Storage Tips & Local News | Bargain Storage Blog

How to Make RV Travel with Kids Easier (and Saner) for the Whole Family

Rv

RV travel promises freedom: the open road, spontaneous stops, and long stretches of family time. But without the right prep, it can slide into logistical chaos, boredom-fueled meltdowns, and sleep-deprived parents questioning their life choices. Still — it doesn’t have to be that way. With a few strategy tweaks and a mindset shift, you can make RV life smoother, calmer, and surprisingly fun for everyone onboard. Turn Drive Days Into Mini-Adventures Don't treat drive days like something to get through. Treat them like a part of the experience. That means no 8-hour marathons unless you enjoy mutiny. Plan for stops every couple of hours, even if it’s just for a quick run-around at a random rest area. Keep a stash of simple car games, surprise snack bags, and audio stories that don’t bore you to death. Rotate “co-pilot” responsibilities so one kid gets to help read the map, choose rest stops, or DJ for an hour. It’s less about distraction, more about involvement — and it works. Build a Loose Routine at Camp Kids anchor themselves in patterns. You don’t need a rigid itinerary, but you do need rhythm. Pick a few daily touchstones: morning walk, solo activity time, family dinner, evening story. Write it down, draw pictures, stick it on the fridge. When everything else is new — different beds, new places, strange noises — these little repetitions become calming. They also reduce the constant stream of “What are we doing next?” that can fry your patience faster than anything else. Keep Important Documents Digitized and Accessible This one’s not glamorous, but it will save you in a crunch. Before you leave, take ten minutes and digitize everything: medical records, insurance cards, campground confirmations, tickets, ID copies. Store them in a folder on your phone or tablet, and back it up to the cloud or a shared family email. PDFs are your best bet — clean, universal, easy to pull up fast. If your files are all over the place, use a free online converter ...

Sharon Redd
September 26th, 2025

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Smart Money Moves for Your First Place

Tips

Moving out on your own feels like freedom, but it can also test your financial footing in ways you may not expect. It’s a turning point where your decisions start to ripple into your day-to-day life, shaping how comfortable or stressed you’ll feel in the months ahead. Financial habits you set now can make the difference between coasting through your bills or scrambling to make ends meet. It’s not just about paying rent—it’s about setting up a system that supports your independence without trapping you in constant worry. The earlier you put those systems in place, the smoother this transition will be. Open Your Own Accounts Before you think about décor or where to put the couch, open your own bank accounts if you haven’t already. Having both checking and savings under your name helps you separate spending from saving, which keeps you from unintentionally draining money meant for future needs. Many banks offer low-fee accounts with online management tools, which make it easier to track transactions and set up automatic transfers. Look for a savings account with a competitive interest rate so your money grows while it sits. Even a small deposit each week can build into a cushion that makes you feel more secure. Plan for Initial Costs The first month in your new place will probably be your most expensive. Besides the first month’s rent, most landlords require a security deposit, and some even ask for the last month’s rent up front. Add in moving services or truck rentals, furniture, kitchenware, and cleaning supplies, and your initial bill can balloon quickly. Writing out these costs before you sign anything prevents nasty surprises and keeps you from overcommitting. If possible, set aside cash for these one-time expenses separately from your living budget so you don’t start your tenancy already feeling squeezed. Build an Emergency Fund Life happens—and when it does, it’s easier to recover if you’ve got backup cash. A solid goal is to save enough to cover at least a few months of ...

Michael Longsdon
August 14th, 2025

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Embracing the Digital Nomad Life with a Disability: Practical Tips for Going Remote

