Let me tell you about my neighbor Dave.
Dave’s got this storage unit. Has had it for like four years now. He pays a hundred and twenty bucks a month. Every month. Like clockwork.
Last week I ran into him at the mailbox and asked him what he’s even keeping in there. You know what he said? “Honestly man, I don’t really remember.”
He doesn’t remember.
He’s spent almost six thousand dollars on a space and he can’t even tell me what’s inside it. That’s insane when you actually stop and think about it.
But here’s the thing. Dave’s not stupid. He’s just like you and me. We get busy. We move. We shove stuff in a unit thinking it’ll be temporary. Then life happens and we just keep paying the bill because it’s easier than dealing with it.
I work at a storage place now. Been doing it for a few years. And I see Daves everywhere. So many people walking around with this quiet guilt about their storage unit. Like it’s this embarrassing secret. They know they’re wasting money but they don’t know how to stop.
So let’s just talk about it. No judgment. Just real talk about where your money’s going and how to keep more of it.
The Stuff Trap
Here’s what I notice when people come in to rent a unit. They’re usually stressed. Moving is stressful. Life transitions are stressful. Divorce, death in the family, kids leaving for college, job changes – all of it.
And when we’re stressed, we make bad decisions. We don’t think clearly. We just want the problem to go away. So we rent the biggest unit we can afford because we don’t have time to sort through everything right now.
I get it. I really do. I’ve been there.
But here’s what happens next. That “temporary” situation becomes permanent. You get settled into your new place. You don’t need that stuff anymore. But it’s already in the unit and you’re already paying for it so you just… keep paying.
And a year goes by. Then two. Then five.
I had this older gentleman come in once. Sweet guy. Wanted to rent a unit for his wife’s craft supplies. She had passed away a few months earlier and he just couldn’t bring himself to get rid of her stuff. I totally understood.
But I asked him – and this was hard to ask – “Sir, do you craft?”
He laughed. A sad laugh. Said no, he couldn’t even sew a button.
“So why are you storing all of this?” I asked him gently.
He got real quiet. Then he said, “I don’t know. I just felt like I was supposed to keep it.”
That broke my heart a little. But it also made me realize something. So much of what we store isn’t about the stuff itself. It’s about guilt. It’s about obligation. It’s about not wanting to make a decision.
But here’s the truth. Keeping something in a storage unit doesn’t honor the person you lost or the life you used to have. It just costs you money. You can let go. It’s okay.
The Size Lie
Okay so here’s something nobody tells you when you rent a unit.
The difference between a ten by ten and a ten by fifteen doesn’t look like much on paper. But that extra five feet? That’s like a whole extra room. And you’re paying for it every single month.
But here’s the thing. Most people don’t need that extra room. They just think they do because they’ve never learned how to pack right.
I’ve seen people cram a three bedroom apartment into a ten by fifteen. And then I’ve seen people with barely a studio apartment’s worth of stuff rent the same size. They just don’t know any better.
If you stack your boxes to the ceiling – and I mean all the way up – you’d be amazed how much you can fit in a smaller space. Use shelves. Use those plastic storage bins that stack. Put heavy stuff on the bottom, light stuff on top.
And for the love of everything, leave a path down the middle. Nothing drives me crazier than seeing someone’s unit where you can’t even walk inside because they just threw everything in there. How are you supposed to find anything? How are you supposed to get to your stuff?
Every time you can’t find something and have to buy a replacement, that’s money you didn’t need to spend. You’re literally paying to store something and then paying again to replace it. That’s just throwing cash in the garbage.
The Location Game
Here’s another thing.
Storage places near the city cost more. Way more. Sometimes double what you’d pay fifteen minutes out.
And I get it. Convenience matters. If you’re running a business out of your unit and you need to access it every day, pay for that location. Makes total sense.
But most of you aren’t doing that. Most of you visit your unit maybe once a month. Some of you haven’t been there in six months and you know who you are.
So why are you paying for premium location?
