It is really amazing (and sad) how we get so attached to STUFF!! George Carlin hit it dead on, didn't he? I am trying reeeeeeally hard to not accumulate STUFF. Before I buy anything I (try to) ask myself: "Do I want this? Or do I need this?" There's a huge difference between Want and Need. Now, to try to teach this lesson to my children! Ugh!
I watched a show about personal organizing one time and she said something I'll always remember: "Your memories are not in this stuff, your memories are in your mind." If you're trying to pare down on the 'stuff' you can always take a picture of the 'thing' to help jar a memory, and write a little story on the back of the picture if you like. I thought that was cool.