Self Storage Units | Nine Money Saving Self Storage Tips

AND NOW FOR MY BEST MONEY SAVING TIPS FOR SELF STORAGE

Having an exit plan will save you money in the long run.

This will reduce the length of time a storage unit is needed and therefore reduce the total amount spent on storage.

Many people do not have an exit plan and therefore end up using and paying for their self storage for a longer period of time than is necessary. Most consumer usage of a self storage unit is to store stuff. Most Americans are pack rats, me included. We don't want to get rid of our stuff for fear that one day we may need it. Let me tell you a couple of stories to illustrate my point. I heard of about a person who stored some stuff in a self storage facility. It was the hand me down/Goodwill furniture and things from his college apartment, He got a good job in another city. He left the stuff in the college town and moved to the big city thinking he would come back soon to retrieve it. I am not sure of the details but he may have gotten a furnished apartment or lived in an extended stay hotel. As time passed the storage stuff became a distant memory. After a few years, he made it back to retrieve the stuff. What did he find? A storage unit full stuff that was old when it was placed into storage and was now even a few more years older and concluded that the payments made for the rent probably were not worth it. How much is it worth to pay to store a 10 year old refrigerator and beat up old couch that even the Salvation Army may not take?

At one of our self storage facilities, we had an elderly lady come to visit her unit with her granddaughter. She had been there over 20 years. She had forgotten mostly what was in the unit so she and her granddaughter were going to go through the unit and do an inventory. She asked us for a ballpark figure of what she had paid for this storage over the years. This was a larger self storage unit and probably averaged at least $100 per month. For ballpark figures, $1,000 per year for 20 years, that is $20,000 and she did not really know what was in the self storage unit. I do not know if there was anything in that unit worth the $20,000+ she paid, but I bet she could have consolidated it down to at least a smaller unit or taken what was of valuable home to reduce the amount spent on the self storage unit.

Therefore you can rent a smaller storage space at a lesser cost.

How does that environmentalist mantra go, REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE.

REDUCE the amount of your stuff you are planning on storing in a self storage unit. Sell it. There are numerous ways you can try to sell things. Newspaper classified ads, auction houses, online auctions, consignment stores, garage sales ... Give it away to friends, relatives whoever. Craigslist has a free section for stuff you want to give away. Many times, putting stuff on the curb with free sign on it will get it taken away in a very short time. Donate the stuff, get a receipt and take a tax credit. Goodwill, Salvation Army, Disable Vets, and many churches will take some things. And last but not least, trash it.

If it is worth paying to store in a self storage unit, it is probably worth insuring

If you examine the rental agreement or contract, most self storage facilities are just letting you use some air space. They have NO responsibility or obligation or liability for the stuff you store. How do you protect your stuff? By having insurance.

BUT, some self storage companies will almost force you buy THEIR insurance before renting to you. This insurance may not be in your best interest for a couple of reasons. Sometimes these insurance policies have limitations by type of claim. For example, for a theft from your storage unit, they may pay only a maximum of $1,000, while for a fire the maximum may be $10,000. Your stuff may be worth $20,000 but they may only cover up to $10,000. Also, this is an additional cost that you may already be covered for. Many homeowners and renters insurance policies will cover items in self storage unit or you can purchase a rider that will cover the stuff in storage. You should check with you insurance agent before going to the self storage facility to rent a space. It could save you some money.

THINGS HAPPENS without warning. Hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, fire and burglary happen all the time. If you have an incident and insurance, an inventory list of the items affected will greatly help when filing a claim. An easy way to help you do an inventory when needed is to take a few photographs of your stuff that you put into your self storage unit. Photographs will also lend a lot of creditabilty showing that you owned and may have lost a near new BMX Nano-Turbo Snowboard in a burglary and not something you picked up at a flea market or garage sale.

Real or perceived.

Like I mentioned above, many self storage facilities are only about as secure as your own garage. Some places boast about their security and some even have names like Fort Knox Storage. As mentioned above, the self storage rental agreement does not protect your stuff against anything. But, you can do a few things to increase the protection of your stuff when storing at a self storage facility.

