Yes, for genuinely short horizons and when your home has no room at all — a few months of renovation, a between-homes move, a seasonal business. The calculator is honest about that: the unit wins in dollars when the months are few. The trap is the unit that quietly becomes a 3-year membership for stuff you never visit.

Transport to and from the unit every time you need something, contents insurance, and your time — plus the psychological cost of stuff being out of sight and out of the decision loop. Most people who rent units stop visiting them within months, which is the strongest signal the contents should be pruned.

In pure dollars, usually yes — good wall shelving is a few hundred dollars once, while a unit is that much every few months. But shelving only works if the space exists and you want the items reachable. If your home is already full, the honest sequence is prune first, shelf second, rent last.