Public Storage, the company that seems to be the Kinko's of self-storage businesses, have been running ads all about storing your stuff. They show a couple going through all the stages - getting married, moving in together, having a kid, etc. With every stage comes more stuff thus the need for Public Storage. Maybe there is a bigger need lately what with people losing their homes and all but the ads are really focused on storing the stuff that doesn't fit in your house.
I recently heard a story on NPR about these two sisters that stored their parents stuff after they passed away. They were planning on keeping it in storage for a short time until they could get together and go through all of it. This makes sense. What ended up happening is a couple of years went by and they realized they had spent over $5 grand to store a bunch of stuff they ended up donating!
I don't know about you but I've always looked at self-storage places as a sort of emergency-type business. If you're in between homes or getting divorced or want to store a human head - ala Silence of the Lambs. We have a storage unit at work but I'm an event planner and there really isn't a good place in my office cube to store 20 glass candle holders or 30 directional signs from the bike tour. Makes sense for us to have a storage unit. Makes no sense to have one for random crap you can't seem to do without.
On the home front, I ended up buying a new greeting card for a wedding. This is just laziness on my part. I could make a pretty one at home but am too lazy to take the time necessary to make one good enough. I also ended up buying a new front derailleur for my bike after buying a used one that didn't work very well. I look at this purchase mostly as a safety issue. Plus, I bought it from a local bike shop so that helps, right?
We're half-way through the year - so far, so good. I really think I could live like this forever.