In the average American home, there are over 300,000 items. [1] That’s true even though 1 in 10 Americans (and rising) rent offsite storage [4] and even though the size of the American house has tripled in the past 50 years. [2] Do some math too: the average American home ownership tenure is about 9-10 years, meaning people are accruing 30,000+ items each year to reach the 300,000 total above. [3] What is all this stuff , though? It can take many forms: loose change we’ve been hoarding, kids’ old toys, outfits that don’t fit or went out of style, screws and nails, stationery, or items that we have an emotional attachment to, like an old a concert program or record player. People tend to keep more things because they believe that some day in the future, these things will be useful or gain value. This is right to an extent. These items, especially ones with emotional memories, are not trash, but whether or not these things are useful for their owners is a question. It’s not easy