Getting A Storage Unit

Okay – you’ve purged and De-cluttered, and you still have ‘stuff’ that won’t fit in your house. That baby bassinet that has been passed down for a couple of generations and you want to preserve it for a future grandchild. Equipment for your recreational pastimes, (snowmobile, boat, RV, skis, snowboards, camping gear, horse tack, etc.). Maybe a collection of fine wines, art, pianos, or vintage antiques that require special climate-controlled storage. Archived business records that must be kept for seven years for tax purposes.

Additional, recent trends in the construction industry have been to reduce the square footage in houses to make them more newer homes do not include basements, garages, attics, or other traditional home storage areas. What’s a person to do?

Could the logical answer be a storage unit? Storage facilities are certainly plentiful across Montana, and they range from the ‘no-frills’ 5’x 5’self-storage, to huge 40’x 50′ warehouses, to climate-controlled to choose?

“The first thing to consider is the location,” said Clarice Peeler of Windmill Storage. “You’ll want to find a facility that is close to where you live or work for easy access. Make sure the business hours are convenient and that the units are easy to get in and out of. (Are the doors big enough? Are the driveways wide enough, or do you have to jockey the pickup fifteen times in a tight corner to back it in?) Is there adequate security? Do they offer pest control? Resident managers, camera surveillance, fire detectors, and customer service are also important,” said Peeler.

Keeping in mind the old adage that “your stuff expands to the space available in which to put it”… make sure you initially get a unit that is large enough. You don’t want to continually move to a larger unit every year or manager of the facility can help you determine the size you need if you give them an idea of what kinds of things you will be storing.Climate-controlled facilities are available for items that are sensitive to heat, freezing, or moisture. Outdoor covered storage is available to securely store your boat, RV, vehicle, or utility trailer.

Of course, price is also a factor, but it shouldn’t be the main factor in deciding on a facility.Prices vary at different facilities, but you can expect to pay anywhere from $10/month for the smallest size, to $65 for the more popular 10’x20′ unit, up to $300-$400 for a large warehouse style sure to ask about long-term discounts, and/or new customer offers. Also,make sure that you have adequate insurance coverage for your stored homeowner’s policies will cover items stored off-premises, but check with your agent to see if you need to obtain a separate facilities offer even a low-cost policy for their customers.

Most importantly, make sure that you are storing stuff that you really may need again doesn’t make sense to pay someone to store a mismatched set of Corelle dishes, an old TV, or a box of outgrown baby …

3 Tips For Newlyweds to Invest Your Money Wisely

You and your fiance have probably already had to make a few big decisions together – pick a many people…where to have the all of these decisions easy? Did you always agree?

Decisions and plans abound. The more you do up front, the better off you will be, so: Don’t leave out working with your future mate on bringing all of your finances together.

Start talking now. Use this guide to start the conversation and outline your plan. Then, when you get back from the honeymoon, you can both sit back, relax, and put your plans into motion.

1. Get to Know Each Other – Financially

While opening up about money won’t immediately resolve all financial issues, it will eliminate the taboo that often is associated with the topic. No matter what the situation, honesty is key.

Discuss your Financial Personality

Take the time now, before the wedding, to get your feelings out in the open about money, spending and saving. Are you a spender and your fiance a saver? Are you up in the air about buying or renting your first home? Get to know each others financial personality and tolerance for financial risk.

Conquer your credit rating

Your credit rating affects everything from the rate on a mortgage to the credit limit on your department store credit card. Your score is yours alone and is not affected by another unless you obtain a joint loan or credit card. There may be surprises and inaccuracies. Get started correcting errors and bringing up your score if necessary.

Get a free credit report annually from . Other advertised websites usually make you sign up for another “pay” service in order to get you a “free” report!

2. Plan Your Future – Together

Agree on your goals

Now that you know where you stand, take a minute to decide where you both want to go from here. Start to think about how much you’d like to save.

Are you in the market for a house; need to pay-off debts? Whatever the goals are, agree on their priority and outline a plan to meet them together. Also, decide now how debts accumulated by each individual prior to the marriage (i.e. student loans) will be handled.

Build a budget

Now that you have decided on your goals, make a budget that gets you there. This always includes paying yourself first (savings) and living within your means. Resolve to make credit card debt a thing of the past.

Pay yourself first means the money you’ve budgeted for savings should be stashed away before paying the bills. Now you won’t be tempted to spend it elsewhere.

