Arizona Storage Topics

Storing My Gardening Supplies

Lots of people don't think about gardening in the desert, but I love gardening in my tiny back yard in Phoenix. Besides my small vegetable garden that gives me fresh produce I love to use in the kitchen, I also have a hummingbird and butterfly garden, which is a lovely thing to look at when the birds and the bees are out and about. My back yard is pretty tiny, though, so each garden is just a very small plot of land.

When I first moved into this house, I almost didn't start a garden at all because I was concerned about having room for everything I would need to garden. But I soon found that I really couldn't live without a little color in my yard, and I really wanted to garden. So, I decided to check out alternate options for places to keep my gardening supplies, since I don't have room for a gardening shed, don't have a garage, and don't have any room to spare in the house. That's when I came across the Phoenix Self Storage location of US Storage Centers. It turned out to be the perfect solution for me!

At the Suggestion of a Friend

I had a friend in Phoenix that I had known for a while when I moved there, and I was talking to him about the dilemma with storing my gardening supplies. He also lived in a small place, and he had used the Phoenix Self Storage location by US Storage Centers for a few months to keep his extra odds and ends in – to keep his house and closets from getting too cluttered.

I was a little skeptical at first. I mean, we're not talking just keeping Christmas decorations here! I needed a place I could easily get into, because I would be needing my gardening supplies on a regular basis. Luckily, my friend was able to let me know that the US Storage Centers Phoenix Self Storage location would probably be great for my gardening supplies because it was easy to access.

Basically, I would get my own gate code and key or combination lock for my unit, and I would be able to get in during gate hours – which is pretty much all day and well into the evening. Since the Phoenix Self Storage location is so close, I can just run over there whenever I need my gardening supplies, and get them.

Lots of times before I do a big work weekend, I'll clear out space in my dining room where I can lay my gardening supplies on a tarp until I'm ready to take them back to the storage unit. That way, they don't get everything messy, and they don't have to stay outside overnight. But, really, the Phoenix Self Storage location is close enough and easy enough to access that I would really be able to pick up and drop off my tools all in the same day!

Would the Cost Work?

Well, before I did decide to rent my Phoenix Self Storage unit with US Storage Centers, I really needed to check out the price of the unit. I don't pinch pennies every month, but, you know, I do have to stick to somewhat of a budget. So, I decided to go talk to the manager about what a unit would cost in the size I needed.

Read more: Gardening Equipment Storage - Phoenix Self Storage

Storing My Business's Paperwork

Running a business from home was supposed to be a breeze when my wife and I first set things up. And in some ways, it has been. Working at home means that I get to see more of my family, and in the long run, I'll probably make more money this way. The problem, though, is that my tiny home office isn't nearly large enough to store all the paperwork that's necessary for running a business! That's something you don't really think about when you're working for some huge company that probably has an entire room just for filing paperwork!

So after last tax season, I knew I needed to figure out which paperwork I needed to keep and where I was going to keep it! That's when I found a Phoenix Self Storage location called US Storage Centers. The US Storage Centers Phoenix Self Storage center was close to home, and they had some great options to help me figure out how to store my tax paperwork and other necessary business paperwork.

Figuring Out What to Store

Before I actually rented a storage unit, I needed to figure out what to store. Never having done the paperwork side of a business before, I had to ask my accountant which tax paperwork I needed to keep, and how long I needed to keep it. That would let me organize everything better so that I would be able to get it into store for as long as I needed it. Here's what I learned I needed to keep, according to the IRS:

• If I needed to pay taxes, I needed to keep records for at least three years.
• If I file a claim for a credit or a refund after I file my taxes because I find out about it late, I have to keep the records for three years after I paid my taxes or filed the original taxes.
• If I claim worthless securities or bad debt, then I have to keep those records for seven years.
• If I pay employment taxes, I have to keep the records for at least four years past the date the tax is due or is paid – whichever is later.

Basically, the longest period of time I'd have to keep most of my paperwork would be about four years. By dating everything when it went into storage, I'd be able to routinely clean out my tax files from storage so that I wouldn't end up getting a bigger unit and paying for storage I didn't really need.

Besides tax paperwork, though, I had lots of other paperwork scattered around my home that I knew I needed to organize and take to my Phoenix Self Storage unit. So, I decided to start sorting things and getting it into shape. In the end, I needed a file cabinet for tax information, another for client information, another for information on new leads, and another on information on projects I'd already completed. Four file cabinets just were not going to fit in my space in my home office!

That's why I decided to go ahead and get a small storage unit at US Storage Centers Phoenix Self Storage. The location was perfect, and the unit came it at a good price. By storing by paperwork there, I could clear out a ton of space at home, keep things organized, and keep my vital information protected.

