So, most articles talk about what you should put in a storage unit to clean up clutter in your house, shed and garage. They are helpful to us to make our houses look nice and tidy, but there is a fine line on what should and should NOT go in a storage unit.

1. Your Parents/Grandparents

Yes, nursing homes are expensive and it is hard to choose a good one for your older relatives. But no, even if you’re at wit’s end with them, don’t banish them to live out their days in an 8′ by 8′ storage pod.

2. Flammables

I do not think that there is a more obvious thing to not put into a storage unit (and yes, that IS including the previous point). Ever heard of spontaneous combustion? It’s what happens when something flammable is kept somewhere hot and it ignites itself. So unless you want to be taking out the largest loan of your life to pay back everyone’s losses for burning down the storage facility because you decided to store some fireworks and old ammunition in your unit, then don’t put anything explosive or flammable in there.

3. Your Keys

Laugh all you want, but it has happened before. You’re in a hurry for a job interview but you need to drop off a couple folding chairs at your unit. You fly up to the garage door, take the lock off, set your keys down inside, throw the chairs in, and close and lock the garage. You run back to your car only to find you don’t have your car keys. You realize you put your keys in the unit so you run back to unlock it, only to realize NEXT that you officially have an IQ lower than 100 and your unit keys are on the same key ring as your car keys.

Congratulations, you have to call the place you were interviewing at and explain to the people that are possibly going to hire you that you were dumb enough to put your storage unit keys and car keys together and then leave them in the unit and lock it. See how that goes over with them.

All in all, just don’t be stupid. Common sense goes a long way in today’s world, so use it while putting things in your storage unit.