Save $3k Per Year or More by Throwing Away Stuff

JD at Get Rich Slowly reminds us that one way to save money is to throw away stuff you don't need -- instead of paying to store it. He tells the story of a reporter who shelled out money each month for three years to store stuff he eventually just threw away:

Reporter Andrew Phelps originally rented a unit for what he thought would be a few months. Three years later he returned to find “Star Wars figures, little umbrella thingies that go in cocktails, and more trophies and old baseballs and yearbooks. Oh my God — my Nintendo 64!” For three years, he’d been paying a monthly fee to keep Stuff that he never used.

Then, JD checked into the costs of a storage unit. Man, those things are expensive! Check this out:

Out of curiosity, I checked pricing at a facility near my home. Their smallest unit — 25 square feet — costs $56 a month! That’s almost unbelievable. $56 a month! $672 per year! Prices for larger spaces range up to $278 a month. Wow.

Yep. And Americans are paying a fortune to store their stuff each year. Consider these facts from the book A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future:

Self-storage -- a business devoted to providing people a place to house their extra stuff -- has become a $17 billion annual industry in the United States, larger than the motion picture business.

So what about this for a money-saving idea: instead of paying people to store your junk, what about throwing/giving it away? If it could save you $700 to over $3,000 a year it seems like a smart money move.

Believe me, I know what many (most?) of you self-storage people are going through. We clean out our house every summer (when our kids go to visit my parents) and we end up giving TONS of stuff away to charity (at least the good stuff goes to charity -- the rest gets tossed.) But still it seems like we have more and more junk sitting around our house each year. I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle. But I'm making a commitment to be extra aggressive in my cleaning this summer. I won't be saving myself any money (since I don't have a storage unit), but I think having less stuff will lead to a simpler, less messy lifestyle -- something I'm all in favor of.

Comments

[David]

One word: Freecycle.com

In the past week I've given away two old lawnmowers, an old door, and I'm about to give away 4 old tires. All stuff that, otherwise, would have ended up in a landfill is going to be repaired and used by others in need. It's a great site.

[Nazim]

Another shout out for freecycle.com

You can get a map of re-using groups around a location by going directly to:

http://green.yahoo.com/earth-day/find-a-group.html

The only obstacle is that you usually have to register with a yahoo group to see and make posts.

I've gotten rid of an old couch this way.

[cory]

Note: It's freecycle.org, not .com

[Todd]

I could not imagine having a personal storage unit without being a student at university or in between moves.

Before just throwing it out though, try to turn a negative expenditure to a return. Ebay or donate and make the tax deduction. Not only will eliminating the storage unit save money, it could make you some money too.

[Daniel]

They aren't kidding. There's also a mental and emotional cost to keeping all that stuff around, so when you add in the extra stress and it's effect on your health, who knows what the total cost ends up being...

["Mo" Money]

Good post. I think eBay and Craig's List are good options to storage.

[Shaun Rosenberg]

Better idea, try selling it on ebay. Turn it from costing you money to making you money

[Rachel @ Master Your Card]

I am always telling my husband that he has too much stuff and he has suggested getting a self storage locker several times. I have put my foot down every time as I think it is an unnecessary expense. This spring he started reading a book called 'Getting Things Done' and it says you need to clear your clutter. At last he has been happy to have a big clear out and we managed to find a car full of stuff to chuck out, a car load for charity and a car load to give away. We still have tons of stuff but we now have a few clear shelves, a clear attic and the house is more tidy.