Do you have more stuff than you can store? It seems this is an increasingly common problem in our household. As our four kids grow up, the mountain of stuff that we have seems to grow as well. Bicycles, paddle boards, an emergency generator, a chest freezer, and air compressor, lawn chairs. A child size teepee.
I know what you’re thinking right now. A teepee? But I digress.
Some would argue that we should pare down – get rid of stuff. Lighten our load. Thing is, the stuff we own for the most part is important (well, ok, maybe not the teepee). We just moved from Pennsylvania to Tennessee this summer, and we tried not to bring anything we didn’t need, but the garage still looks like a storage unit. With winter coming on, it sure would be nice to get a car in the garage.
As far as I can tell, we have a few options:
- Let the stuff continue to pile up in the garage, and leave our cars parked in the driveway
- Rent a self storage unit across town and put the extra stuff in there and empty out the garage
- Put a Woodtex Shed in my back yard, put the stuff in that, and get my garage back.
MINI-STORAGE VS. WOODTEX SHED
Option number one isn’t too appealing – so let’s look at the other choices.
MINI STORAGE OR A STORAGE SHED?
Mini-storage, or self-storage, is a growing industry, with more than 54,000 self storage facilities in the US. Obviously, I’m not the only one in America with more stuff than I can fit in my house. It appears self storage is a popular choice , but how does it compare to having a storage shed in my backyard?
Convenience:
Choosing between the two options, I’d have to say that it’s much more convenient to have my storage space in my own backyard. I can quickly carry the extra stuff from the garage to the back yard and store it in my shed, instead of loading up the SUV and driving to a self storage facility. When I need to access one of the things I’ve stored, I like the idea of being able to walk over to my shed and get it, instead of waiting until I’m able to get to the storage unit.
On convenience, a storage shed is the clear winner.
Cost:
Shopping online for non-climate controlled self storage near me, I’m able to find a number of self storage facilities with storage space available.
According to the recommendations, It looks like I should rent about 200 square feet of storage, so a 10’ x 20’ unit fits the bill pretty well. Prices range from $199/month to $249/month for this size space. So about $2,400 / year, for the foreseeable future.
Looking at the pricing calculator on Woodtex.com, I’m able to get a 10’ x 20’ Standard shed delivered to my backyard for $2,945 with no extra delivery fees. If I want to pay monthly, that works out to about $120 / month on a 60 Month Rent-To-Own plan, with no credit check and no processing fee.
I can own the Woodtex (including tax) for about 16 months of rental payments to the place across town if I pay for it up front. Or I can make easy Rent-To-Own payments and own the shed in 36 to 60 months with monthly payments well below that of the self storage facility.
5 Year Cost of Self-Storage: $12,000
5 Year Cost of Owning a Woodtex Shed: $3,225
When it comes to cost, the Woodtex Storage Shed is the clear winner.
Other considerations:
If I choose the self storage facility a few miles down the road, I should borrow a friend’s pickup truck to haul the stuff there, and haul it back when I need it. With the Woodtex, it’s in my backyard, so I just carry it to the shed, where it sits until I need it. In this regard, as much as I’d like to borrow a friend’s pickup truck, I think the Woodtex Shed wins this too.
If my storage need is short term, say 6 – 12 months, perhaps there is a good argument to be made to use self storage. With Rent-to-Own on a shed however, I can simply cancel the rental at any point and Woodtex will pick the shed up again, no problem. For short term storage, I’d call it a draw between self storage and a Woodtex Shed.
