The average home size in 1950 was less than 1,000 square feet. Fast forward to now, the average home size has increased to around 2,600 square feet, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Despite that, according to SpareFoot, nearly 10% of households also rent a self-storage unit.
That is a lot of storage units!
Just over a year ago, in July 2016, we cleared out our storage unit. We were paying $185 a month for a small storage unit, mainly for photo albums and childhood items.
We only had the storage unit for around 6 months, but in that small amount of time we had already spent $1,110 in storage unit costs.
That’s just an unbelievable amount of money to spend on things that we knew we weren’t going to need or use for at least several years.
The storage unit wasn’t completely horrible, but there were some negatives:
- It seemed wasteful to spend $185 a month to store things that we don’t use.
- When we got the storage unit, I had to sign a paper that said we wouldn’t store photo albums in there. In fact, I found out that this was normal. This felt like I was jinxing myself, and I was afraid that something would happen to the hundreds of photos albums that my dad left for me after he passed away.
- The storage unit was in an odd location. We put everything from our last house into storage. However, that was in a town where we knew nobody, and we knew that we wouldn’t be going back too often.
So, we rented a moving truck and had everything moved to Wes’s parents’ attic. Don’t worry, they lucked out as well. We gave them all of the expensive, new furniture that we had stupidly bought right before we fell in love with RV life, haha. So, all we really have stored there are photo albums and childhood mementos.
Sure, there are legitimately good reasons to have a storage unit, such as if you are in-between homes, but for the most part, the average person is wasting money by having a storage unit.
Before you decide to get a storage unit, I recommend reading my blog post Downsizing Your Home? Here’s How I Went From A 2,000 Square Foot House To An RV.
Yes, it is possible to downsize, and I know this because I currently live in an RV with much less storage room than a “normal” house.
You don’t need all of that stuff.
According to professional organizer Regina Lark, the average U.S. household has 300,000 things.
Yes, 300,000!
Sounds crazy, but it really adds up quickly. Think about all of the plates, silverware, clothing, and everything else you own.
Also, according to Lark, U.S. children make up less than 4% of the children on the planet but have 47% of all toys and children’s books.
That is just crazy.
Given that the average home size has nearly tripled over the past few decades to 2,600 square feet, I really don’t know how people still have more stuff to store than what alreadys fits in their home.
You really do not need all of that stuff in your house.
You’ll probably never use the things you’re storing.
When many people put their belongings into a storage unit, most of the time they don’t even step foot in there again until they get rid of the unit.
This may be years and years down the line.
I’ve heard of people who forget about paying for their storage units, and after decades of not returning, the storage unit facility then auctions off their belongings. You stored it for decades, never stepped foot into it, and then forgot about all of your stuff?
That is a huge waste of money.
If you’re storing your belongings, there is a big chance that you’ll never use those items. After all, they are out of sight and out of reach, so how often will you actually use them?
Many people store things that they don’t even want.
Surprisingly, many people store things they know they don’t need or want.
So, why are you storing these things and paying for them!?
A storage unit costs anywhere from around $50 to $200 a month, and this is for a non-climate controlled unit. If you want it to be climate controlled, you’ll pay significantly more to store your items.
It’s probably not worth it to store whatever you’re storing.
If you’re spending $100 a month storing things you don’t even want, you should think about how much it’s costing you in the long run.
Even if $100 doesn’t seem like much, that’s $6,000 over a 5 year period.
Is your stuff worth $6,000?
Even if you’re just storing it for one year, is your stuff worth $1,200?
Related: 30+ Ways To Save Thousands Each Year
By storing stuff, you’re likely to buy even more.
Instead of just making due with the items and space that you already have, a storage unit can actually cause you to spend more money. This is because you will be hoarding more and more things, and then you’ll just continue to put things in your storage unit because you have that extra space.
Well, that’s a huge waste of money.
Instead, you should make due with the space that you already have, and really think about every purchase you are considering.
You have time to donate or sell your stuff.
Some people have a storage unit because they think they don’t have enough time to donate, sell, or otherwise get rid of the stuff that they want to store.
Well, with the amount of time it will take to bring your items to storage, you could probably just get rid of them.
Plus, someone else may find a great deal of value in your stuff and/or you may help someone in need!
Do you have a storage unit? Why or why not? How much does your storage unit cost?
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Even if people don’t pay for a storage unit, it’s easy to shop for a house that fits your stuff. So just excess stuff has it’s hidden cost. People don’t really need a lot of space, stuff does. Right now we have 2 adults and 5 kids in our family plus a dog. With our 1650sq ft house we all fit just fine, and that is with NO garage or storage shed! We even have a whole empty room. =) A bigger house would run us an extra $700 a month. I can think of a 100 more enjoyable ways to spend that money.
Yes, exactly!
We just got rid of our storage unit a few months ago!
My husband is a carpenter and we used to live in a house, so you can imagine all of the tools he had.
Now we’re in a one-bedroom apartment. We had put all the tools in a storage unit for two years, but decided there were better uses for that $90 monthly payment, so we took it all out and brought it into the apartment.
