The Central City U-Lock Blog

Using Self Storage to Save Money During the Holiday Season

Well, it’s December and the holiday season is here. And you know what that means: it’s time to shop ’til you drop! Or, is it?

I don’t know about you, but I personally love the holiday season; the homes and streets all decked out in holiday splendor, the Christmas lights are a-glowing, the seasonal desserts and beverages (why can’t we drink eggnog all year ’round?) and even Christmas music on the radio. I’m just a sucker for all that stuff. And above all, the holiday season is a time to visit and reconnect with friends and family.

But, then there’s the shopping…and the spending…and the buying. Let’s not also forget the standing in long holiday lines to buy items that sometimes you don’t even know if you can really afford to buy all at one time in the first place. This is the part of the holiday season that I am not quite as much of a fan of. Too much stress, not enough holiday cheer.

To beat the insanity that is holiday shopping, I do my holiday shopping bit by bit all year ’round. After all, just like “a watched pot will never boil”, having to find all the perfect gifts for people at one specific time can be a highly stressful and unlikely proposition (I believe this phenomenon was responsible for the invention of the #1 last minute gift item of desperation; the gift card). So, instead of trying to force it all before Christmas, I purchase things for my friends and family throughout the year as I run across them, and then put them into storage to await their yule-tide unveiling. Less stress, more cheer!

For one thing, it’s just great to have the time to fully enjoy the holidays without that nagging sensation that one should be out shopping that is brought about with every commercial you’re likely to see on television or hear on the radio. After all, the whole point of Christmas is to be giving to others, so I’d rather focus on the giving during the season and the buying during the off-season.

Of course, there is the economic angle, which is probably the biggest advantage to doing it this way. One example would be that most people rush out the day after Christmas to scoop up some post-holiday rock-bottom deals. This is smart. However, most are never thinking of the next Christmas to come. They figure they will just do that later, and they are burnt out on shopping anyway since they just recently had to join the swirling masses and crowded stores for that perennial marathon shopping-spree. It is much more economical to buy gifts during the times when retailers are looking to clear out space than during the traditional shopping season. It’s more of a buyer’s market. Buy what you run across, without the pressure of a looming Christmas deadline and put it into storage.

Of course, once you start shopping like this you will have to find appropriate storage solutions for these items as the await their unwrapping. Storing them at home can be fine, but can also increase the clutter in basements and attics and, especially for the larger-sized gifts, ruin the surprise potential if you’ve purchased these items for people with whom you live. Why store these items in self storage? It’s cheap, easily accessible and your gift stash can be out-of-sight and out-fo-mind for you and for those who will be receiving them when the time is right.

So, I say, avoid the holiday crunch and just buy things as you find them all year ’round, then put them into storage. (Preferably at Central City U-Lock ) You’ll be glad you did as you’ll have better gifts with less money spent. Additionally, while everyone else is running around doing all that last minute Christmas shopping, all you have to worry about is wrapping your gifts and hanging your stockings with care.

Happy holidays!

DC

Staff Writer

The Storage Misadventures of our Staff Writer D.C.

If you are lucky enough to to live in a large house that has an attic, basement or crawl spaces, it is indeed appealing to use these areas as storage spaces.  However, I am about to tell you two cautionary little tales that happened to our staff writer D.C. while he was trying to store things in these sorts of areas. I am not saying that these experiences are commonplace, but since he witnessed them first hand, they are certainly some things to watch out for.

1. Rats

About four years ago, D.C.’s house was overcome by an infestation of rats and mice.  D.C.  had heard little sounds in the walls and saw evidence of rats here and there, but by the time he got around to calling the exterminators, it was way too late.  Apparently, the rats had already been living and breeding in the attic and ceiling spaces for months. D.C. was crushed when he worked his way to the back of the attic to grab his late grandfather’s suit to wear to a friend’s wedding and found it half devoured on the hanger! Rodents can destroy clothing and paper items at an alarming rate, D.C.  found out that day. Basically, they have to constantly chew on things to keep their teeth sharp.   Boxes, books, old records, and apparently suits, are all perfect tooth-sharpening fodder for those little guys.

2. Wet Storage

About two years before the rat incident, D.C. had a power outage that lasted a day and a half. This would not have been that big of a deal to him, but he lived in an old house that used an electronic sump-pump in the basement to flush out the water that occasionally appears there during the rainy season. And, you guessed it: it rained the whole time the power was out. The basement flooded and he lost a lot of  items that he had recently moved out of an extra room. Some of it, he managed to save by drying it out (papers and slides and such). Ironically, he almost burned the house down by hastily trying to dry the soaked items over the heater in his living room (don’t ask). Which brings me to the third thing that can claim the valuable items you might be trying to store, but for which I have luckily no humorous D.C. story with which to exemplify:

3. Fires

If you are trying to store valuable items, such as back-ups of computer data or old, irreplaceable and seldom-seen memorabilia, it makes sense to store these items separate from all the other items that you use everyday in your house. I personally store my computer back-ups and rarely-used but yet valuable items separately from my house at Central City U-Lock. Therefore, if the unthinkable were to happen and there was a fire in my house, I know that these items will survive.

So, all I am saying by relaying these absolutely true (I swear it!) stories to you, is that sometimes it can be wise to store items away from your home in order to better your chances of their survival. Here at Central City U-Lock (your storage Surrey leaders, btw), our self storage spaces will keep your items safe from animals and the elements. So, instead of having all of your belongings in one place and having to worry about remembering to monitor their safety yourself, why not place your belongings someplace truly “out of sight, out of mind?”