Happy New Year! How self storage can help you fulfil your resolutions

This is the time of year when we boldly plan how to sort out our lives and turn over a new leaf. Are possessions a stumbling block? Clear the path to a brighter future by putting them into self storage!

Declutter

Twelfth Night (6 January) is the traditional date for taking down the Christmas decorations. Suddenly the home is back to the status quo ante ‒ and probably looking a bit worn and bleak with it.

One way to freshen it up and give it some New Year vigour is to declutter. Get rid of the junk!

Some of that junk you will be able to bin; some you can give away; some you can sell. But some will be too precious to dispose of ‒ yet. So why not put it into self storage, while you think about what you are going to do about it?

January is often a time when self storage companies ‒  keen to attract new customers in the flat, late-winter months ‒ may offer very attractive deals, making storage less expensive than you think.

Moving house

As the days lengthen and spring approaches, the property market picks up. If you have been thinking of selling your home, now is the time to consider how to make it look as presentable as possible.

That usually means decluttering, to make the rooms look brighter and more spacious. But since you probably don’t know yet where you might be moving to, and how much space you will have in your new home, you probably don’t want to dispose of all the possessions that need tidying out of the way.

The answer is… self storage!

Extensions, loft conversions, refurbishment

When the property market is sluggish, money may be better invested in creating more space in your existing home ‒ through a loft conversion or an extension. Or maybe you just want to make your home more efficient, by knocking down a wall for instance.

All building work, and even just redecorating, requires room clearance. So instead of cluttering up the rest of your living space while the work takes place, why not simply put all the displaced furniture and furnishings into self storage?

Get a lodger

One way to improve your income in these straitened times is to rent out a spare room to a lodger. But that spare room may also have served as a lumber room, and been packed with furniture that has no other obvious home.

Self storage could be solution. But take care when you do your sums: make sure that the amount you pay for self storage does not take an unacceptable chunk out of the amount you receive for rent. Measure up carefully, and do not rent more storage space than you actually need.

By the way, there is a tax advantage in renting a room of your main home: under the “Rent a Room” scheme, you can receive up to £4250 in rent tax-free during each tax year, as part of a government programme to increase the amount of rentable accommodation. For more details follow this link.

Ditch the spouse

No, we are not trying to encourage this. But the truth is that petitions for divorce soar in January. Disintegrating couples who have managed to stitch things together sufficiently to get through Christmas ‒ surviving the enforced jollity, the grating clashes in taste, and the in-laws ‒ often throw in the towel in January: statistically the third week in January is a peak period for divorce lawyers taking on new clients.

Ex-couples who are separating their possessions and dividing the spoils may well find that temporary self storage offers a convenient solution while new accommodation arrangements are being settled. It can help to smooth the path in an extremely fraught journey.

Happy New Year!

One Response to “Happy New Year! How self storage can help you fulfil your resolutions”

1. Move Up Lofts says:

   December 30, 2010 at 4:54 pm

   If you are looking for a loft conversion specialist in the Yorkshire area please check out “Move Up Lofts” in Leeds