Storage units are unnecessary and distinctly American
Recently I moved some things into a storage unit, not because it was extra stuff but because I was moving for a few months and would not need the items in the meantime. It got me wondering as I walked around the depressing warehouse, who uses these? who owns these? what are people leaving in these storage units? Well it turns out that storage units are distinctly American, 90% of storage units are in America, for reference Americans make up ~4% of the world population. That is insane, we have bought so much that we have to pay for space outside of our home to store it.
Storage units are one of Americans fastest growing industries, people are consuming more than ever but not only are they consuming, they are hoarding. You do not need this much to have a good life. If anything all that stuff takes up time and space in your head, needs maintenance and likely could be worth something. If it is worth something consider selling and getting back at least some of that money. We do not need these, most storage units are owned by people with 1,000 - 3,000 square foot houses, with yards and garages. That is a large space. Consume less and take care of you wallet, the planet and your mind.
The average storage unit costs ~$2000 per year, and ~150,000/year get auctioned off because they are abandoned. $2000 dollars is a massive chunk of change to some, and you would better off saving that money and selling the items in the unit before it gets auctonied.
If something goes in a storage unit, that means you do not need it regularly, if you do not need it regularly, you probably do not need it. All that clutter used to be money and all that money used to be time. If you value all that stuff in the storage unit more than your time and money aka freedom then fine, take your storage unit. For most of us though and some of the 1 in 5 renters who own a storage unit, I have to imagine your money, time and freedom are more valuable than a storage unit.
Furthermore boomers and GenX own the most amount of storage units. The units will be passed on to kids to sort through and pay for the monthly rent of the unit. Filter out this junk before it becomes someone else’s problem.
American consumption has gotten out of hand and looking at storage units makes it more clear than ever. People are getting into storage units simply because they own too much, if you fall into this, really look at your consumption habits because you probably are buying way too much.