Tuesday's Epiphany

Thinking over what the realtor said last week ("OMG you have a lot of STUFF" lol), and mulling over what we had already considered doing about it, namely -- renting a storage unit until the house sells, I realized something.

98% of the things I would be storing I bought at yard sales, consignment sales, library sales. In other words, for pennies on the dollar. Or they were gifts. The local storage facilities charge about $60 per month for a climate controlled 5x10' space, and upwards of $80-90 for a 10x10 space (necessary if we are storing any furniture to make the house look nicer. Our furniture has definitely seen better days). The fact that they give a "$1 first month" special is irrelevant since if I do my calculations based on 2 months of needed storage it could just as easily be 3, or 5, or 8 before the house is sold. Revelation: I could give away most of the stuff we would store, and buy back what we *need* for less than what it would cost to store it. Plus, the thrill of the chase, trying to find something at Goodwill/Craigslist/yardsale is FUN for me.

We certainly DO have *some* room for storage, so I can make this situation work even better by giving away what is easily gotten again (i.e. kids clothes) and use that space to store things that are more expensive or I wouldn't buy used (curriculum, extra towels, etc.). Heck, even buying 30 rubbermaid bins to stack floor to ceiling in the basement room would be cheaper than 3 months of storage at a storage place. No, we can't put our old but still used kitchen table in a rubbermaid bin, but with everything else out of the way maybe we could deal with that a different way.

Thinking, thinking...