I was driving around Columbus after a big snow storm recently. As I was driving, I noticed that a great majority of the parked cars were absolutely buried in snow and ice. The sad thing is, most of the owners of these cars had perfectly good garages, but there was so much stuff in them, that they couldn't fit their cars in!

Even so, most of my neighbors had cars in their driveways. Every home in my community has at least a 2 car garage attached. Of course, it is possible that my neighbors own 3 or more cars, but it's more likely that they just don't have the free space in their garage. I am sure it's the second one.

Leaving one's car outside in the winter time is a recipe for disaster. Just imagine, every morning you get up the car is covered with snow and ice. As if getting up early wasn't enough aggravation, now you'd have to get up even earlier to scrape of your car. You need to warm up the car for 5 or 10 minutes and maybe clear the snow around the wheels just to get out of your parking space.

You know what's even worse? What about if you had to do this in freezing rain? Then you'd be wet, and cold, and in a horrible mood to start your work day. You invested the money in a home that has a garage. Use it.

Why inconvenience yourself? Let me give you five more urgent reasons why you should free up space in your garage and rent a space in a Columbus self storage facility.

1. Hail and other storm related damages can easily harm your car. Golf ball sized hail will dent the metal parts of your car and break the glass and plastic.

2. Branches and tree limbs can break and fall on your vehicle. This is very common during wind storms in fall and spring, and when tree branches get covered with heavy snow or ice and become brittle.

3. Parking near trees is generally a bad idea. Trees ooze sap and drop acorns and things of this nature. Any of these things could come into contact with the paint job of your car and really do a number on it over time. This can make your car a mess. Not only is this unsightly, but it can decrease the resale value of your car dramatically to a buyer when there are cosmetic eyesores.

4. If you park on a street, your car may be damaged by other vehicles driving by closely and hitting your mirrors or scratching and denting your bumpers. Even the most quiet neighborhood street could leave your car with dings and dents from bad drivers. And there's no way to catch the culprit. Not only that, but kids like to play sports. Would you rather a baseball hit your garage door or your back window?

5. Finally, there's always the danger of vandalism. You hear it in the news every day. Slashed tires, broken windows, & scratched doors have all been done before by unruly youths.

These problems can cost you thousands in repairs. But there's a simple solution. Park your car in the garage - that's what it was made for. Bring over everything else that's cluttering up your garage parking space to a Columbus storage facility. You can most likely rent a 120 sq ft unit for only about $120. That's 10x20 feet of storage space! That means you'll have plenty of space in the garage to park your car and walk around to your door, preventing all the aforementioned perils.