So my buddy Dave called me last week. He’s moving to Portland for work and he’s all stressed about what to do with his stuff. He’s like “I’ll probably just get a storage unit for a few months until I figure things out.” And I’m sitting there on the phone thinking… Dave, buddy, you said that last time. When you moved to Seattle. And you left your stuff there for four years. Four years, Dave.
But whatever. I didn’t say that. I just let him talk.
Here’s the thing though. People say “a few months” and they really mean “I have no idea how long.” And that’s totally fine. It really is. But if there’s even a tiny chance you’re looking at five years? You gotta think about this differently.
Money Money Money
Let me tell you about my cousin. She stored her stuff for like six years. Paying $175 a month. Do the math on that. Go ahead. I’ll wait.
That’s over twelve thousand dollars.
Twelve thousand dollars for furniture that was already beat up when she put it in there. She could have bought all new furniture three times over. And the funny thing? When she finally cleared it out, half of it was ruined anyway. The couch had mold. The mattress was yellow. The boxes had water damage.
She literally paid twelve grand to ruin her own stuff.
Don’t be my cousin.
But also… don’t beat yourself up if you are my cousin. It happens. Life gets busy. You don’t think about it. The bill just auto-pays every month and you forget it exists.
The Climate Control Thing
Okay so here’s the deal with climate control.
You know how your car gets stupid hot in summer? And then freezing in winter? That’s what happens in a regular storage unit. The metal roof. The concrete floor. No insulation.
Now imagine putting your grandmother’s mahogany dining table in there. For five summers. Five winters.
You know what happens? The wood expands and contracts and expands and contracts until the joints are loose and the legs wobble and the finish looks like alligator skin.
Same with electronics. Same with leather. Same with anything that has any sort of value.
So yeah climate control costs more. Like maybe 30 bucks more a month. That’s $360 a year. $1800 over five years. Sounds like a lot until you realize you’re replacing two couches and a TV and all your clothes because they smell like storage. Now suddenly $1800 seems pretty cheap.
But here’s the part nobody mentions. Climate control isn’t magic. It keeps things from getting extreme but it’s not like your living room. There’s still dust. There’s still the chance of pests. There’s still humidity even if it’s better than outside.
So don’t treat it like a vault. Treat it like a garage that’s slightly less miserable than other garages.
Pests control
Alright I gotta talk about pests because this is the thing nobody wants to think about and everyone should think about.
We do our best at our facility. We have pest control. We keep things clean. But we’re not a hermetically sealed bubble. Things get in.
Mice can fit through a hole the size of a dime. Actually smaller. They can squeeze through anything.
And they love boxes. They love clothes. They love paper. They’ll shred your stuff to make nests and then they’ll poop all over it and that’s just… that’s your stuff now. With mouse poop on it.
Roaches? Same thing. Silverfish? They’ll eat your books. Moths? They’ll eat your sweaters.
Here’s what you need to do. And I’m serious about this.
Plastic bins. Not cardboard. Not paper. Plastic bins with lids that snap shut. You can get them at Home Depot or wherever. They’re not expensive. They’re annoying to store because they don’t fold flat. But five years is a long time and if you store your stuff in cardboard boxes you are basically inviting every bug in the neighborhood to come make a home in your belongings.
Also don’t store food. I know this seems obvious but you’d be surprised. People store cans of soup. Bags of rice. Boxes of pasta. “Just in case.” That’s how you get mice. That’s how you get roaches. That’s how you get problems.
The Access Situation
Here’s another thing. You think you’re gonna come get your stuff all the time. You’re not.
The first month you’ll visit like twice. The second month maybe once. By month six you won’t even remember where your unit is. By year two you won’t even remember you have a unit.
I’m not judging. I’m the same way. Everyone’s the same way. We’re lazy. We’re busy. It’s fine.
But if you have stuff you actually need access to? Put it near the front. Like right in front. Like open the door and there it is. Because you will not dig through five years of accumulated boxes to find your winter coat. You’ll just go buy a winter coat.
Ask me how I know this.
Actually don’t. It’s embarrassing.
The Emotional Part
This is the part nobody talks about and it’s the part that matters the most.
Your stuff in storage? It’s basically your past. It’s who you used to be. All those boxes of college textbooks. That sports equipment from when you were in better shape. That furniture from your first apartment. Those baby clothes from when your kids were little.
It’s all memories. And it’s all stuff you don’t really need. But getting rid of it feels like getting rid of the memories. Like you’re erasing that part of your life.
I get it. I really do.
But here’s what I’ve learned. The memories don’t live in the stuff. The memories live in you. You can toss the old concert t-shirt and still remember that show. You can sell the dining table and still remember all those dinners. The stuff is just… stuff.
Five years is a long time. Enough time for you to change. Enough time for those memories to fade a little. And sometimes, holding onto all that stuff just keeps you stuck in the past.
I’m not saying get rid of everything. But maybe you don’t need to store 40 boxes for five years. Maybe you can store 10 boxes. And get a smaller unit. And save yourself some money.
The Five Year Test
Here’s something I started doing when people ask me about long term storage.
I tell them to look at every single item and ask “will I still want this in five years?”
And if you pause for even a second? If you have to think about it? Get rid of it.
Because in five years you’re not going to be like “man I’m so glad I kept that random lamp from 2019.” You just won’t. You’ll have new stuff. You’ll have moved on.
Five years is half a decade. That’s not nothing. That’s a long time. A lot changes.
What We Can Do For You
I’m not gonna sell you some BS. Our facility is fine. It’s clean. It’s secure. We try to be fair with prices. We don’t jack up the rent every year just because we feel like it. We’ve got good cameras and the lights work and we clear the snow in winter. Standard stuff.
But what I can offer you is honesty. If you’re looking at five years, I’ll tell you straight up what to expect. I’ll show you the units. I’ll tell you what works and what doesn’t. I’ll help you pick the right size so you’re not overpaying.
We get to know our long term customers. We see them come and go over the years. Some of them we’ve known for almost a decade now. You become part of the weird little community of people who store their stuff and occasionally come visit it.
And if you need to figure out if five years of storage makes sense for you? Come talk to us. We’ll walk you through it. No pressure. No gimmicks. Just honest conversation about whether this is the right move for you.
Because at the end of the day, you’re the one paying the bill. You’re the one who has to live with the decision. Not us.
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