The high price of too much stuff

[Amelia]

The high price of too much stuff

All the things we bought (and charged on our credit cards) have come home to roost -- and a lot of us don't have anywhere to put them. So we spend more to store them.

By MP Dunleavey

MSN Money

Storage scares me.

On the one hand, it's a normal part of life: You move, you get divorced, your fortunes change; you need a place to park your stuff.

But the mammoth expansion of the self-storage industry in recent years reflects something disturbing about the way Americans acquire stuff and then cling to it: how much we buy, what we save, what we think we need.

Consider this: The self-storage industry grew from about 289 million square feet in 1984 to nearly 2.2 billion square feet by the end of 2007, according to the Self Storage Association.

And it probably wouldn't surprise you that the spike in storage happened to coincide with one of the most profligate, credit-crazy times in America.

It's not that people shouldn't pay for storage if they need it. But these uneasy economic times demand a long, hard look behind those corrugated doors: Can we afford the storage lifestyle?

Why we store

Guy Denos disagrees with my take on storage. "It's not about overindulgence," he says

Denos is the president Denos Communications, which owns and runs I Need Storage, a Web site that lists and tracks most storage facilities in California and in some of the major cities elsewhere in America.

"It's not like people buy a new living room set and put the old one in storage, or they use storage to put their spare china." Denos laughs at the idea.

What do people put in storage? "People store stuff that means a lot to them," he says. "It wouldn't mean a whole lot to you or me."

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[Liz]

"It's not like people buy a new living room set and put the old one in storage, or they use storage to put their spare china." Denos laughs at the idea.

What do people put in storage? "People store stuff that means a lot to them," he says. "It wouldn't mean a whole lot to you or me."

You know, I think this part is true for the most part. I knew a couple that the man's parents died, and he inherited the house and all the furniture. He was able to sell the house quickly--or fairly so, but he still had all the furniture. He ended up putting it all in storage, because he didn't have time to go through it all. Although he didn't want it, he didn't want to just donate it all to good will either.