Rv

Remote work isn’t just a trend. For many people with disabilities, it’s a path to freedom. The ability to work from anywhere—on your terms—can open up a whole new level of autonomy. But if you’re considering life as a digital nomad, you’ll want more than just WiFi and wanderlust. You’ll need tools, habits, and strategies that respect your body, your brain, and your boundaries. Here’s how to step into the nomad life without leaving accessibility behind. Choose Cities That Are Built for You Not every destination welcomes you equally. If you’re living with a disability, the difference between an accessible sidewalk and a four-inch curb can shape your entire experience. Before booking a flight, take the time to research cities with built-in access. Some countries are ahead of the curve, offering reliable ramps, clear signage, accessible transit, and wheelchair friendly public spaces. It’s not about perfection. It’s about starting your journey in a place that says, “You’re welcome here.” Let Your Resume Speak to Where You’re Going Digital nomad life doesn’t mean ditching the job hunt. You’ll still need to apply, and your resume has to do the heavy lifting. But here’s the shift: it’s not just about where you’ve been. It’s about showing employers how you thrive remotely. If you’ve never tailored a resume for flexible or distributed work, take a look at this. It breaks down how to frame your experience for jobs that value autonomy, communication, and asynchronous collaboration. Bonus: It’s easy to update on the go. Pack the Assistive Tech You Actually Use Your tech setup can be the difference between burnout and balance. Laptops and hotspots are obvious. But there’s a deeper layer of tools designed for the way you move, see, hear, or process. If you’re visually impaired or neurodivergent, look for ways to adopt portable screen readers or GPS. Noise filtering microphones, screen magnifiers, and one-handed typing accessories aren’t luxuries—they’re extensions of your capability. And they travel well. The key is to pack ...

Sharon Redd
July 11th, 2025

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The Perfect RV Getaway: Planning a Surprise Trip Your Partner Will Never Forget

Tips

Planning a surprise RV trip for your partner takes more than just pulling out a map and picking a direction. It’s a delicate dance of logistics, love, and a good dose of sneakiness. The real magic lies in creating something deeply personal—something that blends thoughtful planning with spontaneous joy. Whether your partner is a seasoned road warrior or new to RV life, crafting a memorable journey means tuning into what makes them smile, not just what looks good on an itinerary. Decoding Their Travel Love Language Before reserving campsites or picking scenic byways, you have to figure out what makes your partner tick when they travel. Are they the “wake up at sunrise for a hike” type or more into cozy afternoons with a book and a fire pit? Preferences can vary wildly—even in couples who usually share the same lifestyle—so reflect on past trips and note what brought them the most joy. It’s also a good idea to low-key ask about dream destinations or bucket list ideas in the months leading up to your surprise, so you’re not completely in the dark. Creating the Perfect Travel-Themed Invitation If you want to go the extra mile, reveal the trip with a custom travel-themed invitation that mirrors the journey ahead. Think vintage postcard aesthetics or a treasure map design guiding them to the first destination. For a unique twist, use an AI art generator to create specific images like your RV under the Northern Lights or a cartoon version of the two of you roasting marshmallows. You can type in a prompt like “couple by campfire in pine forest” and then customize the style, colors, and lighting to make it truly yours—just search “create AI art with text” to get started. Timing Is Everything (Literally) Once you've locked onto a destination vibe, the next hurdle is your partner's schedule. Nothing kills the buzz of a surprise trip like conflicting appointments, deadlines, or family obligations. You’ll need to play detective: ask their ...

Sharon Redd
June 19th, 2025

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New Town, New Life: How to Get Comfortable and Settle in After a Big Move

Moving

Starting over in a new city can feel like someone pressed the reset button on your life. Whether you moved across the state or across the country, the early days of relocation come with a mix of excitement, stress, and awkward uncertainty. You're stepping into a place where everything—from street names to grocery store layouts—feels unfamiliar. But with the right approach, you can transform this transition into a season of growth, connection, and even joy. These strategies can help you not just survive, but truly settle in and thrive. Unpacking With Purpose It’s tempting to rip open boxes in a frenzy just to feel like you’re making progress, but intentional unpacking lays the groundwork for feeling at home. Start by focusing on the rooms you use most—your bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen. These anchor spaces are where your routines begin and end, so getting them functional fast brings a sense of normalcy. As you unpack, take time to reassess your belongings. Don’t just find places for things—ask if they still fit your life. Use this as an opportunity to purge what you no longer need, streamlining your space to reflect who you are now, not who you were when you packed. Using Storage as a Flexible Solution Sometimes, your new space just can't hold everything right away—or you may be in a temporary setup while waiting for your permanent home. Renting a storage unit can offer breathing room without forcing you to make rushed decisions about your belongings. It’s also a smart move if you’re downsizing or unsure about what you’ll need seasonally. Companies like Bargain Storage offer secure, affordable units in a range of sizes so you can store overflow items safely. This gives you time to organize thoughtfully while still keeping access to what matters. Investing in Yourself with Education Relocation offers a rare chance to reassess not just your surroundings, but your long-term goals. Going back to school—especially through online programs—can create both a mental refresh and new career ...

