[throwawaymath]

> Yes replacing 25k worth of contents isn't that big a deal (although it would suck),

This would be absolutely devastating to most people in America (and the world). Being able to tank a $25k loss without any insurance help is a very privileged position.

I don't have a point of contention with your comment. I just wanted to make that observation, because I think it can be easy for many of us to forget it.

[rubyfan]

I doubt it’s accurate. Most people underestimate their contents, personal property and clearly in this case their liability risk. As much as people want to hate on insurance, it is in fact an enabler for economic stability.

[derekp7]

I'm sure that most of that 25k wouldn't need to be replaced. Clothes, dishes, furniture would be the main items. And for me, 90 percent of my closest really needs to be purged.

[xenophonf]

In an apartment or house fire, you've lost _everything_. Picture your bathroom in your mind and think of everything you need to replace just in that one room.

Toiletries and soaps. Towels and washcloths. The shower caddy and the shower curtain. The plunger. The cleaners under the sink. The books on the back of the toilet.

Now do the same calculation in your kitchen, your bedroom, your family room. The couch, those chairs, a TV, your mattress and box spring and bedsheets and blankets, dishes and glassware and silverware, pots and pans, and so on. Even if you own cheap stuff, that all adds up very quickly into a loss most people can't readily absorb, even when you factor out the pile of stuff you don't wear any more and really ought to donate. I think we could inventory a lower/middle-income renter's belongings and spend $25K pretty easily.

[Finnucane]

And do it while suddenly homeless.

[all2]

I'm not sure a house fire would be the best way to purge your closet, though. As funny as a sitcom with that plot would be, I'm sure there's a better way in reality.

If you feel overwhelmed by the prospect of purging, try doing it a piece at a time. Even make a game of it: when you get dressed in the morning, you also need to pick an item. That item goes into a box near your front door.

When the box is full, go donate it, burn it in the back yard, what-have-you.

[SamReidHughes]

That's a plot point that is used a lot, and it's not really a sitcom thing. More of a hero's journey get-him-Jack-Reacherized sort of event.

I had it happen once in a move: At 23, all my possessions got squeezed into 6 packages (5 of which were media mail), a bookbag, and a checked luggage. Everything else got thrown out or given away. I'd been living in a furnished room. At the new location, the only thing I needed to replace was a computer monitor.

[adetrest]

Definitely, I was replying to parent who didn't seem to have a problem with a $25k loss.