Surprising Advantages

I've been using my storage unit at Phoenix Self Storage now since last tax season, and in that past year or so, I've found some really interesting side benefits to storing my paperwork out of my own home office. Here's what I've found out:

Read more: Records Storage - Phoenix Self Storage

Phoenix - Storing Our Furniture Between Homes

Moving into a new home is a tough business, but when you've got some lag time between moving out of your old home and moving into your new one, it's even tougher. That's what happened with our last move because our old home sold while our newly constructed home was still being finished up. Luckily, we were able to stay in a long-term hotel for a few weeks until we could move into our new home, but what were we supposed to do with all of our stuff – especially the furniture?

My wife was really nervous about storing our furniture. Suppose something happened to it? I mean, we had some expensive, heirloom quality pieces to store!

Luckily for us, we found the Phoenix Self Storage location called US Storage Centers. This Phoenix Self Storage center seemed to provide all we needed to feel comfortable storing our furniture and a few boxes in our storage unit.

Luckily for us, the garage of our new home was already finished, and it was big enough to hold the majority of our boxes. We still thought we'd need a big Phoenix Self Storage unit, though, since we had to store almost every piece of furniture we owned. But the manager of the US Storage Centers Phoenix Self Storage location helped us figure out that by stacking the furniture in certain ways, taking pieces apart when possible, and storing furniture up towards the ceiling rather than spread along the floor of a unit, we could use a smaller unit than we were originally thinking.

That was a huge help because we were already having to shell out quite a bit of money to live in the long-term hotel, and it was a relief to see that we could save some money on our Phoenix Self Storage unit while we stored all our furniture.

Even though the US Storage Centers Phoenix Self Storage location had excellent security and watertight units, my wife was still concerned about damaging our furniture while it's in storage. Obviously, lack of climate control and being packed together tightly into a storage unit isn't the ideal situation for keeping your furniture in tip-top shape.

The manager of the Phoenix Self Storage location, though, assured us that we would be able to keep our furniture in perfect condition even while it was in storage if we took a few of his furniture storage tips. Here's what he told us to do to protect our furniture while it was in storage:

• Put pallets on the floor: Even watertight units like the Phoenix Self Storage unit can have problems with moisture once in a while – if the weather changes dramatically or if really heavy rainfall causes water to leak under the door. That's why the Phoenix Self Storage manager suggested we put most or all of our furniture up on wooden packing pallets after covering the floor with a tarp. That way, they'd be off the floor and protected from any moisture that might condense or pool there.
• Cover with cotton: You might think it's a good idea to cover furniture in plastic or wrap it in plastic when you store it, but the Phoenix Self Storage manager assured us that this is actually a really bad idea. Plastic can cause moisture to build up, which can cause odors or mold on furniture. Wrapping and draping furniture in cotton sheets or drop cloths is a much better idea! Luckily, my wife had some extra cotton sheets at home that we could use for just this purpose.
• Use cardboard and bubble wrap: Since we were dealing with some very valuable furniture, some of which had fragile or sharp edges, the manager told us to get corner protectors that were cardboard or to wrap parts of the furniture in bubble wrap. Corners are the most prone to chipping, so we were grateful this this hint!

  Read more: Storing Furniture at Phoenix Self Storage

Our Long Preparations for Baby

I'll admit: I'm a planner. I always have been, and I probably always will be. It takes me a long time to plan for major events, which is why my husband and I had a three-year engagement! Having a baby definitely qualifies as a major event, and it has taken me two whole years to get ready before I feel like we're actually prepared to have a baby. Part of my preparation has been gathering up baby stuff and saving it in our Phoenix Self Storage unit so that it would be ready when we finally decided to get pregnant.

I started the process of gathering up baby stuff about a year before we were going to try to get pregnant. We already had a Phoenix Self Storage unit at a place called US Storage Centers. It was close to home, and it was easy to access. We were already paying for the unit, but we decided to get a slightly larger one so we would have room for baby stuff, as well. At any rate, we'd always had a good experience with this particular Phoenix Self Storage location, so it seemed like a good idea to keep going with them for our baby storage that we would be needing.

Once we upgraded our storage unit (it was barely big enough for the odds and ends we had stored there before!) I started shopping around for baby stuff. For my wedding, I did lots of DIY stuff and got really good bargains. That’s part of the reason I take so long to plan major events – I like to get good deals on stuff!

It was really easy to find good deals on baby stuff, and every time I would buy something, I'd put it in our Phoenix Self Storage unit. I ended up getting our crib set, rocking chair, and other nursery odds and ends for next to nothing, which was obviously going to save us a ton of money in the long run.

Also, I started getting really interested in crafting things for our new baby's room. I started making wall hangings, quilts, furniture covers, and all sorts of other things. It was nice to be able to make these things well ahead of time without having to be concerned about where I would put them when they were done. Since we were in a smaller apartment at the time, there wasn't really room to store things that we didn't need at the moment, so into our Phoenix Self Storage unit went all those hand crafted items.

Read more: Storing Baby Stuff in Phoenix