Michael Longsdon
June 17th, 2025

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Why Covered RV Storage Is Worth It Even If It Costs More

Rv

Today we're exploring a counterintuitive economic truth: proper RV storage is actually a financial necessity, not a luxury. In our inflation-heavy economy—largely influenced by Trump's tariff policies—protecting investments has become critical. Your camper represents a significant financial commitment, and with repair costs at unprecedented levels, protection matters more than ever. The physics of weathering is relentless. UV radiation, precipitation, and temperature fluctuations create a perfect storm of molecular breakdown that silently depreciates your investment daily. This environmental exposure significantly reduces lifespans and increases maintenance costs. With extreme weather events becoming increasingly common, traditional storage methods like driveway parking or tarps provide inadequate protection. Whether your camper cost $25,000 or upwards of $100,000, proper storage isn't just about convenience—it's essential financial protection for what you've worked so hard to afford. Key Takeaways Covered RV storage shields vehicles from harsh weather conditions and potential environmental damage. Professional storage facilities help prevent costly structural deterioration of recreational vehicles. Protecting RVs from UV rays significantly contributes to maintaining their long-term integrity. Covered storage effectively extends the overall lifespan of recreational vehicles. Proper storage methods help preserve the resale value of RVs. Protect Your RV from Harsh Weather Conditions and Potential Damage Cool camper vans are mobile homes that give awesome comfort and freedom to explore different places and landscapes. These vehicles are expensive and need careful protection from outdoor challenges and possible damage. Harsh weather can seriously harm camper vans, damaging their outside materials, paint, seals, and inside parts. Extreme temperatures, sunshine, rain, snow, hail, and wind can create big stress on camper van surfaces and systems. Sun rays can make paint look dull, damage rubber seals, and weaken outside parts over time. Water buildup might cause mold, wood damage, metal rust, and mess up the camper van's insulation. Temperature shifts can make materials stretch and shrink, creating tiny cracks and weakening the vehicle's structure. Long exposure to tough conditions can make the camper van wear out faster and lose its value. Using special covers, doing regular checkups, parking smartly, and storing ...

Bargain Storage
May 20th, 2025

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5 Apps That Make Creating a Self-Storage Inventory A Snap

Organization

Use your phone to track what you own! Living in the digital age allows us to use our phones to find a date (both the calendar and romantic types), call an Uber, deliver our groceries, record our sleep patterns, and even control our TVs. And now, with smart inventory and self-storage apps, you’ll be one step closer to organizing (and dominating!) that daunting residential move, overwhelming office relocation, or long-term storage situation. As the saying goes, whatever your need, “there’s an app for that!” Have you begun to embrace minimalism at home, Marie Kondo-style? Is your family relocating to a new place but taking their time getting there? Do you know exactly what you own? Or have you lost track of everything under your roof? Most of us could use a little help getting organized, especially when it comes to our homes and belongings. Whether you’re taking steps to “spark more joy” or streamline your life (or both), the stuff you hold onto needs to go somewhere. Luckily, in 2024, there are plenty of great apps that will help you tackle your inventory and storage woes. Search your phone’s app store for “self-storage apps” and “inventory apps,” and you’ll be amazed by the array of options. We’re familiar with a good number of these apps, so we’ve taken the time to curate a short list of our favorites just for you. We know that coordinating a move or decluttering project is overwhelming enough; choosing a self-storage inventory app shouldn’t be. Our Top 5 Self-Storage Apps BEST FOR DECLUTTERING NEST EGG: Intelligent Inventory Why We Love It: Barcode Scanner | Highly Customizable | User-Friendly 📷 Nest Egg is a comprehensive, extremely user-friendly inventory app with convenient automation, like barcode scanning for easy item logging. Users can customize their experience and improve organization with colored labels, tags, categories, sub-categories, locations, sub-locations, and more! Plus, reorganizing is super simple, thanks to the batch edit feature. We liked the ease of use of this app ...

