The Storage Unit Right-Size Kit

Rent the smallest storage unit that truly holds your things, for the stay you will really have: every box counted, cuts priced by the size they save, home shelves used first, and the whole stay priced with its promotions, fees and rent increases

StorageWow's Storage Unit Size Estimator turns boxes, furniture and appliances into the smallest standard unit, but it has no line for the wardrobe boxes our Moving Box Calculator plans. The Declutter Keep-or-Toss Calculator asks for an item's share of the rent, though rent comes in sizes, not shares. The Self-Storage Cost Comparison stops at the month you plan to leave, with no lock and no rent increase. This kit counts every box, works how much you would have to cut to drop a size, and prices each cut by the size it saves. In the worked example the estimator says a 5x10; three wardrobe boxes make it a 10x10, over the 5x10 by only 18.3 cu ft. An old dresser worth keeping at its $8.23 share really costs $60 a month, and letting it go plus ten small boxes on a home shelf wall brings the load back to a 5x10 at 91% full. Then it prices two quotes month by month: the facility with a free month wins at six months and, after its rent rises, is $97.46 dearer at twelve. It ends with an exit date: the month the stay will have cost what everything in the unit would cost to replace. Every price, promotion, fee and rent increase is an example computed by code from the site's own calculators, for you to replace with your own quotes. It names no facility, promises no price or saving, and is not legal, insurance or financial advice; what you may store, fees and increases are set by your rental agreement, and shelf and rod load ratings are the manufacturer's. Included: a 24-page printable kit with 7 steps, an inventory sheet, a tier edge and cut list, a facility quote sheet, a stay ledger, reference tables and a quickstart, plus a personalised sheet worked from the numbers you entered in the calculators.

Look inside

Two full pages from the kit, exactly as printed. Click either to read it at full size before you decide.

What is in it

• The Every Box Rule: every box the box calculator plans carried into the size estimate, wardrobe boxes measured and included
• The Tier Edge Rule: what each size holds, how full yours would be, and the cut to step down a size
• The Step-Down Rule: a cut list priced by the size it saves, not by each item's share of the rent
• The Home Shelf Rule: the boxes a home shelf wall takes out of the unit, boards counted, within its load rating and anchored
• The Whole Stay Rule: two quotes priced month by month with the promotion, admin fee, protection plan, lock and rent increases
• The Exit Date Rule: the stay at the plan and past it, and the month it costs what the contents would cost to replace
• The Whole Roll Rule: packing materials in whole packs and rolls, rounded up, and the unit loaded heavy, low and to the agreement
• Working pages: an inventory sheet, a tier edge and cut list, a facility quote sheet and a 24-month stay ledger
• Reference tables: what each size holds, box volume from its size, and a rent after each increase
• A quickstart, and a personalised sheet worked from your own calculator inputs

The kit picks up where the free Storage Unit Size Estimator leaves off. The estimator has no line for the wardrobe boxes the Moving Box Calculator plans; the Declutter Keep-or-Toss Calculatorasks for an item’s share of the rent, though rent comes in sizes; and the Self-Storage Cost Comparison stops at the month you plan to leave, with no lock and no rent increase. The kit counts every box, works how much you would have to cut to drop a size and prices a cut by the size it saves, uses home shelves first with the Closet & Shelf Capacity Planner, prices the whole stay month by month, and sets the month the stay will have cost what the things would cost to replace. Every price, promotion and rent increase in it is an example for you to replace with your own quotes. What you may store, fees and increases are set by your rental agreement; shelf and rod load ratings are the manufacturer’s. No price or saving is promised.