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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