The following guest post is by Drew Davies.

After 61% of people questioned in a Big Yellow Self Storage survey last year admitted to hoarding useless items around the house, it’s no surprise that so much of our home space is filled with useless clutter. Just under a third (26%) of us that have a whole room in our home filled with junk and the research found that over a third (41%) would definitely rent out a room to make money to help in these tougher financial times. Looking at these figures it could well be time to those things from out of the spare room…

Storing Clothing
Cupboards are generally bulky and take up a lot of room, so organise your unit so that you can place linens and clothes within them for extra self storage. Otherwise, clothing should be stored in closets or wardrobe boxes, on hangers, to retain their original shapes. Keep out of season clothes accessible, as you may need to store your clothing for longer than anticipated. Finally, place some moth balls inside the boxes where you store your clothes to prevent any damage.

Storing Handbags
One of the best ways to store handbags is to put them in plastic boxes which allow air to circulate. Just make sure the boxes are big enough so that you are not folding over the bag handles. Purses you don’t use so often can be wrapped in cotton pillowcases or cloth storage bags before putting them into self storage. Do not put them in enclosed plastic dry cleaning bags, or boxes without airflow as this will damage leather. To help keep their shape, stuff the bags with tissue paper or any alternative acid-free filling, but do not use old newspapers. Bubble wrap is better than tissue paper for padding out or wrapping bags, as it doesn’t attract moths in the same way as tissue paper.

Storing Books
Books can be surprisingly heavy if too many of them are stacked together, so the best way to pack these is to use small boxes for efficient use of the self storage space. You may need more boxes, but they’ll be easier to move about should you need to. Making these alphabetical will also make finding one specific book far quicker, as will organising by theme if you’d prefer. Stack smaller books over larger books and make sure that they’re arranged horizontally (never vertically) because improperly storing them can damage the spine.

Wooden Furniture
Before placing any kind of wooden furniture into storage, wax well with wood varnish. This prevents moisture from affecting the wood. Likewise, if your furniture can be dismantled easily, then do so as it will prolong the life of that piece. If you dismantle furniture, collect the nuts and bolts of each item into a plastic bag and tape it firmly to the dismantled set. In addition, place thick cloth (such as old carpets) between wooden pieces to prevent them scratching one another.

Self Storage Rooms As An Office
The one thing you’ll inevitably need if you’re planning to set up your own business from home is a lot of space. With the help of business self storage, you can make this process a lot easier, by storing related papers and documents securely offsite. Records are important and have to be maintained, but storing them requires a lot of space. With self storage you can keep your files organised in one location without having to upgrade to a bigger home or office. This isn’t only relevant to smaller businesses either. Expanding businesses can use a facility for equipment, promotional material or to archive documents.

At Big Yellow Self Storage you can store things of all shapes & sizes, with room sizes from 9 sq ft up to 400 sq ft for as long as you’d like for as little as a week, month, year or as long you’d like.

This featured post is presented by Almost Frugal.

I’m a shopper. I love to shop. Online I love to visit sites from all over the world, to see how fashion, even as it becomes more and more the same, still stays culturally unique. (There’s an American look, for example, that I’ll never be able to shed.) I love to go into stores and trail my fingers through the blouses, pick up chatchkes, handle knick-knacks, flip through books. I love looking at couches and imagining how they would fit in my house.

Continue reading Resisting the Temptation to Buy at Almost Frugal.

This featured post is presented by MoneyCrush.

If you work for a company that offers a 401(k) plan, you can almost certainly afford to contribute to the plan.

I know, it can be easy to think that you can’t afford to contribute, what with all the bills and whatever else is going on in your life right now, but you probably can.

Continue reading Yes, You CAN Afford to Contribute to Your 401(k) at MoneyCrush.

This guest post is contributed by Emily Thomas, who writes on the topics of top online colleges. She welcomes your questions and comments at her email Id: emily.thomas31@gmail.com.

Ever thought that your height may have an effect in other areas of your life? According to a very recent study, women who are taller than five foot eight tend to earn more money. The study, which surveyed over 1400 women of varying heights, found that “tall” women (over 5′8) are basically twice as likely to earn more than $46,000. On average, tall women earn roughly 8000 dollars more per year than their shorter counterparts. The study was conducted by the group Opinion Matters and was sponsored by the clothing and accessories retailer Long Tall Sally.

So what is the reason for taller women earning more? Many speculate that taller women are simply perceived as more confident. What’s more, tall women have been found to be more satisfied with their bodies than shorter women. The same survey found that twenty five percent of tall women would not change anything about their bodies, while nine out of ten women who are under five eight were dissatisfied with their body as they were.

The Wall Street Journal conducted an interview last year with Arianne Cohen, a six foot three Harvard Alum who was once a partner in the world’s tallest couple (he was 7′2), and who also penned the very informative essay collection, “The Tall Book,” which was released in the summer of last year. In the interview, Cohen discusses the ups and downs of being tall, and gives tips for tall women in particular about various aspects of life that many don’t even think about, like toilets, food, airplane seats, and the travails of dating.

Cohen argues that although it costs more to be a tall woman (more food, the need for tailored, custom-fitted clothing, and high-ceilinged homes, among other reasons), she reiterates similar findings of the mentioned study, claiming that tall people earn approximately 2.5% more per added inch.

Despite the fact that Cohen trumpets tallness, she encourages shorter people by indicating that the confidence tall people seem to implicitly have can be attained by anyone, regardless of size. In the interview, she explains, “…what I found is that much of [advancement in business] is behavioral–tall people consistently display a few behaviors that are directly correlated to success, which can be mimicked by anyone.”