Author : Anna Creighton
Our best storage unit was a school bus. Go ahead and
raise your eyebrows; I raised more than eyebrows when I
came home to find the bus in our driveway.I thought my husband had lost his mind when he bought it
on silent auction [$601] and had it towed [$100] because it
didn't run. But now, I have to give Gary credit: he had a
solid plan.Everyone needs good storage - spaces and systems - but not
everyone can go out and get a bus for the purpose, or would
even want to! Instead, Gary's story just might give you
some ideas to help you "think outside the box," and create
some extraordinary storage space yourself.It was a 32 foot school bus, one of the really big ones.
It looked so massively out of place in our driveway, and
so… yellow. I painted the exterior light brown [$20] in an
effort to make it 'blend'. Then we got to work making the
behemoth useful.We took out all the seats and hauled them to the landfill
[$14]. Then we washed it down inside. The interior
measurements are 24 x 6 x 7.5; we had 1080 cubic feet of
dry and clean storage space.Next, my husband got busy making the bus run. Turns out,
it only needed a push-rod replacement [$80]. He had it
working in no time. Now our 'storage unit' was clean, dry,
AND portable!We built some shelves over the wheel wells with recycled
2x4s and plywood, and we were all set to fill it up with
stuff! Total cost: 601+100+20+14+80 = $815Compare that to our expenses from renting at a mini-
storage facility. For $60 a month, we had 1,000 cubic feet
of storage space in a 10 x 10 x 10 unit. Eleven months and
$660 dollars later (plus tax), we emptied out the unit and
moved the stuff into our storage-bus.From the rental, all we had to show for the money was our
same old stuff, (some of which was honestly not worth the
cost of storing it). However, with the school bus, we had
all our stuff conveniently on-site, plus ownership of a
valuable piece of equipment. All for about the same price
as renting an inconveniently located unit for 11 months.Clearly, the bus for our situation was a winner. But of
course, a bus won't work for everyone. Let's say you live
downtown in an apartment. Or you live in a neighborhood
with covenants. Or it simply offends your sense of
aesthetics. I can relate.The point is that if you are just paying month after month
for storage space, you might take a moment to re-think your
set up, and make a new plan - saving yourself some money
while you're at it.One of the best alternatives is just to get rid of a lot
of the stuff, especially if you're not using it anyway.
But if that's not an option or you're not willing to do
that, then think long-term and create some space.If you have room outdoors, it might be cost-effective to
take the money you will pay over time renting storage to
have a shed built, or buy a pre-fab shed from one of the
big Home Stores.If you live in an apartment, you might be better off than
renting storage if you make a one-time investment in having
a carpenter build fitted shelves for an under-utilized
closet. Besides, it's nice to have your things readily at
hand.It's an overlooked fact: having stuff costs money. Not
just to buy it, but also to maintain it and store it.
However, if you put a little thought into how and where you
keep your stuff, you'll get better value in the long run
for your time and money.Professional organizer and author Anna Creighton contributes to Full Storage . For additional articles by Anna, visit FMP Tools.
Keyword : rent,rental,save money,expenses,storage,self-storage,storage system,storage space,convenience
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