Bargain Storage
February 18th, 2025

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5 Sneaky Ways the Big Storage Companies Charge You More Money

Self-Storage Unit

Did you know that there are more than 50,000 storage facilities across the United States? That’s three storage facilities for every McDonald’s location in the country. Some facilities are run by large national chains, while others are run by regional operators or local “mom and pop” managers. You have a lot of options! One of the most important factors to consider when choosing a storage facility is how it’s managed. This choice will have a very material impact on how much you pay in rent over time. Unfortunately, many big, national companies try to nickel and dime their customers — or even scam them. The storage facility you choose may advertise one price. However, when you reserve your storage unit, they’ll bill you another. Or the company could make you pay for add-ons you didn’t think you’d need — and probably don’t. Let’s uncover the tactics that national self-storage companies use to charge you more money to store your items, including: Changing their prices hourly Increasing rent frequently Charging high fees Selling you insurance Making you buy an expensive lock When you search “storage units near me,” you can avoid surprises and expensive bills by skipping over the national storage chains that pay for search engine advertisements. These include Extra Space, Life Storage, Cubesmart, U-Haul and Public Storage. Instead, choose a small, locally operated storage company with transparent pricing. Here is a little-understood fact: national companies are all publicly owned, meaning you can buy their stock and own some of the company. Therefore, they have a responsibility to the shareholders to make as much profit as possible. That is why they use multiple methods to charge you more. Local companies are not obligated to charge you as much as possible. 1. Changing Prices Hourly National self-storage companies use a system called “revenue management” to set their prices. At the national storage conventions, owners take classes about how to use this software to increase revenue by raising prices on ...

Barry Raber
February 14th, 2025

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10 Things That Can & Can’t Be Stored in a Self-Storage Unit

Self-Storage Unit

If you’re reading this article, we’re guessing it’s because you did an Internet search for what you can and can’t store in a storage unit. It’s a fair question to ask because just like most things in life, there are rules and exceptions — plus usually some grey areas in between. Whatever your reasons for seeking a self-storage unit, we’re guessing you rank somewhere on the scale between info-savvy and street-smart. So, you probably don’t really need to be told that you can’t store pets, stolen items, or things likely to explode in self-storage. Right? (The only good answer here is, “Correct!”) As your Internet search probably proved, there are plenty of lists about what you can and can’t store in a self-storage unit — and most of them are similar, straightforward and appeal to good, old-fashioned common sense. Those lists are helpful but we want to offer a different spin on things: What do those “do’s and don’ts” storage tip lists really mean to you, just a regular person looking to protect your stuff and avoid any inadvertent storage slip-ups? Well, let’s find out! We’ll focus on 10 broad categories of items that you can and shouldn’t store, but we’ll talk about what this means in real-life terms — plus provide some bonus tips based on what we’ve learned over the years as self-storage experts. Think of this as your common-sense self-storage guide. 5 Things You CAN’T Store in Self-Storage Let’s start with what you can’t store, because frankly, that list is more interesting: Hazardous Materials These lists can be long but here’s the short rule: If they can catch fire or explode, then they’re a no-go. This includes gasoline, propane, oil, grease, chemicals, cleaners, aerosols, and paint. What This Means In Real Life: ● Are you storing art supplies? Then this means that you can’t store mineral spirits or paint thinner. ● Are you packing up bathroom or kitchen items? Best ...

Steve Reed
February 12th, 2025

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5 Tips for Preventing Mold in Your Storage Unit

Tips

Mold is a consequence of high humidity in a closed space, and this problem can affect your home and your storage unit. If the humidity is above 50%, mold outbreaks can occur. Anything within your storage unit can become vulnerable if moisture begins to grow. Mold, mildew, corrosion, and rust are all common issues that sometimes occur together. All of those problems can be potentially dangerous for your stored items. Any natural material and electronics, for example, are easily affected by mold. That's why, today, we will provide you with 5 tips for preventing mold in your storage unit!  What are the tips for preventing mold in your storage unit?We will cover the most important tips for the prevention of mold. If you follow our advice, you should reduce your risk of mold to a minimum! 1. Protect your items when storing The first thing you need to do is keep your belongings off the floors. You will be able to protect your valuables from mold and moisture in this manner. If you store your items on the floor, any water flowing in will reach them and potentially destroy them. You can use shelves or similar storage solutions like wooden pallets (which are very cheap). Moreover, if you elevate your items, you will prevent condensation from forming below your stored possessions.Another way to protect your items during long-term storage is by investing in proper packing. Packing your possessions in waterproof boxes or with silica gel will prevent mold from growing. 2. Pay attention when choosing your storage unit Preventing moisture from forming in your storage unit is the most effective way to combat it. Investing in a high-quality, moisture-resistant storage unit would minimize all of your stress and anxiety. When choosing a storage unit, knowing what you need is crucial, and you should pick an appropriately sized unit that fits your belongings so that they aren't cramped inside. Air conditioning and dehumidifiers are available in most storage facilities, and either of these temperature control devices can aid ...

Bargain Storage
February 11th, 2025

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