Stash Houses?

[NomadBob]

I have a LOT of crap.  I am a 'shit-magnet' and a uber tool junkie. (Welders, plasma cutter, machining, wood working, electrical, electronics, etc, etc, etc.)  Yes I know I gotta whittle it down.
I travel about a 600 mile radius to service a few customers.

What do some of you guys do for stashing/storing stuff?  Most storage units are a lot larger (and expensive ~$100 a month) then I'd need.  A large closet in a few locations would suite me just fine.  Much better then a single 5x5 or 5x10 unit.

 

[Almost There]

IIWM and I needed the stuff handy, I'd be hauling a small trailer with me.

I know that if all my stuff were spread out in a few 'closets', whatever I needed would be at the very back of the furthest one away from me at the time I needed it. My time to figure out where I left it, travel to get it, locate it in the 'closet' and get back to where I needed to use it would cost me way too much.

Buy the trailer once instead of paying monthly rent, save the gas money you'd spend on running to get things and taking them back and put it towards the little bit of extra gas you'll use hauling the trailer around.

 

[jimindenver]

I'll be storing some stuff till next summer. I figure anything that I haven't wished I had brought with me by then can be gotten rid of. Then again I won't be making money with my tools, if I were they would be with me somehow.

 

[NomadBob]

I pondered the trailer aspect. Even making it all modular inside and slide outs the back to set up a shop with a genny. But the damn thing would be too heavy to drag everywhere.

Spreading things out and wishing x was *here*, yes an enormous concern. That's where planing factors in. Granted hard for you guys to answer, not knowing me, my work and my customers.
But still looking for the small 'closets' about the country (NJ > GA > TN > IN)

 

[DrJean]

IMO space is a premium anywhere...  but one idea I had is to ask churches (email on their sites?) if they had anyone in their congregations with such space available you need ... maybe for small stipend which they could really use, you could find a few?

 

[wagoneer]

Tool junkies are a tough crew , storage is a money pit Yah that is hard to combat. I would gamble you have tools with you that you need like me a set of mech.wrenches. Got rid of my storage many years ago It hurt basically gave stuff away dime on the dollar, when i buy anything now a lot of thought goes into the purchase, had a chance to buy a MILLER suitcase welder wow did I want that, maybe use it a few times a year especially when I was pulling a T trailer, walked away Just my thought

 

[dhawktx]

When I had to throw my art studio and personal stuff into storage I found a place that had RV bays for $100/mo. I have shelving holding boxes and am working my way through everything as I pare it down.

 

[rvpopeye]

I tried storing stuff for years when I started my mobile life.
I had several places that I spread my things into , just closets , corners of friends shops and garages , a cellar and when I was in the area and got a project to do..........
I never could remember what was where !

So I got a big class A and loaded it all up ....Well no I didn't do that right away.

I sold and gave away so much of it first that what was left fit in the rig. WOW , did that hurt !

Then I lost some more when a club burned and most of my electronic doo dads were gone
and then my rig burned and some of my remaining tools were lost.
Just had enough to fix a few things that come up and pay someone else to do the rest.

Now , I have some things remaining and I never really have the time to use any of it .
Enjoying being wherever I am gets in the way.

What were we talking about ? Oh well , maybe I'll remember tomorrow ........................

 

[DrJean]

This is a toughie for those who have to downsize in the first place.  For those of you who have expensive but heavy and awkward not-always-needed equipment it's even tougher!


I looked into PODS which is a tin can they bring, you fill it, and they remove it to their warehouse until you call for it to be brought to you again.   The costs seemed to have doubled in the last few years. 


For my own collections I looked into storage.  In fact, in this downsizing process I've used 2 different storage units but have it all at the house right now...continuing to give it away.  I found that storing even my 3k teddy bear collection would eat up any profit I had with additional outlay of cash and just isn't worth it.  Looking for a non-profit who can take it and auction it off or who has a member who wants to pay them for it. 


