If you’re going overseas for an extended time, relocating to a smaller place, or just have too much stuff to fit in your house you might be considering placing some of your items into long-term storage. This is the perfect way to keep your items safe and out of the way until you need them again however it can be a costly exercise if you don’t do your research first.

Want to know how much money you can expect to spend on long-term storage? Read on.

Choose a facility

The first step in determining how much money you need to budget for your storage is to decide on which storage facility you want to use. Do you have items that need to be stored under special conditions, such as bottles of wine, antiques or valuables? If so you’ll need to find a climate-controlled storage facility which can cater for your needs. These types of facilities typically cost much more than other storage facilities and can be harder to find.

Also, consider if you’ll need to regularly access your items once you’ve put them into storage. Some facilities allow you to come and go as you please and this will be ideal for you if you need to regularly replenish your wine stock or access your other items frequently.

Just storing some clothes and furniture or other regular household items? In that case, you can utilise a cost-effective storage solution like Hire Storage. We offer secure 10 cubic metre storage modules as well as having storage options available for oversized items. That way, you only pay for the storage you actually use.

Choose a convenient location

You’ll want to choose a storage facility which is close by to help keep the cost of getting your items there and back again low. This will be particularly important if you’ll need to access your items while they are in storage. Our facilities are conveniently located centrally in each capital city. You can access your items anytime between Monday to Saturday from 7 am to 5 pm by providing us with 24 hours’ notice.

If you utilise a removalist service to help do the heavy lifting, the closer the facility is, the easier and faster it will be to get your items there. The Hire Company can be the one point of contact for your move and storage if you utilise the services of Hire a Box, Hire a Mover and Hire a Packer in addition to your storage.

Determine space

Do you have a lot of items to store or just a few? The amount of space you need will determine the price of storage. Some storage facilities have different sizes of storage spaces or have limits in place for the size of items they can store.

At Hire Storage, you can hire one or multiple 10 cubic metre storage modules depending on your needs. If you have any large or over-sized furniture, we can store this separately outside of the modules. There may be a small fee which will be quoted to you when your items arrive at our facility.

Consider the length of storage

How long will you need to store your items for? The cost of storage will increase the longer you need it for. All you need to do to work out the overall cost is to determine the monthly storage cost and multiply by the number of months you’ll need to use the storage for.

At Hire Storage, you’ll pay a low $160 per module per month or part thereof (including GST) so you know exactly what you’ll need to pay. If you use one storage module for 12 months, you can expect to pay $1920 (including GST) for the duration. If you use two storage modules for 2 years, you can expect to pay $7690 (including GST) for the duration.

Insurance for storage items

If you’re putting your items into storage you’ll want to make sure they are adequately insured. We recommend you contact your home and contents insurance provider and have them add on storage as an additional extra to your policy. If you are unsure if your current policy covers you please contact them. Alternatively, you can take out new home and contents insurance including cover for storage with QBE.

Do you need a long-term storage solution? Whether you’re moving out, downsizing or moving overseas, Hire Storage can help you with all of your storage needs. We can even help you pack your items and get them where they need to be. Get a quote online or give us a call on 1300 358 700.

This article was written in conjunction with All Space, the best solution for finding parking or space in New Zealand.