Wednesday, March 11, 2009

College Students: Store Smart

The most pressing need College Students seem to have after every school year is finding a summer location for all of the items they own.

Why read the rest of this article: Because I guarantee it will save you time, money or both!

Storage Tips

1. Have someone else do all of the work for you..Yes this is the most efficient, easy, and effortless was to store; and yes it is by far the most SMART way to store. The Storage process is long, laborious, and can be very frustrating. Here is the solution: Hire a business such as Mr. Packer (http://www.mrpacker.net/) that will pick up all of the items from your room, store them, and deliver them back to your room. Yes, there are many storage facilities out there, however I am unaware of any national storage companies besides Mr. Packer that will literally pick up all of your storage items, store them, and deliver them back without you even having to move a muscle...

2. Avoid Pod Units...I laugh every time I hear of some student or even a residential home owner who has been suckered into buying a pod unit thinking that they are getting some special level of service when in reality they are not receiving anything special...First off, not only are pod units expensive but they also require you to put forth effort carrying your items to and from the pod unit outside of your residence. If you are a college student, this means waiting for an elevator, or taking stairs all the way down to the pod unit that is nowhere near your room. You might as well just take the items to the storage facility your self..Again, if you are looking for the most convenient storage opportunity available go with Mr. Packer.

3. Buy the unit a month prior to Storage! Yes you heard that right. Storage units spike up in May due to the heavy demand from students who need summer storage starting in May and ending in August. So, buying or reserving the storage unit while it is incredibly inexpensive in the Middle of April is really smart. And by the way, some storage companies will even allow you to reserve the storage unit for a month, so you may not even need to buy it. However, let's assume you bought the unit a month early in April at $60 per month which comes out to ($60 x 4 months =$240)..Waiting to purchase the storage unit in May looks like this ($95 x 3 months =$285). In this scenario you saved $45 buying the unit a month earlier. The prices may escalate more than $45 a month or less just depending on the location and the company you are looking at.

4. Package any expensive and breakable items with bubble wrap! I can't believe how many people don't do this with expensive items! It seems rather common sense but most people tend to be quite lazy when packaging boxes, and items can and will break very easily.

5. The Box must be new. If you are storing items that need to be boxed, please make sure the box is new, sturdy, and large. If you are storing your items in an old box, chances are it will fall apart and the items will fall out and break! Boxes should really only be used one time. Seriously, boxes should only be used once! Boxes are not known for there durability. One trip to the storage unit and back should be the shelf life for a box.

6. Tape the heck out of the box. Think about it, boxes are picked up, put down, placed on other boxes, etc. Every time the box is picked up it loses a bit of its durability and without tape, the box simply will break. Again, please take the time to buy new large boxes with tape and bubble wrap to fully ensure your items will not break.

Hopefully some of the insight here will save you money and time! I own a door-to-door storage business that provides storage pick up and delivery to colleges and residential home owners across the United States. If you have any questions about this article, storage, or need help with storing your items please feel free to visit http://www.mrpacker.net/ or give Mr. Packer a call at (310) 651-1540.