'Embedded' storage: When our belongings own us

re: 'Embedded' storage: When our belongings own us

Becca — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 17:13:26 GMT

I have been deeply concerned by the exploitative nature of the storage industry for years. My husband worked for a number of companies over several years. One serious issue that was not raised in this article is the expliotation of the poor. If you miss just one payment on your storage unit the company will put an "overlock" on your door and deny you access to any part of your stuff. If you miss payments for 3 months the company has the right to dispose of the contents of your unit through a public auction (which you may not participate in). If I do not pay the rent on my apartment I may still access my belongings up until the moment of eviction. Once evicted I may pick my belongings up off the side of the road if I did not already move them out. I'm not encouraging people to skip paying their bills by any means. But I have seen too many people lose truly valuable items.

Also, read the fine print before you rent. Most companies assume zero liability if your belongings suffer damager from bugs, mice or leaking water. And all sotrage buildings have problems with all 3 of those. How horrible to have stored a sofa to make your house look uncluttered for sale only to find mice have made it into their bed. Or that the roof leaked and it now has mold.

re: 'Embedded' storage: When our belongings own us

Dee — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 11:39:08 GMT

I am surprised no one seems to have discovered consignment stores! Why store it or give away your things at yard sale prices when you can make much more consigning it---esp.furniture and decorating items? Yard sale shoppers will want to pay 2.00 for that little bedside table that you can sell at a consignment store for a personal profit of 20.00 or more. In fact, a lot of those yard sale shoppers actually buy your things to re-sell at consignment stores. Why let them make the money, instead of you?

I personally love to shop consignment stores too when I really need something. I often find better quality furniture(even if it may require some work) , truly unique items, signed art prints, and great hostess or birthday gifts. And it's fun to see my own discarded things being "adopted" by another shopper.

While I agree that charity thrift shop donations are a worthy cause and it does seem easier to curb dump, these tough times make me more inspired to clean out my "stuff" and head off to my local consignment store first. They won't take a lot of the little things like dishes,etc. so that goes in the yard sale or to charity. It feels great to clean out and then pick up a check at the end of the month---kind of like a reward for clearing out my things. Now I just wish I could convince my husband to work on his office.

re: 'Embedded' storage: When our belongings own us

Sandy O. — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 22:02:34 GMT

Time to re run this article. This is a great way to cut costs for storage units, a good hobby to keep from shopping, and a good way to make money selling the junk. I find living in a home that has been cleaned out is extrememly pleasant and peaceful. Organized, half full spaces and drawers are so easy to work around. The inner peace and feeling of wealth, of having just the right amount of things, is beautiful. Getting rid of the junk that got you into financial trouble in the first place, is more fun that the money you save, even.

re: 'Embedded' storage: When our belongings own us

Eric — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 20:40:29 GMT

Storage condos are great! I bought one and put in an indoor basketball court (1/3 scale) ... and it also has a baseball batting net the pulls out of the walls ... tranforms to a 2/3 scale volleyball court ... and has a 15 foot by 20 foot rebound wall on one end to hit tennis balls into...

re: 'Embedded' storage: When our belongings own us

Scooter P — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 19:19:45 GMT

I have taken my family from a 2700sq ft, to a 1200 and then 1100 sqft homes and now my last building project is a 1300sqft home with no basement nor a garage. We have had to eliminate alot of "tag along STUFF' that has accumulated over the years. With out the storage you are forced to make decisions about what has to go. Life is getting simpler although I do miss my workout equipment a little. But hey suck it up go for a walk or join a gym. Great topic.

re: 'Embedded' storage: When our belongings own us

Tiger Joe — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:05:53 GMT

I'm a Tigrophiliac, so I'd buy collectible tigers like it was an obsession. If it had anything to do with Tigers, I called it Tigrobilia and I bought it!

Eventually I realized I had a room full of this stuff, with no easy way to display it. I have long since stopped buying Tigers in grrr-r-eat quantity. I keep a modest amount in my living room, but not modest enough to make it in anyway difficult to guess that I'm a Tigerboy.

re: 'Embedded' storage: When our belongings own us

Scott Osborn — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 07:37:17 GMT

Our economy is now geared to people who's leasure activity is based on shopping - for anything - wheather they need the stuff or not. Take my wife (please). I have watched her in stores just walking up and down aisles, picking things up, looking at them, and just throwing the stuff in her cart. She just loves the act of purchasing an item without any thought if it's needed or where to put it when it gets home. Every other month or so I take a trunk-load of items that I find suffed in drawers or closets to the thrift store and my wife never notices that they're missing. In our buy-buy economy, Americans have too much stuff that they don't need and even don't want we just aquire it anyway because it's there on the shelves to take.

re: 'Embedded' storage: When our belongings own us

Mayanot B Angelou — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 06:31:22 GMT

i too battle what i've recently realized owns me. my family just increased by two (twins) and we moved from 2000+ square feet and a 3-car garage to just under 1500 sf with a 1.5 car garage. we have waaayy too much stuff and i am too cheap to pay to hang onto it. stuff gets advertised on craigslist for one month at most, then posted to freecycle.org and after that I schedule a garage sale followed by a Salvation Army pickup. we're almost through all the hubcaps, infant toys, craft supplies and leftover glass vases but it's taken months. never again will i let my crap overrun my life!!!

re: 'Embedded' storage: When our belongings own us

Stan Steamer — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 06:57:34 GMT

My Mom, who has learned a few things over the years, tries to toss two things for every one new thing she brings into the house. I'd love to be like her. I've worked in various forms of publishing and broadcasting for about a thousand years and have accumulated a basement full of documents that, I like to think, have some sort of historical importance. I'm beginning to think that I am not the museum for posterity. Do I really need more than 100 LPs? Does anyone else really want the other 500 LPs? I don't think so. And all of the ads and articles and books and.... I haven't even got to the tools and spare parts that, I keep thinking, I'll need one of these days. You know, as the days grow fewer, the odds decrease that I'll need any of them.

I wish I were better organized to triage some of this stuff, but sooner or later, you just have to commit a massacre of the innocents and toss, toss, toss. Give old but usable stuff away. (I once gave away a riding lawn mower to a friend with a bigger lawn. I'm pretty proud of that.) Be realistic about what you'll really need again.

It's not easy to figure that last part out, but I've tried... and I've decided the essentials are these: Good food prepared and shared with love and a roof over our bed.

re: 'Embedded' storage: When our belongings own us

Lei — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 20:30:46 GMT

We're in the same boat. Our guest bedroom and computer room are both littered with stuff! The majority of it being from my SO's past marriage. Slowly but surely we're cleaning stuff out and really thinking hard about not accumulating more junk. Little by little it's getting better.

But not only is it storage space, but containers to store your things in and then send to storage that can add up. Like I've read in another article, many people need to take into context the maintenance of a product, not only things we know we'll have to take in from time to time like a car, but also things that take up space. Even something as insignificant as a cup may one day cost you time and money trying to find a "home" for it.