Are there activities you'd love to get involved in, but hesitate to do so? Maybe the activities are equipment-heavy, and your first thought is: Where am I going to put all the stuff?

Self-storage may be the perfect solution for you. While lots of media pundits make jokes about people owning so much stuff they have to rent storage units to keep it all, there are good reasons for keeping even often used belongings in a storage site.

People have been known to store everything from expensive sports cars to speedboats in self-storage units. Especially for people in tiny urban apartments, it's like having a shed or an extra room in the house. If you have a sport - skiing, scuba diving, rowing - that requires both quality equipment and travel to another location in order to engage in the sport, why not stash the equipment in a storage unit and make a quick trip to the unit on your way out of town?

Of course, you need an organized approach to storing your stuff if your plan is going to work. Simply opening your unit and tossing your stuff in after an out of town jaunt isn't going to work well for you after a while, especially if you've got a number of activities that require different kinds of equipment. You need to plan out your usage. Separate the equipment by categories, and store it neatly in its own space. Pay attention to how you're planning to load the equipment into your vehicle, so that you can move it quickly and neatly from storage unit to vehicle and back again. If your equipment needs maintenance, it may be possible to store the equipment and supplies to perform the maintenance on-site.

A great solution for eBay sellers

Maybe your idea of a great time isn't to go sculling on the Charles or skiing in the White Mountains; maybe you get your adrenaline pumping by cruising yard sales and selling your finds on eBay. If you're a serious seller, you may be wondering how to maintain your sales success and still have a life and a home that allows you to let people in the door.

If you're buried in Hummels and My Little Ponies up to your eyebrows, self-storage may offer a solution. Create a set of bins and an index that allows you to quickly find your products; if the space and the management allow, you could even set up a packaging station, complete with packing materials and a postage scale, and package the orders there. Make sure the unit is close to your home and the post office, and establish a schedule that allows you to download your orders, process them at your unit, and ship the items on time.

Storing space-eating sports equipment or running a direct mail business largely away from your home will allow you your fun or your business success and still let you maintain an attractive, comfortable and orderly home for your own enjoyment and for entertaining friends and family. Self-storage can be a great deal; it can even be great feng shui!