11.2.18
Like me, you have probably noticed the rise in self-storage facilities. They come in many shapes and sizes these days. Some are one level but take up a lot of land and others are now being built with several stories to look like office buildings. But friends, lets seriously talk about the need for these units. The original goal when these started being built in the 1960’s was temporary storage. The definition of temporary is “lasting for only a limited period of time; not permanent”. Think about storage today. Perhaps you have a unit yourself. Are you using it to store things temporarily because you are living in a temporary space and will move items with you when you move to your new apartment, townhome or home? Or, are you like the many people in our society that are simply using them to store their stuff? I recently read that one in ten households now rent a self-storage unit! As of 2017, a total of between 44,000 and 52,000 storage facilities have been developed in the United States. This equals land equivalent 2.3 billion square feet of available self-storage. In other words, it’s about the size 3 times the size of Manhattan Island. That’s a lot of space and a lot of money that people are spending to fill up the space with things that they don’t necessarily want! I have had several conversations with people who speak of their self-storage with dread. They dread cleaning it out. They dread finding what they are looking for. I ask that you think about what you may have in your self-storage. It’s probably not something that isn’t all that important to you because let’s face it, you have what you need and love with you at your home and the rest was left behind. Now let’s talk about the other negative thing about self-storage, your money! I did a search of self-storage near me in North Raleigh using a site called Self Storage.com. It quickly came up with a listing of 20 self-storage centers within a 13-mile radius. The average price for a 10×10 (small bedroom size) was $76 a month. The price for a 5×5 (extra closet size) was $37 a month. If you look at how much that would cost yearly, it’s approximately $912 for the bedroom size and $444 for the closet size. Does that make you wish that you could have that money in your pocket, savings account, vacation fund or possibly extra payments on your car or home? If your answer is yes, then let me help you reduce the clutter in your storage unit with the goal being to eliminate it. I will help you sort through what you have in storage to determine what you actually need. Furthermore, I will help you incorporate the necessary items into your household. Through this process, I will also help you find an organization to donate your unwanted items to that will bring new life to those items and let them be used for their intended proposes in someone else’s home. If you have the forgotten or dreaded storage unit and would like to discuss it or have help cleaning it out so that you could eliminate this expense and keep your money in your pocket, please reach out to me. It would be my pleasure to help you!
Contact Julie for help with your organizing needs or for a speaking engagement.