Everyone can use more storage. The question is not; do I need it, it’s what the best way for me to get it without spending a lot of money and a lot of time? Then you have to decide what a lot of money and time to you is? Until you define these things you will be out in limbo not knowing the best way to solve your storage issues. Though some people definitely want to have a storage building on their property, there are plenty of people that either don’t have enough space on their property or rent so they need another alternative to meet their storage needs.

Being away from your storage unit creates another set of problems that you will need to identify and deal with from the actual space and the time you have access to the space as well as payments and other criteria you need to know before moving your things into a place you don’t control. One thing I know for sure is there are sales listed in the newspaper every Sunday for entire contents of storage units where people have either missed payments or just not shown up to claim their things and they loose everything in the unit. So know what the rules are before you decide to play.

If you are one of the lucky people that have four days off to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday then you may have time to purge all those items that you don’t need or use anymore.  I can’t think of a better way to help yourself and others by giving the things you no longer have use of away to those who have less or are struggling with purchasing Christmas for their families; especially those for children.

It’s also a great time to rethink your storage whether it is in the home, attic, garage or onsite/offsite storage shed.  Think about it this way; do you have to empty the entire area to get to those Christmas decorations?  If so, you may need to redo your storage space and make it easier to get in and out to retrieve the things you need during a given year.  After all, it gives you something to do with those three other days!

The holiday season is not only the time for parties and entertainment it is a great time to get organized.  After all, you have to move those decorations in and out of your storage units anyway, whether that be a shed, a basement or just closets throughout your home.  Anytime you are forced to go and get anything out of your storage area and it takes you more than a few minutes to find it and remove it, you have an organization issue.

There are plenty of shelves, bins and organizational systems that you can buy but the main question is; do you have space to store those items or are you just stuffing more and more into less and less available space?  Before you invest in the organizational systems, you may want to invest in getting some additional space either through off property solutions like a secured storage space or an on site solution with a utility shed of the appropriate size.  The bottom line is do it now while you’re having to go through your holiday decorations and save yourself time later.

There’s a dirty little secret in the self-storage business; auctions of your property.  I learned this through an acquaintance that happens to own one of those self-storage places and he loves it.  In fact, according to him, it’s amazing how many people either stop paying the monthly fees or just forget they have things in storage.

It doesn’t matter to him whether anyone pays or not because either way, he wins.  Let me explain.  If you pay your $100 + bill each month, he wins.  If you stop paying your bill each month or forget you have a storage unit (I can understand this if there is a tragedy in the family, etc.), after a small waiting period (varies from state to state) he can auction your stuff to the highest bidder, sight unseen, for what you owe.

So if your grandmother is storing her valued china in a self-storage unit and it is worth $5,000 and she is hospitalized; it is conceivable that her china could be sold off for 6 months back fees and payment.  Far less than it is worth!  This explains why you can see the storage unit numbers in the local paper under auctions.

Of course, if you are a buyer, you get whatever you get.  So if there’s nothing much there you may pay for nothing much.  Either way the owner gets paid.  To avoid this altogether, all you have to do is get your own storage unit right in your back yard.  You will always have access and you know where your things are and who is touching them.