3. Changing from “I” to “We”

You and your fiance have made some important decisions so far. Once you’ve understood each other’s financial personality, you used that information to build spending and saving objectives and determine what goals you will pursue together over the next few years. Now, it’s time to …

Personal Finance Tips – The Most Powerful Force in the Universe – Compound Interest

You may have wondered what is the secret of making wealth? Earning more and more money? For some extent, yes, this is a good answer. But the best thing is to make the money you already have earn more money for you. Frequently this small difference in thinking makes somebody a millionaire from a wannabe.

The thing is that the money you earn with hard work is nothing compared to what you can earn by letting your money work for you. There are a few simple steps for getting your money make more money.

The best thing to do is add savings to your budget, meaning that you should pay your savings bill just as you would pay your electricity bill. You can ask your bank to deduct the savings automatically from your paycheck, or you can put your savings in an account that can not be accessed with an ATM card. This way if you would be tempted to spend the money, you will give it a second thought.

Compound interest was called by Albert Einstein “the most powerful force in the universe”. With compound interest not only your money makes money, but the money your money makes earns money too.

But how does it work? With a 3 percent interest rate your $100 deposited in an account would be $103 after a year. But you earn interest not only on your initial deposit, but also on the interest your initial deposit makes. If you set aside $100 each month, at the end of the year your bank account would have $1,223.81. The $1,200 you saved and $23.81in compound interest.

Because of the compound interest often you can see two rates in savings accounts advertisements: the APR (annual percentage rate) and the APY (annual percentage yield). The second means the percentage the account actually earns with compound interest. APY is somewhat higher than the APR, depending on whether the interest is compounded monthly, quarterly, or annually.

There are many compound interest calculators to be found on the Internet. With these you will be able to determine how your savings will grow in 5, 10, 20 years. All you have to do is plug in the amount you are saving, the percentage rate and how the interest is compounded.

You should carefully shop around for the best deals, as traditional savings accounts don’t pay much interest these days. And you could also consider an online-only account, as it can pay three or more times the interest offered by a regular bank or credit union.…

How to Install Assembled Kitchen Cabinets

A kitchen remodel can be done much easier if you use assembled kitchen cabinets. Many people assume it will cost less refacing the current cabinetry but that’s not necessarily true. If you take care of the project yourself without outsourcing to a professional, you can give your kitchen a face lift relatively cheap. While this is a big job, it is not as hard as you probably think.

Measure

Using a measuring tape, record the length of your cabinets. Most are a standard size and pretty predictable but you don’t need any surprises. When in doubt, don’t let your pride stand in the way of simply taking the cabinet with you to the store to compare. You are not the only person who has done this!

Purchase

Purchase your assembled cabinets as well as other supplies that you’ll need such as a power drill, level shims, wood screws, measuring tape and a jigsaw. Most of these items you should be able to pick up on sale at a discount store.

Remove

If you are replacing previous cabinets, remove them as well as your countertop. If not, you will be able to skip this step. It is important to note that these assembled packages are not exclusive to the kitchen and can be used in the laundry room, bathroom or even as garage cabinets and storage.

Install

Always install your upper cabinets first, this way you aren’t forced to lean over the lower ones when trying to work in tight spaces. Using a level, draw yourself a visible chalk line. When the cabinets are propped up on the wall, you will mount them by drilling into studs when possible. Never install your shelves or doors until the cabinets are on the walls, this reduces the weight you have to work with.

Your lower cabinets get a little tricky because fitting them has to be precise or your countertop will be crooked. Use wood shims to make sure that each cabinet is flush with one another. Keep in mind, they may not be flush with your walls since these are rarely made straight. Don’t worry about a little gap, it will be hidden with your countertop and backsplash.

Tips

While installing assembled kitchen cabinets is not too difficult, you may want to have someone help you. It is a job that goes smoother with four hands rather than two. Additionally, always make use of wall studs and anchor cabinets to one another. Lastly, cut away outlet or pipe access holes before you mount them to make your job easier.…

Self Storage Units – Popular For Storing Personal And Household Belongings

At some point in most people’s lives will come a time when there is no longer enough space to cater for all household and personal belongings.

Generally, as we get older we tend to acquire more and more belongings. Buying something to replace something else is often the reason. Whether it’s a lounge suite, table and chairs, a vehicle, bicycle, clothing or white ware, we all have a need to update. In a lot of cases, people tend to hang onto their older belongings rather than sell them. This could be for sentimental reasons, increase in value potential or the likelihood of one day needing them.

Because of the need for more space, there is now a massive demand for self storage units. Available in various cubic metre sizes, thousands of people are turning to these as a convenient, secure and cost effective means to storing belongings that are surplus to current requirements or simply won’t fit in with one’s living arrangement.

