Stuff is expensive.  We love stuff. Some stuff is worth keeping and necessary. Some stuff has value because it has history attached to it. That's not the kind of stuff I'm talking about.

Years ago, probably even centuries ago people had stuff. The difference was that back then, they didn't rent storage units so they could keep it. I'm not sure when the first personal storage units were constructed. But today they are like those wire coat hangers that used to mysteriously fill our closets and fight back if you tried to remove them. Storage units the just appear on the landscape with dozens of little orange doors of all different sizes and no matter how many of them get built, they all fill up immediately. Herein lies the problem that I will try to address in this money saving guide.

First of all, I have a theory that if a person filled a storage unit and paid the rent on it for a full year. And then at the end of the year they went back to check on their stuff and pay for another year, only to find it empty, they would not be able to fill out a complete insurance claim. Why? Because they would have no idea what they left in the unit. So it's logical that I will now say that we could save a huge amount of money if we didn't keep all that stuff that we pay to store. But the problem goes far beyond that simple fact.

I will use my mother as an example. Mother loves stuff as much as the next person does. She is a senior citizen, living alone in a 3 bedroom house with storage space in her attic. She also has a huge storage shed behind her house. And there is also storage under her house for her lawnmower and yard tools, even though the space is so low, that in order to get to the tools you must bend over at the waist or bang your head on the floor joists above your head. She also has just enough room to fit her her car in her garage between boxes of stuff. Every closet in her house is filled with boxes of stuff. Boxes that are not marked so as to identify the contents. Mother feels that even one person living alone needs 2 bathrooms and she has 2.5 bathrooms in her house. Each of these bathrooms has a large linen closet full of bathroom stuff. My point is that if mother didn't keep all that stuff she could live comfortably in a smaller house with half the floorspace and never even know what was gone from her inventory of stuff.

I think you can see where this is going. My dad's mother had shoes she had never worn. She had cotton sheets that were still wrapped in cellophane (yes real cellophane) and when the family was going through her things after she passed away, some of those brand new sheets broke at the fold lines, they were so old.

I also love stuff. And I have rooms full of it. My approach is that it must someday return a profit or I don't want it taking up space. So my stuff is in the form of supplies that go into producing my craft kits. I could live in a one bedroom house if I didn't design and sell craft kits. That is.... if my hubby didn't collect "all things computer". He has dozens of computers and all the stuff that goes with computers.... like manuals, cables, mice (or is it mouses) keyboards, monitors, etc. etc. etc. Gadget Guy could have been based on his life story.

Are you paying property taxes on a larger house than you need so you have room for your stuff? Do you have a storage unit? If you were asked, could you list 90% of the contents? 85%? 50%? Does you car sleep in the rain because the room designed to keep it clean and dry (the garage) is filled with stuff?

So what's the solution? Go through it. Sell it, donate it, toss it, re-gift it, list it on eBay, or whatever you have to do to cut down on what you already have. And then make a pact that you will not collect things you really don't need in the future. Then if you have enough room when you are stuff-free, maybe you could make some money renting out a room or two.

Think about it. This article is just food for thought. It is not a one size fits all concept. But maybe it will give you some ideas that will work for you, your family and your friends. It's easier said than done just to come to the place where you are able to part with certain stuff. So try the team effort. Make a trade with a trusted friend who also has too much stuff and work together for a set number of hours, adding the voice of reason about what is really needed and what can go.

I wish you well as you venture out into that area of life. If it was easy to deal with, there would be no storage units at all. Since we can't bring ourselves to part with it and we pay rent on storage units to keep from dealing with it.

See you in a few days when the next money saving guide is ready.

JJG