How Baby Boomers Can Make the Most of Self-Storage When Downsizing

Have you been pondering what to do as you decide to retire? From family heirlooms to pre-loved clothing, knowing what to do with your clutter is a big decision, and not everyone wants to shove everything into an outside shed!

If you’ve decided to downsize, you may be wondering how you can make the most of your self-storage options. This blog will be a comprehensive guide for baby boomers looking for a change. After all, managing a larger home as you get older can be a daunting job, so where should you start?

What is Downsizing?

According to the Australian Centre for Social Innovation, although around 40% of baby boomers own their own homes, a third are still paying it off. Downsizing is a great way to free up that money and give you enough to live comfortably and feel secure in the years ahead.

So, what is downsizing? This means moving from a large property to a smaller one, freeing up equity, saving money, and reducing the stress of maintaining a larger home and garden. Experience cheaper bills, less cleaning, and extra money in your pocket.

What are some signs that you’re ready to downsize?

1. You want financial freedom. Older homes often have bigger bills because they require more energy to heat and cool. If your appliances are old or outdated, they might not be as energy-efficient. Downsizing is a lot cheaper.
2. You want to travel. Have you always wanted to go to Europe? Downsizing to a smaller property can free up money from your existing home and give you some more flexibility in your travel budget.
3. You can’t keep up with outdoor maintenance. As a baby boomer, mowing lawns and patching up your home isn’t always as easy as it used to be!
4. Your home feels too big for your needs. Are you only using a couple of rooms? If your children have all left the nest, you might not be using as much space as you once were.
5. You want to maintain independence. Your current home may have stairs or bathroom fixtures that don’t suit your physical needs, so downsizing can be more accessible.

With this in mind, downsizing doesn’t mean moving into a retirement village! It means finding a home that suits your lifestyle and storage requirements.

The Big Upsides of Downsizing Your Home

1. Free up your equity

Baby boomers depend on home equity to fund their retirement plans, and downsizing can help you free up a chunk of money sitting in your current home.

Selling the bigger house and purchasing a smaller residence leaves money left over for your lifestyle, so you can pay off debts, supplement retirement income, boost your superannuation, and even make your dream holiday a reality!

2. Have more money in your pocket

With less space to heat, fewer maintenance expenses, lights to turn on and appliances to run throughout the day, you’ll save a lot more money. Your cleaning products will last months!

For example, land lease communities eliminate council rates and reduce home insurance costs.

3. Cut back home maintenance

Downsizing to a much smaller home means fewer rooms to clean and more time for yourself.

There’s no need for weeding on weekends, mopping constantly, cleaning multiple bathrooms or dragging the vacuum from one room to another because a smaller home means less maintenance. Downsizing encourages you to declutter, reassess what you need and only take meaningful items with you.

4. Move to your dream location

Have you always wanted to live on the coast of Sydney or a more countryside area? Downsizing as you reach retirement age gives you the freedom to do this.

Baby boomers may have chosen their original home location because of schools, work, and housing affordability, but downsizing gives you the chance to relocate somewhere more laid-back, away from the busy urban living.

And if you have a small business on the side that needs inventory stored, check out the key benefits of using warehouse storage to enhance your business.

Making The Most of Self-Storage

How can you maximise self-storage if you plan to downsize sooner rather than later?

Sort and Prioritise Belongings

When you’ve held onto items for decades, it can be difficult to let them go! Sort your belongings into categories such as “keep”, “donate”, “store”, and “sell” so you can figure out what you actually want! You don’t want to hold onto items you never use, as they’ll just take up more space.

Prioritise items based on their sentimental worth, how practical the item is, and whether or not it’s a seasonal item. For example, holiday decorations, recreational equipment (such as bicycles) and family heirlooms are better off stored away since you’re rarely taking them out!

Choose the Right Storage Unit

Select a climate-controlled storage unit to protect fragile items from humidity, pests, and temperature fluctuations. Climate control is especially valuable for storing electronics, old family photos, or antiques such as paintings.

You also want to optimise as much space as possible, so consider using shelving units for vertical storage, stacking boxes carefully (putting heavier boxes on the bottom and lighter ones on the top), and creating a small pathway so everything is within reach.

Will you need to access this storage unit regularly? It’s an excellent idea to have your storage unit closer to home.

Invest in Quality Packing Materials

Although this is obvious for vintage items, you always want to double-check the materials you’re using. Ensure that you are using sturdy boxes, bubble wrap, and packing paper to secure fragile items.

Label each of your storage items clearly to save time when searching for specific items so you don’t forget them. And if you want to be extra organised, you can create an inventory list to track what’s been stored.

Think About Short-Term and Long-Term Needs

What are you storing for a short period of time, and what are you putting away for the long haul? You may want to store items during the initial downsizing phase and let go of them later.

Is there a clothing collection you want to wear for the festive season? It’s a good idea to review items in storage and decide if you want them back in your home. This will reduce your storage fees as well.

Get creative with your heirlooms and pass them down to your family, or pop them into your new home.

You may also want to research storage insurance options so your precious keepsakes during natural disasters or accidents, for example. You’ll have coverage for valuable or irreplaceable items.

In any case, if you want to embrace a more manageable, simpler living space without worrying about your belongings all the time, Storage Works can help you have reliable self-storage facilities to achieve the extra space

How do you clutter before you downsize?

Try to start the decluttering process at least 3 months before you move into your new home.

Pre-clutter

The pre-clutter process is about asking yourself the right questions!

1. How many rooms will you have in your new home?
2. What types of furniture will fit into these rooms?
3. Does each room have enough storage space?
4. Make an inventory of your belongings.
5. Where will the essentials go?
6. What hobbies or activities will continue?
7. What activities will no longer be part of your lifestyle?

The declutter

Assess your belongings one room at a time and put them into different boxes.

1. In box one, you can throw in damaged items such as broken appliances, old papers (shred any old bills), expired medication, and anything you think should be recycled.
2. Box two can be the “anything you don’t use” box to be sent to your local op shop, put out for a garage sale, on Gumtree, or donated. Decide how much effort you’d like to go to and organise things as soon as possible.
3. Box three can be your “keep” box with what you use regularly and what has sentimental value. You can revisit this box at any time if your new home still feels cluttered.
4. Box four can be a “store” box for things you don’t use, such as Christmas decorations. Hiring a storage unit for your personal storage can give you the space you need.

Are you part of the boomer generation looking for extra storage space? Whether you’ve never hired self-storage units, need storage for business purposes or have experience in the storage industry, Storage Works makes everything accessible.

Understanding storage habits, offering storage tips and offering a short-term storage solution, we are easy to find and access for storage options near Chatswood, Neutral Bay, Mosman, Lane Cove, Crows Nest, and St Leonards.

Storage for Sydney Baby Boomers: Call Storage Works!

Are you in the process of downsizing, or have you moved into your new place already but have no room? Storage Works has around 1500 storage spaces and is one of the largest storage facilities in Sydney.

Registered with the Self Storage Association of Australasia, we are trusted in the self-storage market, understand storage demand during different life stages, and offer excellent customer service for anyone needing self-storage space.

Contact us today to get a quote, view our prices and special offers, storage options, space estimator, and boxes and packaging. We have mini-warehouses and large business spaces available for state-of-the-art security, competitive pricing with no extra costs, quote matching, and more than 50 sizes and shapes! Your space is our place.

Note: Shipping containers can be received, and forklifts and pallet jacks are available onsite. We also offer concierge services for receipt and dispatch of shipments, ParcelPoint, and a Tesla charging point.