<p>There are 5 of us, OOS families, who have shared the rental of a large unit over the past few summers. We used All-American Storage, which gives a student discount, on Rice Mine Rd. It has worked out very well. </p>
<p>Parents have taken turns assuming the responsibility of contacting the manager to set up the rental, paying the deposit and the entire summer rental, and the other parties have sent their portion of the rental to the organizer. The unit is climate controlled with a 24-hr access code to the facility. One parent generously volunteered a sturdy lock for the unit and provided keys for all the kids.</p>
<p>As robotbldmom mentioned, we stacked bins and stored upward when we could to save on floor space and I think my son had his bins and bags labelled with his name. S leaves his winter clothing in storage and brings back his summer clothes and a suit. </p>
<p>First summer, H and I drove 14 hrs. to pick up S when the school closed due to the tornado. I helped S pack while H helped move to the shared storage unit, two other freshmen from CA with no cars. </p>
<p>Second summer, H flew down and rented a car to help S move out. After a few weeks, S flew back for summer research and used a Zipcar to move some items from storage to his dorm. In the fall, he flew down and used a Zipcar to move himself in.</p>
<p>I can never finish thanking you Sophocles and your DH for helping out that first year.</p>
<p>Another point too is usually the storage unit is reserved starting before finals and this way the students can (not necessarily will) be able to take stuff over as their schedules permit. A good break from it all. If they don’t have a car a friend may need a break or zip car may be used.</p>
<p>Glad to be of help, socal. Loved meeting your son and grateful that our boys got together to finalize rental arrangements. </p>
<p>Agree with socal about reserving the unit before finals. Doing so allows the kids to move things a little at a time, creating less stress at the very end.</p>
<p>We are thinking of using the move out/ storage service. Before we knew about this service, we thought we would fly down, help pack, move to storage, then all fly back together. I know the service is probably expensive, but cant cost more than plane tickets + car rental+ hotel+ missed time from work. </p>
<p>Thanks, sophocles. That’s the size we’ve set up to rent for our boys. </p>
<p>For others, you can reserve your rental now with a later start date. You pay a small fee now and can fill out the paperwork later, when you begin to move things in.</p>
<p>Vlines,
I couldn’t agree more. The service as expensive as it may be costs a fraction of what flying, car rental, packing and storage rental will amount to.</p>
<p>We’re considering the service, too, but it still seems like there would be too much to bring home on a plane. Those of you who use storage, do you really store everything except what comes home in a suitcase?</p>
<p>I think the bulk of the move-out time and energy is going to be the actual and packing and cleaning and not the physically movement of objects from the dorm to the storage unit. </p>
<p>I looked at that price list for my son, who has a plastic dresser, desk chair, mini fridge, TV, small folding bookcase, printer, whiteboard and maybe 4 tubs of things (including desk supplies, kitchen and bath, etc). Also a shared vacuum, floor lamp, step ladder. Adding quickly in my head without the caffeine having kicked yet this morning, that comes to about $468. And then there will still be things my son would need to get home - his gaming computer, monitor, laptop, some clothes - so a cost there. And then the cost of his plane ticket home and ride to the airport. </p>
<p>For me, I can drive down the 1600 miles round trip, pay for a hotel for 2 nights, help pack while son is taking finals, doing things like taking down the curtains and washing them before they are packed away (which my son would never do), help clean and get him and the rest of his stuff home for less. It helps also that that I love my fellow room moms and anticipate the great time we will have together packing up as we take turns gasping in horror at the state of the suite. </p>
<p>Maybe if I had a neat girl or lived further I’d make a different choice.</p>
<p>We store everything except the clothes that will come home. It is so convenient when you have to move-in next year. Everything is put away in labeled storage containers and since everything is organized and clean, setup is very easy.</p>
<p>I even stock up on paper products and cleaning supplies, so I’ll save a trip to the store next semester. I also forgot to add (to my previous post) that there will be other things like a vacuum cleaner, mop/bucket, broom and bathroom cleaning supply items that you will be storing (that is if your student cleans regularly). Some students also have an iron/ironing board or steamer and a drying rack. Many students drip dry clothes because the dryers run Very Hot. When we shared a storage unit, the other student also had area rugs, bean bag type furniture, large pillows and lamps. Wow, it all adds up…you would be surprised at how much the students accumulate.</p>
<p>Some kids are minimalists, but others want the dorm room and common areas to be as comfy as home and decorate accordingly. </p>
<p>There have been some posts in the past about how to store the printers. I’ll share that we just cover the printer with a clean towel and place in a plastic bucket. So far, so good. We do not even remove the printer cartridges.</p>
<p>Sniner, maybe you could rent a truck from Home Depot for a couple of hours. Or there might be a parent with a mini-van who would run you over to storage.</p>
<p>Robotbldmom, that’s a great tip about stocking up on the paper goods, although my son may still have TP and paper towels leftover from this year. Hard to use up your supplies of paper towels when no one cleans!</p>
<p>Where do you all find prices and price lists for the move out services? We are considering one - it might be cheaper than renting a van and driving down from Illinois (certainly less time!). Son has a car so he can take the things he needs and drive home.</p>
<p>^I was using the link found in Cuttlefish’s post #14. There is a price list for each item. I did not add in the 20% discount or the $39 registration fee.</p>
<p>I’m remembering more things we’ll have to store - the bulkiest of which would be the mattress pad which is now not compacted like it was when we moved son in.</p>
<p>Just went back to the price list to see what the fee for a mattress pad is and noticed I was using the 20% off prices. So I correct my earlier statement.</p>
<p>That service seems pretty pricey when you add it all up, but I have to say that $76 to store an elephant for the summer (not to mention pick up and delivery) is a bargain. However, D does not own an elephant.</p>
<p>My plan is for D to get a storage unit for the summer. Her car was packed to the gills when we drove down in August, and she has since acquired a bookshelf, printer, television and other items. We bought things in T-Town because they wouldn’t have fit in the car with everything else. If it didn’t fit then, it won’t fit now, so storage it’ll have to be.</p>
<p>Any recommendations for climate controlled self-storage places?</p>