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a while back, my life was in limbo with trying to get a job and relocating after some major losses. I paid storage for at least a couple of years and it took thousands of dollars for it to finally be shipped to my new apartment. It was cathartic to say the least, when I was finally able to get my stuff and unpack everything.
After thinking about my life's events, it occurred to me how important our belongings are to us. Our stuff grounds us. After losing so much in life, my stuff helped me heal after the losses. Something as simple as an old towel that you may have used a million times has memories. It reminds you of happier times that you hold dear in your heart.
It's easy for us to tell the OP to get rid of it, but if his life is in limbo today, he will eventually be able to experience a stable life and trust me, those little things mean more than is readily apparent.
That might apply to the first storage unit, however the second storage unit has objects that she got in a new city that she only lived in for a year and a half. All the personal memories and etc. are going to be in the first unit is really no need to head to 1000 miles apart, most especially if you can’t get a place to live Because instead of saving for security deposit you’re spending that money on storage lockers. OP can’t afford to get an apartment but has two storage units, doesn’t make sense to me.
That might apply to the first storage unit, however the second storage unit has objects that she got in a new city that she only lived in for a year and a half. All the personal memories and etc. are going to be in the first unit is really no need to head to 1000 miles apart, most especially if you can’t get a place to live Because instead of saving for security deposit you’re spending that money on storage lockers. OP can’t afford to get an apartment but has two storage units, doesn’t make sense to me.
It sounds like she just inherited stuff from her roommate that the roommate didn’t want. How valuable can that stuff be if the roommate didn’t want it? If it truly had value, the roommate would have kept it and moved it or sold it.
It sounds like she just inherited stuff from her roommate that the roommate didn’t want. How valuable can that stuff be if the roommate didn’t want it? If it truly had value, the roommate would have kept it and moved it or sold it.
I agree. Also OP did not say there were a lot of memorabilia and things that she finds comfort in. She said she was keeping most of the stuff so she didn’t have to rebuy it again when she got a new apartment. However it’s the cost of storing the stuff that’s keeping her from being able to get a new apartment.
OP however, has never come back and explained where all the moneys going that shes saving from not renting the condo, since that was why she did this in the first place. So I’m not really sure why she can’t save a security deposit. We’re getting rid of at least one of them will help. Especially since it will cost more to move the stuff a thousand miles than it will be to buy new inexpensive things.
a while back, my life was in limbo with trying to get a job and relocating after some major losses. I paid storage for at least a couple of years and it took thousands of dollars for it to finally be shipped to my new apartment. It was cathartic to say the least, when I was finally able to get my stuff and unpack everything.
After thinking about my life's events, it occurred to me how important our belongings are to us. Our stuff grounds us. After losing so much in life, my stuff helped me heal after the losses. Something as simple as an old towel that you may have used a million times has memories. It reminds you of happier times that you hold dear in your heart.
It's easy for us to tell the OP to get rid of it, but if his life is in limbo today, he will eventually be able to experience a stable life and trust me, those little things mean more than is readily apparent.
You describe some of the psychology behind falling down that slow rabbit hole of hoarding. Finding comfort in a few personal possessions that have a deeper longer term meaning to you, sure, that's healthy. Spending thousands to keep old sofas and tables lamps in storage, so you can eventually recreate a "nest" that makes you feel secure, well that's not necessarily a good thing. Getting through rough times and moving on should be about all kinds of healing and growth, not finding a place to land with all you old possessions, since they are your source of stability.
My sister was a real troubled person. She had to leave my parents home, at 40 YO, after our mother died. She ended up in a small one bedroom apartment. Much of the drama and bad blood she created at that time was about her focus on stuffing that apartment with everything she could fit from the family home. She died recently, alone and lonely, at 50 YO. Her place was full of her "important belongings" it's wasn't full of friends or family, and it was a very lonely life. Not saying that her sad existence has any parallels to anybody in particular, but holding on to a big volume of low value furnishings, and paying more than their value to store them, so they may provide stability and comfort in your next location, may not be a totally healthy outlook.