It is SUPER crowded, but my husband spent thousands of dollars on the tools and so doesn’t want to get rid of him. Sometimes you just gotta make concessions when you’re married. Plus, having the tools still gives him hope that one day he’ll be able to build his OWN house from scratch. It’s what keeps him going when he gets depressed about our financial situation – at least he’s got the tools to build the house. So, our apartment is just really crowded for now, but I think it’s worth it if it keeps him motivated. 🙂
Yes, motivation is always great to have 🙂
While we do not have a storage unit, we did have to buy a 12×12 double loft barn style shed to put out back. It literally just holds all of our holiday decorations. If we had not done that, we would have rented a unit. Our house despite being 2700 sqft has NO usable attic space due to the way they design houses now!
Yeah, it seems like many houses these days don’t have great layouts, especially for storage!
Wow that’s a lot of money!
I remember paying $150 dollars per month on a storage unit a few years ago and it was mostly my ex’s stuff. I’ve carried minimal stuff for lots of years, and I couldn’t believe that I had to pay for the storage. It hurt my pocket because it could have gone to other things.
I remember my mom was paying for storage in Miami while she was living in New York. I’ve told her that it’s a waste of money. It was better for her to hire a moving company to move her stuff to New York instead of spending about $130 per month.
I could never understand why people keep unwanted stuff in a public storage!
I agree!
We put some things in a storage unit (tools and such) when we moved abroad for a business assignment and what a total waste of money! It cost us about $76-95 per month (they kept raising it and there was nothing me could do since we were thousands of miles away) for 4 years and ended up for sure paying more in total than what the stuff was actually worth. You live and learn…I’m learning to get rid of junk :).
Yes, you live and learn 🙂
We do not have a storage unit. I never knew that so many people used them for small things or items that they did not really care about! I definitely think that the expense is not worth it. If I was going to use one I would set a time limit – maybe if I was doing a home renovation or something. Great topic!
Thanks!
Great article Michelle! It’s amazing how much “stuff” we can accumulate. A society’s norms play a huge role in setting expectations. The ironic thing is that people who have a 2600 square foot house filled with stuff now probably don’t feel any better about it that someone who had a 1000 square foot house back in 1950.
Exactly!
If I can find 300,000 items in my home, and then sell each one for $1.00; WOW! I could quit my job, and concentrate 100% on my business. Thanks for the AHA moment.
Welcome!
My Fiance and I still have some things lingering at our parent’s house, but even in our one bedroom apartment we have still managed to never need a storage unit! We try to be really efficient with our space, but there was a point when we completed covered every square inch of our apartment.
Good job!
Amazing read. I am so glad I stumbled on this post. So many Americans are in debt, and yet we continue to hinder our finances by making decisions that fit our “right now” needs and problems. Instead we should be looking at the long term numbers and consequences. I was in debt before, and it really is hard to break the cycle. Once you are debt free – there is no other feeling in the world like it. You would never believe how much better you feel after all your debt is down to zero. In the short term you have to make tough decisions that don’t feel too awesome, but in return; in the long term you can spend most of your life feeling accomplished and a lot happier. Best Wishes to everyone in this situation!
Very informative blog post! The most important thing that you need to know about this entire process is this: The storage facility does not want to auction off your stuff. Storage auctions are not profitable. In fact, they cost the facility a lot in wasted time that could be better spent maintaining the property and serving tenants.
We had a storage locker for about a year and spent about $1000 to store a bunch of crap that was worth $300 on a good day and which we ended up giving away the “good” stuff. Storage lockers and bottled water are the 2 biggest wastes of money on Earth.
I have come to realize just recently after years of having a storage unit and deciding to move out, that it can be an absolute waste of money. I have had this storage unit for several years. Every year the amount has increased and is now at a whopping $200 a month. I no longer reside in the state where the storage unit currently sits. I moved everything in because I couldn’t afford to take it with me and I had no time to sell anything. I was planning to get the items sooner rather than later but something always came up that prevented me from doing it. Now, I am faced with the dilemma of whether it’s worth keeping the items in storage or should I part ways and donate everything. The costs alone to transport all belongings in the storage come to at least $2000 – $2800, whether I rent a truck and drive or have them transported in a container(s) the price comes out to be the same no matter what. There is no cheaper option. It wouldn’t be too much of an issue if the price at $1500, but I honestly feel like the expenses to retrieve items exceeds the value and that I might as well buy everything all over again. Especially considering I don’t care to keep the furniture. The only things I wanted and could use are the kitchenware & appliances, Baby gear left behind (currently pregnant), and television. A lot of the items are close to brand new and never barely used. The only pro to spending that amount of money is the fact that I won’t have to pay this $200 monthly storage rate that keeps increasing every year. This has been an overwhelming decision to make because I need to make a decision very soon, seeing that I am pregnant and I am now moved into a new place and paying more in living expenses. I have honestly thought about letting it go and the storage facility auction everything, but I don’t know if this will have a negative effect on my credit. My second idea was to plan a date to travel and arrange for Salvation Army to take what they want, arrange for a junk pickup to take the rest and maybe fly back with what I can in checked luggage. This has been the decision I am mostly leaning towards. At the end of the day, I try to look at these items as only material possessions that can always be replaced. My advice to anyone is try not to keep the storage unit longer than six months to a year if possible. If you’re planning to relocate long distance, try to move everything at once or sell/donate everything instead of storing it out of state.
Any insight, advice or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated.