Storage facilities are coming in handy these days. Given the low inventory of homes for sale, there can be a forced or strategic lag between the time you move from one home to another, when you'll need somewhere to stash your stuff.

Travel, removing clutter, storing estate items for auction or just an overloaded home are among the reasons people rent storage space.

Millennials, finally moving out from their parents' homes - or getting kicked out - are flocking to personal wharehousing depots these days. They need space for their stuff while they hole up with friends or other temporary housing. Aged about 18 to 35, Millennials are the coming new wave of home buyers and, not surprisingly, account for a large share of self-storage users, according to Inside Self-Storage, a storage information provider.

The "elder" 25 - to 34-year old Millennials alone account for nearly 1 in 4 of all self-storage customers.

Inside Self-Storage says self-storage users are often younger because they can meet their wharehousing priorities at convenient, cheaper  self-storage facilities. Those priorities are: Convenience, Price, Security, Size, and availability.

Storage space comes with or without climate control and in sizes ranging from 25 to 200 square feet at monthly rates averaging from about $50 for smaller, non-climate controlled space to about $300 for larger, climate-controlled storage, according to the Self Storage Association.

Prices also vary due to location, availability (many offer cheap first-month-free deals), as well as size and climate control.

So how can you reduce the costs of your storage budget?

Self-storage vs. managed storage 

Both self-storage and managed facilities have their merits, but one will almost always prove cheaper than the other.

Having staff on hand to deal with queries and security issues, comes at additional costs to the company. Those costs are passed on to you, through more expensive storage space.

However, the higher cost could give you greater piece of mind, especially if your items are more valuable.

Self-storage tends to be considerably cheaper option, especially if you want to store long term. Self-storage units are usually securely locked, video monitored and require special access keys or codes to the facility.

Also don't over estimate or under estimate the space you'll need. That almost always leads to inefficient results, where you may find yourself paying too much for space you don't need. You could also buy too little space and be forced to buy a second unit you can't fill.

To determine how much space you need, first visit some cheap storage units for help.

In your own home, you can also measure out the floor space of the items you want to store.

Location is key in any real estate business. Storage is no different. The cheapest locations are often the most remote, which makes renting space much cheaper.

When facility costs are lower, storage can be offered at a lower rate. This means you can take on additional space for the same money, rent longer term at a discount or stick only with the rental space and renting period you need at a bargain.