Only one person I know had storage units and when he was dying we had to empty them for him and one of his other friends helped. He paid on it for years for nothing valuable.
Only one person I know had storage units and when he was dying we had to empty them for him and one of his other friends helped. He paid on it for years for nothing valuable.
I have a storage unit. I've had up to 3. When it was at its worst, I had just closed the bookstore. I just arranged to rent space for one month, in September, to have a GOB sale, last hurrah sale, whatever you want to call it.
Six people got the email. One isn't coming. Another isn't coming because he's across the country! That leaves 4 people. I mentioned it to one other. Invite only sale. After it's done? Salvation Army or the local library will get a sizable book donation, or maybe both. I'm done. And this doesn't address the books in our attic, our kitchen, our living room or bedroom.
My dad met my mom because she sold him books; he collected books. I met my husband because I rented a 2 bedroom house -- was going to have a library. Got a short term roommate instead (he'd lost his summer job because he wouldn't do crap work on a construction job). We've been married 30+ years. His family are packrats too.
I'm more than ready to be done. Now all I have to do is figure out how to do it without the F'n panic attacks that I get with it. . . . Details, details!
@IL, that is hilarious!
But seriously, you do have a point about stuff having meaning, particularly all of it. No way can all of it have meaning, maybe some, but not all. Honestly not sure where it comes from. I guess it might come out of family lore, for example, Grandma collected a lot of Hummels, it was her thing, it meant something to her and that gets applied to everything Grandma owned. More likely, and what I think, it comes from the guilt surrounding getting rid of it or even thinking about it.
In my experience, the things that have real meaning: the sugar bowl that sat on Aunt Mary’s kitchen table for 50 years, and the cake plate Grandma used for birthday cakes. The rest of the “matching” dishes? Meh, they can go.
But there is this notion that “sets need to be kept together” I think because they were collected piece by piece, and there was satisfaction in having completed the set. Then guilt at breaking it up ensues.
I constantly think about where things will fit in our Hermann house, and one big area of concern is all of my flower show “stuff.” Currently it occupies an area 10’ x 10’ in our current basement.
DH gets to control the entire basement of our Hermann house when we move there. I offered him that in exchange for me having complete control of decor and possessions on the first floor. Seems reasonable to me! I will never go down the basement there.
Anyway, it just occured to me that I can rent a storage space in Hermann for my flower show supplies since none of them need climate control. We do have enough land to set up a storage shed for just the flower show junk, but that may not happen right away. I have always thought that storage units are really silly, but now in my old age if they relieve some pressure I’m going to take advantage of them.
In Hermann there is a storage facility half a mile from our house.
I would go that route. If I didn't have my NJ garage that my son has allocated to me, I'd have brought stuff up here and stored it. I have a half-garage full of stuff I was "not able to emotionally detach from yet"--a phrase DH constantly derides me with. Sorry. I didn't want to be in the position of realizing I need a house twice as large and then I've given up some of the things I loved from my previous stuff, like heirlooms and expensive antiques that I'd have just given away.
I think when we downsize we have to recognize that we are choosing a much smaller living area, and so the $100/mo it might cost to store stuff off-site is better than the hundreds of dollars per sq ft you probably would have had to pay for the house, just for the storage.
But building an outbuilding at some point is great, especially if your stuff doesn't need climate control. DH and I have a "man-shed" and a "she-shed"--he keeps his tools and lawn stuff in his and I keep my planting stuff and kitchen equipment that I rarely use, as well as Costco surpluses and party plates and cups. I love my she-shed. Ours is a simple 10x 10, and I have shelving in there. It works great.
"Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
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I really is after the time of the year, when Lowe's, Costco, etc. sell their store demo sheds, but I would certainly keep my eye out. Figure out how long you plan on renting a storage unit, then what a shed would cost. Also, what about shelving in the garage?
Catherine, I think you were smart for keeping some of your stuff in case you decide not to stay in the tiny house. Our house came with a huge shed to hold DH’s junk that he wouldn’t part with.
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