 3 car garages!

Of course, my current garage holds a couple of hundred cars!

 

[KarenF]

We have had a storage unit for a month or two a couple of times when we were moving. Obviously a lot of people pay to keep one long term. I find that crazy.

 

[meleana]

No. There’s exceptions, of course, but my motto has always been if you need a storage unit you have too much stuff.

 

[jollystomper]

We do not. DW has mentioned them a couple of times, but my reply has been "I would rather put the yearly cost of a storage unit towards hiring a home organization expert. In my view that would be a more permanent solution" . We do have different views on what is clutter and what is not, but we still get along .

 

[RetMD21]

We have about 1500 sq ft of basement so it would take a real hoarder to need off-site storage.

 

[LakeRat1]

During the 11 years we have been retired, we have purchased and sold 13 properties..... When moving, we can get all of our belongings down to 12 Tubs..... These 12 Tubs go into storage until we purchase our next property. (summer living) then go into storage. For our winter living, we lost our home in IAN, so we started all over at our primary home..... No storage in the winter months

 

[SnowballCamper]

No, but I need one. No basement and a one car carport. I thought we were going to live the simple life in retirement, but we have a camper, 2 paddle boards, kayak, sailboat, and three vehicles. At retirement we only had one car and none of the other stuff...

 

[HMMY]

When I left for college, I took everything I wanted to keep and fit it in my dorm room. When my mom passes, I will be renting a dumpster or two.

At one point, I rented a storage unit when I gave up my place to move into a furnished place temporarily and when I went to retrieve my stuff, all my cashmere coats and sweaters were moth eaten.

My husband and I had a small storage unit for $30/mo in the basement of our building when we were 4 people in 1200 sf with two 6-ft wide closets. The storage held our luggage, scuba and ski stuff, sports equipment, and Christmas decorations. It was all stuff that we used every year but only seasonally. When we moved, one of my big requirements was closets. Now we have two walk-in closets and no storage unit.

 

[martyb]

I keep my 20'4" bassboat in a unit. 10x12x30. 6 miles from my house. Not enough room in the garage & impractical to build on my small subdivision lot. It's pretty nice with a big roll up door, fluorescent lighting on a timer, and an electrical outlet for my battery charger, a fan etc. Keeps my nice boat safe from hail storms, high winds, mice, mildew etc. Worth the $170 per month to me.

 

[bluelight]

We used one for a couple of months when we were selling our old house. I decluttered before I even contacted a realtor. When we moved to the new house, the storage unit was cleaned out and the contents came with us.

 

[ychuck46]

Never have ourselves. Even when living in our smaller previous homes we never needed one, finding the space one way or another, in the basement or garage. Now we live in a large home in retirement with a 3 car attached garage, and a 30 ft detached garage as well, together with a large attic, so our space is large to say the least for storage. In the process of trying to get rid of quite a bit if possible so our need is even less to pay for storage than before. Now if I can just get the wife to slow down the daily Amazon deliveries ...

 

[ShokWaveRider]

We have never needed one. We are not the ultimate consumers. We use what we have till it carks its then simply replace with the latest. Or in the case of furniture, we sell what we have first then buy new. Very apt for this time of our lives as we are downsizing in preparation for a move to a smaller home. We are selling (or donating) everything we will not need for a move to a ~2,400sqft home. The big house is getting a little bare now, but that is a good thing.

 

[CaliKid]

So relieved to get rid of ours. They doubled our rates in just over two years including a 25% increase recently which was the straw that broke the camel's back! Will be a tight squeeze but will encourage us to get rid of some of this junk!

 

[Music Lover]

We've never had a storage unit. Probably the only way I could ever see having one would be for a short term if we were moving.

That being said, we have a 24' x 30' garage and 2 sheds.

 

[Pointby2]

We had a storage unit for a while in Minnesota while we were waiting for our new house to be built. It was a nuisance. Thankfully we've never had one since.