Where is the storage facility you are planning on using? Is it in a neighborhood your mother told you not to visit? Do fences and electronic gates control access to the facility? A resident self storage manager adds an additional level of eyes and protection on your unit. Some self storage places have 24/7 hour access. In my opinion, there are not many instances where access at 3:00 a.m. is a good thing.

Closed circuit television with recording ability and individual door alarms is probably the current highest level of security available. This level of security usually comes at an additional cost and may not be necessary. Sometimes if you ask the local law enforcement agency directly, they can tell you if they have many problems with a certain self storage facility.

The biggest baddest lock you can find will help deter most thieves. But I saw one instance where door hasp was cut out of the door to gain entry. This could be a growing problem with all the battery powered hand tools now available, but I have not seen any other incidents of this type other than the one mentioned and that was 15 years ago.

I recently heard of another incident where the thieves used what I consider extraordinary measures. This particular storage facility was in an industrial area and had a back gate. The company required the tenants to use a disc type lock, which in my opinion is one of the better options. The thieves, at night, broke in through the back gate and used an acetylene torch to cut the locks on the units. The resident managers dog awaken them. The police were call and prevented a major incident.

Do not let many people know what you are storing or where it is. I have witnessed a few cases where 3 or 4 locks have been cut in row. It appeared that someone was looking for a specific unit to remove something. For example a friend help you moved and came back to take something you had. He did not remember the exact unit number, so he just started cutting locks. Bolt cutters are readily available and not very expensive these days.

Loose lips sink ships.

Not paying on time will signicantly increase your overall cost for self storage.

The portion of revenue received by a self storage facility from late fees, lien fees and other cost and fees associated with not paying the rent on time can be substantial. Self storage laws vary from state to state and may cover things such as late fees and lien procedures. If you do not pay your rent on time, most self storage facilities will charge you a late fee and will continue adding additional fees until you bring your payments current. If you do not pay, after a period of time, the self storage operator after completing certain tasks can legally sell your stuff in an attempt to recoup the rent due. Therefore if you do not want your stuff in your self storage unit sold for the rent, you need to keep your payment current.

To avoid all additional fees, when renting a storage space, be sure you understand the rent cycle process. When is the rent due? When does it become late and a late fee is applied? When does the storage unit go into lien and then when is it sold?

Let's look at an example of the financial fees and penalties that accrue due to nonpayment. Let us say you are renting a small unit for $20 per month. You fail to pay on time. Most storage facilities will charge you a late fee. State laws sometime regulate this fee but in most cases it is not regulated. Many places will charge you a $20 late fee on the tenth of the month. Some places will even continue adding an additional $20 every ten days. We won't do that for this example. So by not paying on time, your cost has increased 100% from $20 to $40 but in some cases it could be even more.

The next month rolls around and you do not pay again and the same procedure occurs. Depending upon state laws and the contract that you signed, at some date your rental unit goes into lien. This adds additional costs for the storage unit operators, which are passed along to the consumer. This includes certified letters, letters to the local sheriff (in Colorado), publication in a newspaper, hiring an auctioneer, processing the unit and other procedures. These fees can add additional $50 to $100 to the fees to be paid before you can repossess your storage unit.

Along comes the third month of not paying and additional late fees are added again. Usually sometime in this month if you have not paid up, your unit is sold at auction in attempt to recover the rent and other fees accrued.

Many people come into the office every month to pay the rent for their storage unit, but you can avoid that. Some facilities can set up an automatic payment either through your checking account or credit card. You can also prepay your storage rent. Some facilities will give a discount for prepayment. ASK if it is not offered. Prepayment will also lock in your rental rate for that period of time so you won't have to worry about rent increases.

Hidden costs can add significantly impact your sign up costs.

Find out what the real cost is to rent a self storage unit. At most self storage facilities, the rental rate that is quoted when you call them on the phone is not what you will end up paying to move into a unit. Some self storage facilities add on non-refundable security deposits or administration fees to fill out the paperwork. Others force you to buy their locks and/or insurance before you can rent. Some cities also have sales taxes that get added to the monthly rent. Since these charges can add up, be sure to ask over the phone if there are any hidden charges to avoid being surprised when you show up with a truck to rent the space.

