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When it comes to storage units, many people are simply throwing away their hard earned money. There aren’t many legitimate reasons that someone truly needs one. Unless you’re renting a storage unit for a specific reason with a set time period (for example, you’re moving and there is a three month time gap before you can move into a new place), you’re likely wasting a whole lot of money. This is especially true if you have a storage unit because you just don’t have enough room in your current home. Sound familiar? Below are 10 reasons that storage units are a waste of money for most people.

Storing Clutter

Most people rent or buy storage units because they have too many items in their home. Unfortunately, the first items that get boxed up to go into storage are the unnecessary, rarely used items. If you currently rent a storage unit, do you actually know what you have stored away? Chances are you have a lot of unneeded clutter and are storing items you’ll never use again. In this case, you’re essentially paying to store useless items and you’re better off selling them.

Stolen Property

Storage units might be hard to break into, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. There are people who store incredibly valuable items in storage units, after all. Most storage companies claim that they’re not liable for items that are stolen or lost. If your storage unit is broken into and your items stolen, you lose out on that money.

Weather Hazards

Storage units that claim that they’re not liable for stolen property are also usually the same companies that won’t compensate you for weather damage. If you end up renting a storage unit that has mold or water damage, your property will be ruined, and therefore useless. These weather hazards are often concealed when you’re first shown the unit, so you might not even know they exist.

Prevents Downsizing

As stated, the reason most people chose to rent a storage unit is because they no longer have space in their home. If you’re moving to a smaller house or apartment, your focus should be on actually downsizing your belongings, not storing them away. If you don’t have room in your new home, why pay for a storage unit? If your true goal is downsizing, there’s no need to waste money by putting things in storage.

Empty Space

Unless you have an extremely large amount of items to store, you’re probably going to be wasting space. One of the easiest ways for storage companies to make money is by renting large units to people who don’t maximize the space. Only have a few pieces of furniture? Look at all that empty space in your storage unit that you’re still paying for. Don’t pay for space you’re not using.

Not Maximizing Space in Your Home

There’s probably space in your home you’re not using that could be used for storage. Instead of paying exorbitant rates for a storage unit, start getting creative with storing items at home. Build shelves on your walls or in your closets. Store things under your bed. Buy furniture that doubles as a storage unit. With a little ingenuity, you can find some new places to store your items.

Store With a Friend or Family Member

Of course, storing your items with a friend or family member only works if you actually have a friend or family member who’ll agree to store your items. If you do, this doesn’t mean you should overdo it and store everything there. But if you need temporary storage for a couple months, see if they’ll take some boxes or furniture. You’ll end up storing for free than paying costly monthly fees.

Increasing Fees

Depending on where you rent, you could face increasing fees each month or year. Some companies have a “special” deal when you first start renting, but will increase fees as more time passes. Other companies also charge more if you’re only renting for a short time period. Even if you shop around of decent rates, be wary of how much extra you might be charged after the fact. Always read the contract to look for hidden fee increases.

Replacing Items is Less Expensive

This is hit or miss depending what type of items you’re storing. If you’re storing furniture or appliances for a long period of time (because of traveling, deployment, or college, for instance), it might be cheaper to just sell those items and buy them again when you need them. The fees you pay for long term storage will probably be more than what the item is really worth. Before you rent a storage unit, look over your items and calculate their worth. Is it really necessary to keep the items or can you buy them again later?

Losing Your Items if You Miss a Payment

Due to the recent reality shows about storage units, most people now know that if you miss a payment, you’re in danger of losing all your items. Storage companies can make a lot of money from selling items in your storage unit. Worse, they’re not lenient about missing or late payments. You’re usually granted a very small time period to pay back the money. You don’t want to risk losing your items, do you? Even if you’re only storing clutter, you’re still losing out if your items end up in someone else’s hands.

So what can you do to avoid wasting money like this? Learn to live with less and become aware of which items you own are useful and which are merely adding to the clutter. While it may be easier to throw all that stuff into a storage unit to deal with later, you pay for that procrastination. Save yourself the stress of having to think about what to do with all that junk and sell what you can, donate the rest and set yourself free. You’ll feel better and so will your pocket book.

(Photo courtesy of pmsyyz)

You’ve already heard that owning a home can be a great way to build wealth and financial security and that there’s this mysterious thing called “pride of ownership” that makes it enjoyable to mow your lawn even when it’s 100 degrees outside. But the seemingly small benefits of living in a house that’s all yours instead of renting a hole in a box that belongs to someone else can actually have a bigger impact on your quality of life than you might expect.