I guess that's the crux of the matter that each of us has to decide. When is it profitable to not put items into storage  but to give or sell them, and to buy new if those items are needed in the future.\\

For me, while not easy, it's easier as I don't need material things to have peace and happiness, I have Christ for that, but there are things that I want to keep so I can give them away as I travel along. That's my dilemma in what to keep and what not to.





 

 

[Almost There]

I have some stuff that I've saved for various reasons. Most of it will be downloaded to the kids next spring when I get to the west coast.

It's all stored in a cargo trailer.

The rent at a storage space for outside storage for things like cargo trailers and RVs/campers is substantially less than the storage fees for a unit. Here it is less than half.

Perhaps some who must keep some of their belongings for whatever reason would find it more economical in the long run to buy a used cargo trailer, pack their belongings in it and then rent outside space.

The other benefit to that is that when it comes time to move on from your original location, moving all your stuff is as easy as hooking up the trailer and moving it with you...no packing, trying to figure out how to make it fit in your vehicle, nada!

And hey, if you ever decide you can't live without all of it, you can always take it with you wherever you go.

 

[MrNoodly]

My "stash" is a file box of papers in a friend's attic.

 

[ArtW]

most of my stuff fits in the travel trailer, the stuff that doesn't fits in the old travel trailer, on my land

 

[Headache]

I completely understand when it comes to tools! As far as the trailer goes I'd really consider it. You have quite an area listed that you will be traveling.

You could look into the small military trailers that were built pretty stout for hauling heavy equipment that you can get via auction. Then there is what this guy did with a cargo trailer. I imagine with your welders and whatnot you could sister up and gusset a trailer to haul the weight you'd need.

 

[djkeev]

I understand your pain.

While I'm not going to full time it in my Van, I am in the process of leaving a Four bedroom, three bathroom, living rm, family rm, dining rm, eat in kitchen ranch with a full basement and large two car garage ......
And I am going to a 26x26 house with full basement and a narrow one car garage!

I have boat loads of crap and tools that will need some serious downsizing.

But, I second the trailer idea. I have lots of tools and have thought that when the day comes that I travel more and farther and longer, I will get a trailer for my tools and do work for family and friends during extended stays.

Dave

 

[DrJean]

I have a carrier for my wheelchair on the back of my car which I wasn't going to be using (giving away?)  It's too wide to just be an excess hauler for stuff I think I can't live without.  But I do have a hitch coming on the van...... nah  anything I can't live without will have to fit into the van!  Minimization sounds relieving to me....only being a homeowner and not a tool user worker, I sigh with giving away my house tools but then, I smile because I'm not going to need all of them for fixin' a house to live in! hahahah

 

[MrNoodly]

If you've been on the road a while, and you haven't been back to your stash, then you might reconsider the importance of the stuff you're holding onto.

 

[Ballenxj]

IIWM and I needed the stuff handy, I'd be hauling a small trailer with me.

This was my answer as well. I picked up a 5x10 enclosed trailer that contains all my junk I think I might need.
Almost There's reasoning makes perfect sense when you think about it.

 

[DrJean]

hahaha one of the things I need to get rid of is a new trailer not quite 4 x 4... I could use it to pull around the stuff I would think about putting in a storage room but really? Why do I need to trailer a $3000 teddy bear collection or scrap booking materials and the rest of my books? hahahahah Not.

Now if I needed that space for the camping equipment (or if I worked with tools etc), that would be another story.

 

[Ballenxj]

  Why do I need to trailer a $3000 teddy bear collection or scrap booking materials and the rest of my books?  hahahahah  Not. 

Post 2 lays it all out, and is pretty much my reasoning as well. Now if you really have to haul around a $3000. collection of teddy bears, you might need one too. 
Everybody has different needs.

 

[joebillionaire]

i rent storage units. one in florida is small 12 a month. right off i 95 the other in ny bigger 45 a month. I like having them as i put things in them when im going away from my car it avoids anxiety of having my stuff stolen. if i was broke, or when i was broke, i considered burying stuff in plastic bins.