Streamlining your possessions ahead of a long trip is an eye-opening process. Which of your possessions can you do without for six months? But of course there will be things that you want to keep, and then the question arises of where to put them while you are away, particularly if you are moving out of a rented home, or letting your house to keep up the mortgage payments. A friend’s attic is one option, but a storage unit gives you complete peace of mind while you are away. When you use a self-storage company, you know that your domestic goods are safe from tampering, and that they are not in anyone’s way.

Four domestic items to store while you travel

There is something very comforting about the thought of a collection of books waiting for you at home. Just make sure you’ve returned any books loaned from friends or the library!

Many people have sentimental items that they like to own, but have no practical purpose. For example, wedding keepsakes, or travel souvenirs. Your climate-controlled storage unit is the perfect place for these. Take time to organise your mementos to ensure they are in good condition when you get back.

Another good thing to put into storage is back-ups of your important photographs and documents. Cloud storage is very convenient, but it may be vulnerable to hackers or data loss. A CD, external hard drive or memory stick locked in a storage unit will keep your data safe until your return.

Travelling with a guitar is doable, but you might want to leave your keyboard and drumkit at home! For maximum peace of mind, keep musical instruments in your climate-controlled storage unit, rather than relying on friends and family to keep them in their attic or spare room.

Three items to declutter before you go travelling

For anyone keen to reduce their monthly expenditure while travelling, decluttering is key. Why pay to store items that are cheap to replace and that you are not attached to?

Although people do store white goods like fridges and washing machines, consider whether you would be better off selling or even taking it for recycling.

Cheap furniture – or even furniture that was not cheap but that you don’t love – is another easy decluttering win. Use social media marketplaces to sell or give them away, or donate to charity before you take your unwanted wardrobe and bed to the recycling centre.

Pre-departure is also a good time to clear out old paperwork. Obviously, you do need to keep some paperwork, such as training certificates, but there is no need to keep household bills from ten years ago. While you are abroad, you will find it easier and more convenient to go paperless in most cases. Our post on taming paper clutter has a handy guide to how long you need to keep bills and other types of paperwork.

Household goods you can sell to raise cash for travelling

Many of us hang on to unwanted gifts out of guilt or obligation. Going travelling is the perfect excuse to pass them on to someone who will appreciate them, either by re-gifting, donating or selling. The same goes for collections that no longer interest you. Check specialist market places, or speak to a trusted dealer.

If you are travelling somewhere hot, then consider decluttering your winter clothing. It’s easier to sell cold-weather clothing in winter, but you may still get some interest on selling sites out of season from people who like a bargain. You may also want to get rid of formal workwear, as fashions will change while you’re away. And who knows – perhaps you will make some changes to your life while you’re travelling!

With many people turning to streaming services for games, music and films, you may want to take this opportunity to get rid of some of your solid media entertainment. Selling sites like Music Magpie or CEX are a convenient way to quickly move on a lot of CDs and DVDs and raise a bit of cash, too.

How much is it to store my stuff while travelling?

The cost of storage varies enormously, depending on where you are in the country and what facilities the storage company offers. We’ve got a guide to costing up storage – essentially, our advice is work out what you want to store and how long you want to store it for and then get some quotations from three different storage companies.

When you sign up with a storage company, they’ll use a contract to detail the agreement between you, but storage companies don’t generally check your credit before renting storage space to you. The contract is likely to include a condition that you’ll insure your stored goods. Self-storage insurance won’t add much to your storage bill, though. Store and Insure self-storage insurance costs less than 20p a day, and our policy documents are paperless – perfect for the well-organised traveller! Get a quote from Store and Insure today.