Public storageWhat’s the opposite of a pack rat? Whatever that is, it’s me.

95% of the time, I only buy what I need. I take good care of my belongings and make everything last as long as possible. But if something is beyond repair or just severely outdated, I toss that junk as if it smelled like rotting food. I have a zero tolerance policy on clutter, all thanks to certain family members who drove me crazy with their obsessive buying and hoarding, and then leaving their crap all over the house.

MP Dunleavey recently pointed out that the nearly eight-fold growth of the self-storage industry (from 289 million square feet in 1984 to 2.2 billion square feet in 2007) coincides with the explosion of credit card debt of American consumers. This could be pure coincidence, or perhaps as Dunleavey argues, it’s a sign that we have a “nationwide consumption disorder that needs to get better before things get a whole lot worse.” In other words: we’re buying too much stuff we can’t afford and have no place to put it.

I don’t always agree with what Dunleavey has to say, but this time I think she has a point.

According to one storage expert she spoke to, most people who rent a storage space use it for old tax returns, newspapers, collectibles, their children’s old toys and parents’ old belongings. However, Dunleavey is convinced storage spaces are also holding credit-fueled shopping sprees.

Well, I just don’t know for sure. I’m completely biased. I would never rent a storage space. Zac and I already pay big bucks for our cozy (read: small) San Francisco apartment. There’s no way I’m going to pay an extra $130 for a 5’x5′ space to store stuff I never need to see regularly. (And $130 is on the cheap end of the scale by renting in the crack-head part of town.)

I say we take this matter up to the readers.

And for those who rent storage space: What do you put in there?

[Photo by Tracy Collins.]