<p>For those of you who are, or are parents of upper classmen (or about to be) or recent graduates, did you store any stuff over the summer, and if so, where? We are exploring all our options, and may want to store some big clunky things, like his mini fridge. No point in paying more to store it than its worth, but we'd like to keep it of possible. We've gotten fliers from several different summer storage places. Anyone have any experience, good, bad or otherwise with the summer storage places?</p>
<p>We used Safeguard Self Storage three summers. Good experience – recommended. We used the Power/I10 facility in Metairie, but there are other Safeguard facilities also.</p>
<p>S used the Public Storage near St Charles and 1-10 for his mini-fridge and other stuff one summer. It was cheaper than shipping everything home and some of these bulkier items couldn’t fit in his small car. Public Storage routinely offers $.01 for the 1st month. He ended up spending less than $80 for the whole summer. Not recommended for storing electronics though unless you make sure you get a climate-controlled unit (which he did).</p>
<p>D also used Public Storage in another city. We’ve had good experiences with this company the 3 times we’ve used them. Look for coupons too.</p>
<p>It’s MUCH cheaper than the storage facilities/packing companies that are advertised via fliers the kids get. We also received one here at home and I checked out the prices…very high. The problem we had with Public Storage was availability, but it was the summer after Katrina when many people were using storage facilities. I tend to be a planner so I helped S rent early. It was easy to do–everything online.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone! I will call DS as I think he got a quote from Public storage but it was nowhere near as good as what you mentioned here!!</p>
<p>Forgot to ask-- where do you find the coupons, curiouser??</p>
<p>Hi, jym, when we were there, there was a company that would provide the boxes, then set up an appt to pick up the filled boxes and then deliver them at move in for fall semester. I don’t remember prices (or names), but it was a big business, they set up shop on one of the side streets for pick up and delivery. I just remember it was a fair price to not have to worry about finding some place to store the stuff over the summer and worry about the logistics.</p>
<p>I think they company mailed something to the parents house advertising the service and I think it was posted on Tulane’s web site for services. Sorry, this is vague.</p>
<p>This may be a dumb question, but what is DS or DD??</p>
<p>darling son and darling daughter. Not dumb, I didn’t know when I first came on either.</p>
<p>FallenChemist: now I don’t feel so dumb, that terminology is beyond goofy.</p>
<p>There is an abbreviation thread stickied in the parents forum, c3606. Good reference for all the abbreviations around here.</p>
<p>And thanks, Thatmom. That sounds like one of the storage places he’s looking into. The ones that cater to the students have very similar names so they can be confusing.</p>
<p>jym, ooh good question re the coupons. Actually I don’t recall whether I found something online or those little fliers in the mail or if D or S found them. The one-cent sale was definitely online. (What I do remember was that coupons weren’t terribly significant–ie save money on packing boxes. But every little bit helps.)</p>
<p>Re the personal packing service, we looked into that. It cost much more for us to do a “pack hold and deliver” than to reserve the whole storage compartment, at least when I calculated it. However, since S did have a car there, he was able to physically move stuff. If a student doesn’t have a car, that makes it much more difficult to utilize these storage facilities cost-effectively. Also, the cost to “pack, hold & deliver” was pricy for S because he had a bike (priced separately) and more than a couple boxes. </p>
<p>I guess the cost effectiveness depends on how much stuff and whether the student can get stuff back and forth to the facility on his own.</p>
<p>My D used the company that provided the boxes and picked them up and delivered them back. Worked great, but probably not the most cost effective. Another thing to keep in mind – she stored her more bulky/awkward items at the apartment of a sorority sister who was moving off campus for her junior year. Renters have to sign a 12-year lease, so anyone who knows someone off campus might take advantage of that. Many apartments are near campus, so transportation wasn’t that big of an issue.</p>
<p>ivoryk - I sure hope you meant 12 month lease! Even I wasn’t an undergrad that long. LOL.</p>
<p>Our D combined with about 4 friends and all shared cost of rental storage unit from May - Sept. Just have to be aware to have whoever will be returning first to have one of the keys to the unit.</p>
<p>oops – yes, meant 12-month lease. Let’s hope it doesn’t take her 12 years to get through!</p>