More than we need or have room for

I've spent parts of two weekends helping my daughter and her husband move out of their home into temporary quarters in a smaller rental house across town. We've packed, taped up and carried away dozens of boxes of books, kitchen paraphernalia and other items. Many of these boxes went straight to the attic of the rental house, marked with a notation that the box would not be opened until after the next move into a more permanent home. Dozens more items, including small appliances, equipment and serving dishes were simply marked for donation to a local charity.

This move affirmed our realization that all of us have too much "stuff." When my wife and I moved six years ago out of a home we had occupied for 23 years, we began by tossing out dozens of boxes of "priceless" items from attic storage. We opened boxes and asked ourselves why we had ever kept the enclosed items in the first place. My daughter had the same experience, though she had been in her home only a few years.

Most Americans face the same realization, either when they move or when they clean out deceased parents' homes. Items that seemed so nostalgically important turn worthless with age. Even as average homes have become larger and larger, self-storage facilities have multiplied. Americans have collected and kept more and more "stuff" they didn't really need.

As the current economic crisis has grown more and more severe, sales of personal possessions have risen in tandem with foreclosures. Houses that are too big to be affordable are stuffed wall-to-wall with possessions the owners don't really need. And the rent on self- storage units can be better spent meeting mortgage payments. If any good comes of this, it might be that Americans will discover how few "things" they really need.

But if Americans lose their addiction to shopping, the economy, which is dependent upon consumer spending, could decline even further.