The average American says 34% of the junk they own is stuff they don’t really need, or rarely use. But it depends on how you define the word “use.”
21% of it is stuff we don’t want but haven’t gotten rid of yet . . . 10% is other people’s stuff we somehow ended up with . . . and 13% is “pure junk.”
But 27% is stuff we’re hanging onto for sentimental reasons. And 29% of it is collectibles or other items that “spark joy.” So that’s not really “junk.”
The poll also asked people to name the WEIRDEST stuff they collect. Answers included 200 oil-burning lamps . . . 300 coasters from breweries . . . lots of vintage handkerchiefs . . . porcelain pigs . . . clowns . . . and one person said FINGERNAIL CLIPPINGS.
20% of us currently have a storage unit to hold our junk, and 10% are still keeping some of it at their parents’ place. The average person said they’d pay $1,300 to have all their unwanted junk magically disappear.
