[austincheney]

You fill it full of junk. If you are a single male not addicted to vanity you can likely fit all your belongings in the backseat of a car. My largest belongings were the computer and the truck load of military clothing. Women tend to accumulate more stuff than men regardless of vanity. When you get kids people just give you more stuff than you need (or want) for the kids. The only limitation on the ever increasing accumulation is the space available.

Honestly, the two biggest rooms in this house just store stuff. I can absolutely live without that space. I do enjoy having an extra bedroom to use for... fill in the blank. I bought my house as a foreclosure for 125k and now Zillow lists it for 235k (a bit inflated). The value of my house is about the down payment on a house in San Jose and what I paid is half that.

I have a 2900sq ft home in Texas and we spend next to nothing on heating and AC. Our electric bill per month averages around $160 and peaks around $200 in the summer when we run the AC a bit harder. More than half the expense there is all the electronics in the house, primarily: kitchen utilities, computers, and large screens.