Clark has noticed that a lot of garage space is not used for parking cars very much anymore. Garages have become giant storage rooms for a lot of people. There's a whole cottage industry of contractors who will convert your garage with special shelving or storage units. The Washington Post recently reported on one such company that offers slanted walls covering, ceiling mounted bike hoists and more. Why do more and more Americans want to trick out their garages? Clark thinks it's simply because we buy too much stuff, which also accounts for the growth of the off-site storage industry. Not too far from where Clark lives, there's a posh neighborhood with a storage company that's built their facility to look like it's from colonial Williamsburg! But while storage may be necessary during certain times of life -- when you're moving or getting divorced, for example -- the bottom line is that we're just buying too much junk. When Clark goes jogging at his beach home, he passes by a house with a three-car garage. Once the doors were open and he saw that two-thirds of the garage was stacked with storage boxes from the concrete floor to the roof. Maybe we all need to stop buying so much and discard some of the stuff we don't need. Clark's wife dates everything she puts in their home's storage room. If a year passes and she hasn't needed it, she sells it or gives it away. Meanwhile, Clark never grabs a cart when he's shopping -- unless he needs to get a very heavy item. That way he can cut down on impulse buys. When was the last time you went through your closet? If you want to cut down on what you have, try having a garage sale or giving it away on Freecycle.org.