The storage industry in the US is booming. With the consumer market, flourishing people are tempted to buy more and more stuff. At the same time, they get cluttered and overflowing with household items. This is why home storage is becoming inadequate. The rate of expenditure is causing such an overflow of items that people are in desperate need of storage. This is an expense but it can be well worth it, the question is, how to save money when hiring storage?

Storage options

There are a lot of storage options in the US today. When you need to create some extra space in your household you can choose on the storage option that will suit you. There are two different storage solutions that storage companies can offer. Full-service storage offers pick up, transport, and storing your items for you. They provide handling and insurance. These companies keep an inventory of your belongings and provide security. On the other hand self-storage option only provides storage space. Packing, storing, transport and inventory are up to you.

Full-service storage is much more expensive than a self-storage option but you can always cut your storage cost. There are many ways to cut down your storage costs:

• hire a smaller storage unit
• get a discount
• store important items
• share

Hire a smaller storage unit

Hiring a smaller unit is a sensible decision if you want to save money on storage. It is reasonable to declutter your belongings. If you cut down on the stuff you need to store you can save money by renting a smaller unit. So, try to get rid of the items you don’t use or need. Chances are that you don’t need the stuff you haven’t used in a year. So, try to give it away, sell, or donate.

Using a discount

The competition between storage companies can be fierce. If you couple it with the declining need for storage in time of crisis you can use the situation to cut down your storage cost. Negotiate a discount and a better price for storing your items. If you are moving check if your movers offer storage services. Getting a package deal for moving and storage can cut your cost considerably.

Store important stuff

Storage is expensive so it is reasonable to use it to store only the things that are of value. Do not waste space by storing items that you don’t need. It doesn’t make sense to store the stuff you don’t need and that has no value to you. If you are an artist you can consider putting your valuable items into storage. Or you can store valuable items that you will need in the future but can’t afford to keep around the house. It is reasonable to store baby cribs, strollers, highchairs that cost a fortune for when you may need them again. In that way, you can protect and reuse the items that you paid a great deal for.

Share

If you have a family member or a friend that also needs some storage space you can make a deal and share. This will save you a lot of money not only on the storage space cost but also on insurance and handling.

So, you can save money when hiring storage in many creative ways. Be sure to weigh in your options and do the math. Rent is not the only expense that storage entails. You must calculate, insurance, transportation and handling, and packing supplies. So try to cut corners and you will save more.