it may be a mistake to rent storage. It costs a LOT of money, that they dont have to spare. I rented storage when we moved, the intent was the stuff would be in there for 4 months…. 2 years later i donated or gave away half, 10% was ruined, 10% was sold—-so 70% was never bought back to my home —and i had made huge huge cuts in decluttering and only paid for the ‘important good stuff’ to go to storage. Maybe 10% of the stuff I have currently re-incorporated into my life. The remaining 30% is clogging the garage (2.5 years since the rental). And I will need to deal. With it this summer. Now that 10% I did re-incorporate, i can say without hesitation, i would have been better off taking the thousands $$$ i spent on storage, not to mention the mental clutter and frustration of dealing with it over the years, and just buying the few things i did want…and i have to say that of the 10% reincorporated- i likely would not have re-purchased any of it had the whole storage unit disappeared!!!
I try to justify the time money and aggravation against storage with the alleviation of the pain of having to make the decisions to let go all at once. But 20/20 hindsight i know that that procrastination came at a VERY steep cost. I worried constantly about the money being spent, and already spent on all the stuff. Almost everyday i worried about having to get over. To the storage unit to try to clear it out. As it became clear there were issues to contend with keeping the stored items “safe”, there are rodents, bugs, moths got into my wool rugs :(,water (the unit had a leak) then anything not damaged by water directly, you have to worry about mold, and if it is not a conditioned space you have to worry about mold and temperature damage, getting too hot and dry is also damaging to materials. And of course there is theft, several times, despite the facilities security measures there were break-ins. Also, when eh facility does maintenance they will require you to remove your belongings-even if you just have to put them back!!!!! It was this last request that finally pushed my husband to help me get the last 30% out of the unit LOL! I know most of it will be going, honestly i dont even know what it is anymore! It was a VERY expensive way to learn, and caused much relationship stress, i do not recommend it :)
