Whether you're on a tight budget or you're just in the sharing spirit, it can make a lot of sense to share the space in a storage unit with a friend or neighbor. If you both have storage needs, you'll often find that renting a larger unit and splitting the cost can be cheaper than each of you renting your own separate unit. How you divide the cost and the space is up to you, but it's generally a good idea to put some rules in place to avoid complications and even potential conflicts. Here are some suggestions.

No Storing Anything That Can Make A Mess

The last thing that you want to experience is rolling up the door of the storage unit and finding a mess — especially if the mess has damaged your possessions and was the result of your storage partner's carelessness. This will leave you in an uncomfortable situation, so it's better to make a rule that neither of you should store anything that could potentially be messy. This means avoiding storing any liquids that could freeze and burst during the winter or food products that could potentially attract rodents to the unit and lead to damage.

Keep A Log Of Your Visits

Keeping a log of your visits is useful in the event that something in the unit is misplaced. If you can't find one of your possessions, it's helpful to know who visited the unit last. For example, your storage partner might have moved one of your boxes onto his or her side by accident, which could lead to the confusion. If you keep a pen and a small pad of paper inside next to the door, each of you can sign and date the pad upon visiting. If you can't find something and you know your partner visited the unit last, you can then confirm if he or she might have moved your item by accident.

No Access To Anyone Else

Ideally, you'll only enter into this partnership if you trust the person who will be sharing the storage space with you. You should, however, make a rule that other people aren't able to visit the unit. One of you might be tempted to give the lock combination to a friend and invite him or her to store something on a short-term basis, but this isn't fair to your original storage partner. If he or she doesn't know this third party, there could be concerns about sharing the space. It's simplest to just not involve other people.

For more storage tips, contact a company like Penn  Plaza Self Storage.