Cheap Self Storage: Solving the Clutter Epidemic
Posted by Dan in Camping on Sep 28th, 2011 | 0 commentsIf you’re a U.S. consumer with too much stuff, you have a few options. You’ve probably already tried to downsize – Goodwill, thrift store, and antique shop your way out of clutter. This is a great practice for any homeowner, but rarely yields the type of results a household really needs. You can try to organize your way into a home in which every nook and cranny has a place for stuff, but this really equates to buying more things that happen to serve as a place for other things. It’s a temporary solution to a very persistent problem. Probably the best and quickest approach is to find some cheap self-storage.
Believe it or not, the phenomenon of having too many things and not enough space is an issue unique to the culture of the United States after the industrial revolution. Overconsumption is America’s middle and last name. A great example of this is the storage industry, a type of business that was originally dependent on business clients when it began in the 1800s. Since the mid 1900s, the broader demand for cheap self storage (or “self storage”) led to the creation of a consumer storage industry that clearly capitalizes on Americans’ propensity to acquire too much stuff. According the Self Storage Association, there are over 50,000 storage facilities in the U.S., but only 58,000 total in the world. That means roughly 86% of the world’s consumer-facing storage facilities are in the United States.
About 10% of U.S. households currently rent at least one unit, and many of these units are permanent second homes for 100 to 2500 cubic feet of household possessions. The financial implications can be heavy: some cheap self storage renters end up paying far more for the space than their stuff is worth. The key to reducing the costs of self-storage is to put in a large amount of research upfront to find a great long term deal. Face it – we all think it’s just going to be a few months, but we end up renting a storage unit for years.
First determine what you need. You can use the Self Storage Association as a reference. There are many self storage services that will charge you a higher fee while offering bonuses you’d otherwise have to hire out elsewhere or pay much more for up front—like free use of a moving truck. If you already have access to a truck, your decision’s made. But if you don’t, you should base your decision on how long you plan to stay. Storage space costs vary by location, size, and amenities provided by that facility. To decide what storage prices you are comfortable with, it is important to make a list of what you want from the extra storage space. Is it size? Proximity to your home or business? Climate control or indoor/outdoor storage? Note that climate control is generally only available for indoor units, with some exceptions. Depending on where you live, climate control can be extremely important for most goods, or only important for very particular possessions such as antique furniture and valuable artwork. A good rule of thumb is that if you would store it in a garage in that climate, you can forgo paying extra for a climate controlled unit.
Decide how much space you will need. You can’t do an accurate comparison of prices if you don’t know how much space you’ll need. One company might offer great rates on really large units, but charge more than the local competition on the smaller unit that would meet your needs. Then decide if you can downsize further. As a general rule, storage prices will be lower for smaller units. Once you’ve decided how much space you’ll need, take a second look at your belongings and see if there is anything you can sell or give away. Is there anything you’re not willing to pay to keep?
After you’ve determined what you need, start the search for the best deal. Self-storage is a very low-innovation industry, and has been slow to adopt online best practices like price transparency. Luckily, aggregators like SpareFoot and SelfStorage.com can tie into storage facility management software and provide information on amenities and pricing at each location. Use these sites to search for your desired amenities (like 24-hour access, drive-up units, climate control, strong security, or free moving truck rental) and sort by price to find the cheapest self-storage unit with those features in your area.
Lastly, calculate the actual savings of short-term promotions. Many storage companies will offer a free or $1 first month, a discounted rate for 3-6 months, or a discounted rate for a contract for a year or more of storage. Consider how long you plan to rent the unit to decide which promotions will save you the most money in the long run. You can even graph the prices to see exactly when a unit with a short-term promotion becomes less beneficial than a cheaper unit with no promotion.
Although self-storage should be a last resort for organizing your home, there’s a right way and a wrong way to go about the search. Remember that most storage customers do not intend to keep their storage unit for as long as they do. When analyzing prices, remember that the cheapest storage unit for a three-month agreement may not be the cheapest if you end up storing for six months. Do the research upfront to ensure you don’t end up paying more to store your stuff than your stuff was ever worth
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