I had this one guy who moved his stuff from a facility right downtown to our place. We’re maybe ten minutes further out. He saved sixty bucks a month. That’s seven hundred and twenty dollars a year.
For driving an extra ten minutes on the rare occasion he actually needed to go there.
You tell me that’s not worth it.
The Insurance Thing
Let’s talk about insurance for a second because nobody ever does.
You know how every storage place asks if you want insurance? Some people say no because they think it’s a scam. Some people say yes because they’re scared.
Both groups are probably wrong.
If you have homeowners or renters insurance, check your policy. A lot of them cover stuff in storage. Like automatically. You might already be covered and not even know it. If that’s the case, you’re paying for insurance twice.
But if you’re not covered? Get it. I’m serious.
I’ve seen units flood. I’ve seen units catch fire. I’ve seen people break in. It doesn’t happen often but when it does, it’s devastating. People lose everything.
The insurance is cheap. A few bucks a month. That’s nothing compared to replacing all your stuff.
But don’t pay for it if you don’t need it. That’s just wasted money.
The Autopilot Problem
Here’s the biggest money waster of all and it’s so simple you’re gonna be mad at yourself.
Autopay.
Yeah, I said it.
When you set up automatic payments, you stop thinking about your storage unit. The money just disappears from your account every month and you don’t even notice.
That’s the whole problem.
If you had to write a check every month, you’d think about it. You’d wonder if you still needed it. You’d consider whether you could downsize. But because it’s automatic, you just don’t.
I’m not saying autopay is bad. It’s convenient. I use it for my gym membership. But I also go to the gym. I’m using what I’m paying for.
If you’re not using your storage unit, you shouldn’t be paying for it.
So here’s what I tell people. Turn off autopay. Just for a month. Force yourself to make the payment manually. See how it feels. See if you have that moment where you’re like “wait, why am I even paying this?”
That moment is when you’ll finally do something about it.
The Real Cost
Let me do some math for you that might hurt a little.
A hundred dollars a month doesn’t sound like much. That’s like a couple of dinners out. No big deal, right?
But a hundred dollars a month for ten years is twelve thousand dollars. Twelve thousand dollars for a box of stuff you probably don’t even want anymore. What could you do with twelve thousand dollars? Vacations. Home improvements. A down payment on a car. College savings for your kid. Literally anything besides a metal box in a concrete building.
And I’m not trying to make you feel bad. I’m trying to wake you up. We all waste money on stuff. I waste money on coffee. I waste money on streaming services I never watch. It happens. We’re human. But this is different. This is recurring. Month after month after month. It’s a leak in your financial boat and you’re just letting it drip.
What We’re Doing About It
At our place, we actually try to help people with this stuff.
I know that sounds weird coming from someone who runs a storage facility. Like, why would we want you to pay less? That’s bad for business, right?
But here’s the thing. We’d rather have a customer who’s happy and stays with us for years than someone who’s miserable and leaves the first chance they get. So when you come to us, we don’t just hand you a unit and take your money. We ask questions.
What are you storing? How long do you think you’ll need it? Are you open to downsizing later?
We show you different sizes. We tell you honestly if we think you can fit into something smaller. And if we notice you haven’t visited your unit in a while, we might even give you a call. Just to check in. See if you still need that space.Yeah, it’s a little weird. But people appreciate it. They appreciate that we’re looking out for them instead of just taking their money.
The Bottom Line
Look, at the end of the day, it’s your money. You work hard for it. You should decide where it goes.
All I’m saying is – take a good hard look at your storage situation. Ask yourself the tough questions.
Do I really need all this stuff? Could I fit it in a smaller space? Am I paying for location I don’t use? Is my insurance costing me money I don’t need to spend?
And then do something about it.
Go through your unit. Purge the stuff you don’t need. Repack properly. Consider downsizing.
It’s one weekend of work. Maybe two. And then you’re saving money every single month going forward.
That’s not a bad return on investment.
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