Chances are at some point in your life you will need to rent a storage unit. Whether it be to temporarily hold household or business items while moving or a longer-term storage need, there is an art to renting the right unit. Before renting a storage unit, you must consider size, location, convenience, and for those who take their budget bookkeeping seriously, the cost. There are other considerations as well, which will be addressed below.
Full Service or Self-Storage?
The first thing to consider is whether you want to deal with your valuables, or you want someone else to handle it for you. This will also factor into your cost. While full service is undoubtedly easier, it is also more costly as essentially you will have movers come to pack, move, and store your items. Self-storage is far less expensive but will require you to do all the work. When making this decision, you will need to do a bit of bookkeeping to see if this will fit into your budget.
Climate Controlled?
One of the first questions you need to ask is what you plan to store. Some items will not require the temperature to be regulated. However, electronics and some other equipment or materials will react poorly to heat, cold, or humidity. This also will be a matter of cost, climate-controlled units or facilities are higher in cost.
Location?
When deciding on your storage unit, the location should be considered. The main question you need to ask yourself is whether you need to access this unit regularly or rarely. If you need to get to the items being stored often, you will want a location that is close and easy to access. If you will rarely need to access the items, the location won’t be important and can be chosen based on cost. Another factor to consider is hours of accessibility. Some facilities have 24-hour access, where others may have limited hours. These factors all need to be considered when choosing the location of your storage unit.
Does size matter?
While all the decisions when renting a storage unit are important, choosing the size is perhaps the most important. You have to factor in cost, what will be stored, and ease of access. If you plan to simply store your household or business items temporarily or don’t need to have access to the items, you can rent a unit that can be tightly packed. But if you will need to access items, you will need a storage unit that allows you to move among them easily. Coming back to your budget, you will need to consider the cost. If you consult your bookkeeping tool and find that you don’t have a lot in the budget for a storage unit, you may decide to get a smaller unit and store less.
The Bottom Line?
Renting a storage unit is a common need in life. Making the right decisions when taking this on can keep it low cost and convenient. If you are careful in your choices, you can store your keepsakes without breaking your bank account.
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