Some do find solace and comfort in possessions of little value other than sentimental...
Pursuit of happiness and all that.
If having a storage unit or two or three makes a person happy... go for it.
Well that's some mighty fine advice.
Take the OP for example. The OP has clearly stated that they have no ability to afford the situation they are in. As is evidenced by the fact that they are paying late fees on a monthly basis, and can't afford to cobble together enough cash to pay a security deposit for their own apartment. They filled a second unit with crap they were given by a room mate who split. Obviously they are making good decisions, and have a strong sentimental attachment to somebody else's junk too. I'm sure that all the other folks out there that have a couple, two, three units full of valueless crap should also be encouraged to keep up the good work, sentimentality and all that............................
Some do find solace and comfort in possessions of little value other than sentimental...
Pursuit of happiness and all that.
If having a storage unit or two or three makes a person happy... go for it.
She’s not happy however her she would not have a title to her thread that she is stuck. OP stated she is trying to get an apartment and cannot afford the security deposit because of the rental storage units and apparently late fees because she cannot even afford them.
I turn 55 next month, I have moved to five different states in my life. One of those states was Hawaii, where I had to deal with
shipping a car in addition to household goods.
Looking back, I always felt like my life was on hold paying storage fees, moving costs and the overall hassle. 3 yrs. ago, I
got very lucky and I found myself a very small but cozy house to live in. The movers dumped my storage locker contents
off and I realized I had been paying for and hanging onto useless stuff.
I started reading about how to downsize and organize. I started donating stuff that I had paid good money for, realizing that when it was out of sight that it had been out of mind. It was a process that took months, but it got easier with practice.
The other posters are right, your storage issues are weighing you down and preventing you from finding a place to live. Imagine how someone feels who loses everything they own to a fire or flood. If they are smart, they learn to prioritize
belongings more succinctly and concisely. They may not be so quick to buy the latest or greatest.
I have never known a well to do person who pays storage fees. I have know plenty of people who pay storage fees and
never seem to realize their dreams of moving to a more suitable place. They feel like they are in too deep financially to
just let go and quit paying to store stuff. They never understand that the extra money they save not paying storage fees
can easily free up funds to pay for something that they can really use, like a decent place to live.
Why do you need both of them however? If an entire condo worth of furniture is in the first unit why do you need the second? Didn’t you have everything you needed to furnish an apartment in the first?
My sister was a real troubled person. She had to leave my parents home, at 40 YO, after our mother died. She ended up in a small one bedroom apartment. Much of the drama and bad blood she created at that time was about her focus on stuffing that apartment with everything she could fit from the family home. She died recently, alone and lonely, at 50 YO. Her place was full of her "important belongings" it's wasn't full of friends or family, and it was a very lonely life. Not saying that her sad existence has any parallels to anybody in particular, but holding on to a big volume of low value furnishings, and paying more than their value to store them, so they may provide stability and comfort in your next location, may not be a totally healthy outlook.
Why did it create bad blood that she moved stuff to her apartment? Some people really are comforted by things they have always had around them.
Why did it create bad blood that she moved stuff to her apartment? Some people really are comforted by things they have always had around them.
Unlike wharton’s sister, the OP hasn’t always had the stuff in unit #2. She only lived in that place for a little over a year and apparently her roommate didn’t want it. I think that is the problem most people are seeing. There should be no emotional attachment to stuff you’ve basically inherited after living in a place a year. I’ve lived in a place for a year or two, picked up or inherited some things I used, and had no trouble saying goodbye to them when it was time for me to leave. My guess is that if they were priceless heirlooms or top-of-the-line furniture, the original owner would not have gifted them to the OP. It’s also perplexing why she has a 10x15 with her first condo’s stuff if she is only planning on living in a one bedroom.
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