Storage space: When you rent an apartment or condo, the only storage space you’re likely to have is whatever closet space is in the unit. Some apartments have supplemental storage, but you can’t count on it, and where it does exist, the storage conditions may be poor (a basement prone to flooding) and the security may be minimal (a wire cage with a padlock). When you own a house, not only is it probably going to be bigger than the place you were renting (600-square-foot apartments are a lot more common than 600-square-foot houses), automatically giving you more room for your stuff, but you can also put things in the attic, the garage, and the backyard. You can even buy a shed for your backyard to create additional storage space if you exhaust your other options.

Neighborhood quietness: As a homeowner, there are fewer people living on my entire block than there were in my former apartment building (which was also surrounded by other similarly high-density dwellings). Setting aside the obvious benefit of no longer sharing your walls, floors, or ceilings with neighbors when you own a house, with fewer people around, period, you generally get less noise. Of course, to accomplish this, you’ll have to buy a house in an area that is zoned only for single-family residential.

Pet options: Renting severely restricts your options for pet ownership. Either you can’t have one at all, it can only be a certain type, it has to be under a certain weight, you can only have one, you have to pay an extra deposit for it, or you have to pay a monthly “pet rent” for it. When you own a house, not only do you have near complete control of your property, you also have more space for animals to roam. The only restrictions on pet ownership you’ll face as a homeowner relate to city ordinances and your neighborhood norms (so if it’s your dream to raise chickens, do the research before you buy). And, unlike moving from one apartment to another, where finding a pet-friendly place is always a hassle, an owner-occupied house is almost always pet-friendly.

Control over repairs: When you live in someone else’s property, you’re at their mercy as to when repairs get completed. If this Friday is a bad day to have your toilet fixed because it’s your first vacation day in six months and you don’t want to wake up at 8:00 to deal with a plumber, your landlord probably doesn’t care. But if it’s your house, you can schedule the repair for a time that’s convenient for you. You also have the option of having someone else redo the repair if the first repairman botches the job, whereas in an apartment, your dishwasher will probably be spraying water all over your counter for as long as you live there if the building owner’s usual maintenance crew can’t fix it.

A short walk to the washing machine: Unless you live in a luxury apartment, doing laundry probably involves trudging your heavy laundry bag and detergent down at least one flight of stairs only to find out that all the washing machines are occupied. When you own a house, your washing machine will always be available — no more doing five loads of laundry at 9:00 on a Tuesday night. And no more hunting in the couch cushions for quarters or worrying about people stealing your clothes and having strangers see your underwear (unless you want them to, of course). You’ll also have the option of line-drying your clothes outdoors in the backyard, which is good for both the environment and your wallet. Many rental agreements prohibit fresh-air clothes drying, considering it to be “low-class” or “an eyesore.”

Fewer noise complaints from the neighbors: Need to assemble 10 bookcases from Ikea in a single afternoon? No problem. Do all the hammering in your house with the doors and windows closed and no one else is likely to hear it. But even if you do it outside, the neighbors probably won’t complain — after all, there are days when they need to make loud home improvements, too, and they’ll want you to return the favor of not minding their noise.

Not having to move: As long as you pay your taxes and your mortgage (and eminent domain doesn’t rear its ugly head), no one will ever tape a note to your door telling you that you have to move. What’s more, if your needs change, you won’t necessarily have to move when you own the place where you live. Instead, you can adapt it to suit you. You can add on another bedroom, screen in the patio, or turn the garage into a gym. There’s a certain sense of peace that comes with knowing you can lay your head in the same spot every night for as long as you want.

The freedom to choose: In an apartment, you might only have one option for extra television channels, and it’s probably cable. When you own a house, you’re limited only by the service providers that serve your area — not by restrictions on modifying the building. If you want to install a satellite dish or a special box on the exterior of your house, you probably can. Your phone service options might also improve in a house. For example, an apartment might necessitate a land line if you want the ability to buzz in friends and takeout delivery people from your fourth-floor abode, but in a house, you might be able to rely entirely on Internet-based phone service, which generally provides more calling options for less money.

Don’t underestimate the benefits of owning a house — they’re more than just financial. In fact, even when owning a house isn’t better for your bank account than renting, you may find that the emotional and lifestyle benefits are worth it.

10 Reasons Storage Units are a Waste of Money