Home is more than a place to keep “stuff”

                                 Home is more than a place to keep “stuff”

The second limit of a living space is the need for storage of stuff (see: George Carlin). Consider that, by volume, your stuff occupies probably 50-200 times as much space as you do in your house.

 You would be able to get by fine with a smaller house if you either:

 increased the density of your storage space
 decreased the amount you needed to store

I already discussed the former point, but I’ll take a moment to reflect on the latter.
Our family had the constraint of an apartment that didn’t change size, even as we grew. Our adjustment into a small living space was gradual enough that we became accidental minimalists.

For three years, we donated at least one grocery bag per month to thrift stores, slowly paring down what we owned. As the space became tighter, the bar an object had to be above in order to earn a place in our house kept getting higher.
I started to really think about what I owned and why I owned it. I became a more conscientious owner of things. The possessions I own
now are such a reduced and fine-tuned representation of my current needs that it is hard for me to find want for anything else.

As things got harder, I also found ways to hack the system. I now use craigslist as something between a rental shop & storage facility. Buying things for a season of life and selling them when I won’t need them for a while. I have often even turned a small profit doing so.
I also found ways to hack myself. A lot of the things I owned were in my house with the purpose of "I might need this someday." I had to work hard to convince myself that I didn’t. In the end the compromise came down to this—"If you get rid of this and need it again, you have permission to buy it from Amazon with same day delivery"—so far that hasn’t happened.
Consider that you are paying rent for your stuff. That closet space, or worse yet, storage unit, is costing you money every month. Eventually you will spend more in storage than the contents ever cost you.

Real-Style --------Today.