July 15th: National Give Something Away Day!

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July 15th: National Give Something Away Day!

*Out of curiosity, while searching to see if there were any special or significant days in between Independence Day (Fourth of July), and Labor Day, I came across what’s become known as National Give Something Away Day (NGSAD).

Established in 2015 by Linda Eaton Hall-Fulcher, NGSAD is observed every July 15^th. “Christmas in July” gatherings are not uncommon, but this day now adds some validity to the notion.

Living in Southern California, where most homes are built with no attics or basements like in other parts of the country, storage space is a widely discussed topic. There is a boom in the self-storage facilities industry.

According to a 2024 online self-storage report, “Public Storage revenue for the twelve months ending March 31, 2025, was $4.722B, a 3.08% increase year-over-year. Public storage annual revenue for 2024 was $4.696B, a 3.94% increase from 2023. Public storage annual revenue for 2023 was $4.518B, [an] 8.02% increase from 2022.”

Why in America is there such a demand for storage units? Aside from business purposes, people may experience major life events like divorce, job relocation, space, and many other reasons. There’s an attitude that if I can get a safe and secure place to store my belongings, I can deal with it later, then decide what I want to do with them. This is where we fall into a category of either procrastination or hoarding.

I once knew a person who had rented a storage unit, paid the monthly cost which increases year by year, and never returned until 40 years later. Needless to say, by the time the person returned, the contents were so deteriorated that the decision was made on the spot to clean out the unit and destroy everything. What a waste of money! But that’s what many of us do! We procrastinate and hoard things that (in our thinking) others might benefit from. Then, when we depart this earth, what we leave behind is not valued or cherished by others who will either give your stuff away or trash it!

Why am I holding onto this? Who in my circle would really appreciate this? These are the questions we might ask ourselves. So, we either throw it away, give it away, or just pay for something that’s deteriorating minute by minute at an ever-increasing cost.

Yes, we like to hold on to our stuff, but is it really necessary? I held onto a 5 X 10 storage unit for 18 years until the cost doubled. So, I bought a 5 X 10 storage unit and hired workers to install it in my backyard on a concrete slab. I spent days sorting through things I wanted to keep … books I wanted to donate to our local library, pictures I want to send to other family members, etc.

Then I had to distinguish what things could be stored in an outdoor uncontrolled storage environment, and what things – like electronics, photos, CDs, records, and tapes – had to be stored inside in a temperature-controlled environment.

People, July 15^th, National Give Something Away Day is now upon us. Do we give it away, or throw it away? Whichever way, we’ll save a lot of money in the long term … saving ourselves the worry of clutter and hoarding.