As an employee of a company that hires out self storage units, I’ve noticed a continually growing demand for them. They used to be sought after by people who had belongings all boxed up, like books, surplus footwear, kitchen ware and other small personal items. Nowadays however, people are putting all sorts of things in self storage units, including lawn mowers, electronics, washing machines, sports equipment and racing cars and priceless collector items.

The increase in the range of items being placed in self storage units can be put down to a vast improvement in the quality of the units and the high level of security that they provide. People now have more trust in placing their precious and valuable belongings in the hands of businesses, whose credibility may or may not be there for people to see.

Another great benefit of these facilities is the ability to hire them for extended periods. This is particularly convenient if you are heading overseas for a year or two. You could pay as little as $90 (NZD) per month for a 6 cubic metre storage unit, which can provide space that are equivalent to a small bedroom.

If you are looking at leaving your prized vehicle in a storage unit, you could even get the owners of the storage units to take your vehicle out for a few minutes to turn the engine over. You may even like to pay them to clean it. In most cases you should be able to find a storage facility business to meet your individual storage needs.…

Food Storage Guidelines to Help Manage Your Supplies Easier

If you are trying to store food, you need to be somewhat organized. The more food that you have stored at home, the more organization you will need to do just in case because of expiration dates and other issues.

The average family that looks into food storage is going to have a supply of around 30 to 60 days. This really isn’t that much food, but getting mixed up can cause some problems as certain foods tend to expire.

The first guideline to be aware of is to store foods that you are going to be eating soon. You don’t have to buy things that last for years then hope you never have to use it. A better option is to simply buy things that you eat on a regular basis. Put the new item into your storage bin and take the old stored item out to be used next just as if that was in your pantry. This solve most expiration issues.

Another thing to do with items you don’t use as often is to date them. Just take a marker and put a date on it to give you a general idea of when you put that into the bin. If an item has been there for six months or so, take it out and make a meal out of it after you replace it with a new one.

One huge mistake that many make with their stored food is having foods is having foods that may not be able to be cooked. If you are expecting to have to rely on your storage during a disaster type situation, make sure that you have a way to cook this food for as many days as you store it.

Lastly, don’t put all your food in the exact same place. Keep it in different areas around the house just in case something happens. This way you don’t lose all your food if that one part of your home is destroyed for some reason.…

RV Storage Facilities – Safe and Secure

Recreational vehicles are large in size and cannot be parked in your driveway safely. Though more than half the people park such vehicles next to their homes, they are eyesores for neighbors. For people who live in apartments in cities, parking on the roadside is a problem, and so is parking in the parking in authorized parking spaces. Leasing private garages is a burden because of the prohibitive costs. The only option is to select a convenient RV storage facility in your locality.

You probably would like to select a storing facility that also provides safe parking for your car and boat, and storing units for your household possessions. If you look around, you will find many such storing facilities. They all meet the needs and expectations of clients, and offer both covered as well as uncovered RV storage facilities.

Storing – Inside Or Outside

Storing your vehicle outside, of course, is less expensive in terms of monthly rental. If you can afford to do so it is better if you use inside storing facilities. Many have temperature controlled environment, ensuring air conditioning and heating as dictated by the climate. Storing inside the covered facilities saves you the expense of buying a cover for your vehicle, tire covers, and winterizing your vehicle.

In addition, using a covered RV storage facility takes care of pests, insects, and bugs; and prevents high wind, sun, hail and rain, and other damages related to weather. Using the covered inside facilities offer a comparatively higher secure environment.

When trying to locate a convenient facility to park your recreational vehicle in, you need to look at the costs, the access hours, what is included in the monthly or annual contracts, and whether the facility provides insurance of any kind. You also need to consider things like taxes, security, and whether there is an onsite manager 24 x 7 who can be contacted whenever required. It will also be convenient to select a facility that also provides battery charging, cleaning, periodic courtesy checks, as well as winterization.

If you are storing outside, you need to spend on a cover. Go for breathable covers that have zippered entry doors. This will allow you access your vehicle whenever you wish to. You may go for a water-resistant polypropylene cover that will protect your vehicle from the vagaries of the nature, bird droppings, pests, insects, and sap.

You will need to invest in tire covers as well. They will prevent your tires from rotting in the sun. Many people, who are new to this, are not aware how to go about their RV storage.

Discuss With Fellow RV-ers

There are many self-storage discussion forums where you can discuss your storing problems with other RV-ers. They can guide you about the best facility providers in your locality.

You can have open discussions about the advantages and disadvantages of storing your vehicle inside or outside. You can learn from experienced people about what to expect …