Americans have tons of stuff, making it tough to stay organized. According to the self-storage operator Neighbor, the average storage facility has 92 percent of its spaces rented out. The average rental is more than a year, and Americans spend an average of $90 a month on renting storage space.
Another option is paying an organizer to help declutter.
“The more organized you are to begin with, the less useful the services are going to be to you,” said Kevin Brasler, executive editor of Consumers' Checkbook. “And then the less organized you are, the ones who are living with, you know, sometimes chaos, they found organizers were tremendous help.”
Consumers' Checkbook hired personal organizers for six different projects, from cleaning out the garage to a graphic designer's digital mess. They found they can be especially helpful when you connect well with the person.
“Because it is this is a very personal task, right? I mean, you don't want somebody's going to come in and feel like you're being judged for your mess,” he said.
Prices can vary a lot for personal organizers, from a couple of hundred dollars for a few hours of work to others charging thousands in deposits.
“Quite a few of them would kind of come out and look over the job, to begin with, and kind of give some recommendations and give some thoughts in advance before charging a dime, and that's a great solution also,” he said.
You can read more about how the six projects turned out online.