Saving Money When Relocating For a Job

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Making a decision about storage that's good for your budget and your lifestyle.

In this economy, even if you are lucky enough to have a job, saving a little money is important. For any one of the 14 million unemployed, saving money is crucial. When your budget is tight, it doesn't always make sense to pay to store your stuff when you relocate for a job, downsize to a less expensive place or move back in with your parents. Personally, I am in the process of trying to downsize so that I can save up money to relocate to a new city. It has always been my dream and I have decided that the time to prepare is now. As I look around my apartment, I see so many things that I will have to figure out what to do with. While I was checking out self storage rates, I noticed that most places offer storage discounts for the first month that are almost outrageous. A whole month of storage for a dollar? What's the catch? The catch is that once you have your stuff tucked away at a storage unit, it's easy to learn to live without it. This means, once you've packed it all, taken it out of your home and unloaded it, you will probably end up paying the storage unit for months, if not years. This racks up tons of fees and before you know it, you're paying rent for your stuff. It's much cheaper to take a look at your stuff and decide what things you can get rid of, what things you can sell and what things you can keep. The best way to decide if storage is the right option for you is to consider the price you would spend to replace all of your items, and then figure out how much it will cost to store them. If the storage fees are almost the same as replacement, then you should just skip storage.

Getting rid of the clutter If you decide not to store your items, then you need to sort things and say goodbye to the clutter. For some people, this is easier than it is for others. A great tip is to keep just a few things that remind you of happy memories, and get rid of the rest. A good rule of thumb is to take just one storage bin and fill it up with sentimental things. Everything else you can let go of. If you are having trouble deciding what to get rid of, ask yourself these questions:

• What is this item doing for me right now?
• Could you take photos of the items instead of keeping them?
• Could someone else make use of and enjoy the items?