Yup, I think we're all in agreement that there's a cost to storing possessions. The issue folks were debating is that the once-per-x rule isn't appropriate for certain items because:

- the item takes up a negligible amount of space (fractions of pennies), and its usefulness is huge when you need it. Also, factor in the value of immediate access (e.g. fire extinguisher).

- some things you don't use, but are required to have (birth certificates)

Again, my main point was thoughtfulness with ownership. And it doesn't always require breaking out an Excel spreadsheet and amortizing costs and calculating expected values.