Pick a storage unit type to fit your needs.

At some self storage facilities, you have a choice of the type of unit you rent. They usually have their pluses and minuses.

Units with outside access, meaning that the door opens to the outside world and not an inside hallway, usually allow you to drive your car up to your storage unit. This means that you do not have to carry things very far to put them in your storage unit or to remove them. Because the door is exposed to the outside, airborne particles (dust) are able to enter the nooks and crannies around the door and land on your stuff. And since you probably don't clean you self storage unit like your living abode, the accumulated dust is noticeable after a period of time. TIP: Covering your stored stuff with a sheet of plastic is not a good idea because of possible water condensation or melting of the plastic. Bed sheets or quilts are a better idea.

If you are planning on storing a large bulky item, such as a car, you really have almost no choice than to look for an outside storage unit. Navigating down a hallway and around corners, assuming the hallway is wide enough, would be all most impossible.

Therefore, the main advantage of interior corridor units at a self storage facility are they stay cleaner. Moving stuff in and out of them because of the distance from the car and the limited amount of space in the hallway could make usage a little more challenging. BUT, the price may be less for the same size versus an outside unit.

Some self storage facilities have multiple stories. Many times there are discounts for storing on an upper level but not always. In recent years, new multistory self storage facilities are constructed so that the whole building is climate controled. Because of this, they usually do not differentiate prices based upon the floor of the storage unit.

They won't let you move in for a only $1

Yes, they may let you rent a self storage unit for a dollar for the first month but they won't let you move in for only a dollar. They will attempt to and mostly succeed at nickel and dimeing you into submission, but it will be a lot greater than nickels and dimes.

Many self storage facilities, not just Public Storage, charge a non refundable administration fee. This is really a security deposit in disguise, but many state laws these days require that security deposits be refundable if certain requirements are met so the name has been changed. They claim that it is a fee for filling out the paper work and other things and usually runs about $20.

On top of your rental charge for the storage unit, they will add on insurance. Some storage facilities will make the purchase of insurance mandatory unless you can show proof of insurance by presenting your own insurance policy. The policy bought from the storage facility will probably be more expensive and provide inadequate coverage for your needs. The policy will probably have restrictions regarding claims, such as amount and reductions for types of loss.

And lastly, I have heard of a new recent development regarding the $1 for the first month rent. It appears that P.S. is requiring you to sign a six month rental agreement to qualify for the $1 rental of the first month. So if you move out before the six months, you loose.

Boxes are one of the standard tools that is used in moving and storage. You can use boxes to hold your small stuff and also help organize your stuff. Emptying a kitchen drawer into a box and then labeling the box "kitchen drawer" makes moving, storage and unpacking later a lot easier.

Boxes can be easy to acquire from merchants around town. Good boxes may be more difficult to find or cost some money. Many boxes from grocery stores are not really boxes any more but are only platform to place goods and then the entire thing is wrapped in plastic for shipping. Liquor boxes vary in size and some are not that sturdy. New moving boxes are pricey.

Consistant size boxes makes life easier. They are easier to stack and therefore will take up less space with less chance of tipping over and falling when storing. Stacking ability is also determined by the boxes strength and the weight of the items in it and the boxes to be placed upon it.

One of my favorite free boxes are the boxes that computer paper comes packaged in. These boxes are strong and have a form fitting lid which keeps the contents inside clean. I have gotten these from work. They were going to be discarded after the reams of computer paper were removed. Another source I have observed are the office supply store. I saw a guy get a couple of these boxes from a store manager who was setting up a display to sell the individual reams of computer paper instead of a box/case of paper.

Another source of boxes I have seen is the local box recycling location. In my town we have an unattended box recycling bin. The boxes are usually broken down. I have seen people going through the bin to retreive so boxes for later use.

Many towns with a decent size population may have someone who buys and sells used moving boxes. My town of 500,000 people has one. They are usually listed in the yellow pages under "Used Boxes". In Denver Colorado, Johnson Box on North Federal not only sells used moving boxes but also has other size used boxes at very good prices along packing and moving supplies such as packing peanuts, tape and packing paper.

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