He was very much a product of the Great Depression and he saved EVERYTHING. It was shockingly well organized. But he saved and filed every piece of personal mail he ever received. Hard copies of all financial documents.

He had every TV the family had ever owned. Crazy things.

He also had a shop in the warehouse, a camper, the old family station wagon (that he kept in working order).

I can't say that I recommend this approach either. When he passed away his children had to go through the warehouse and most of that stuff was thrown away. But since he owned the warehouse they did own property that been appreciating for decades. As opposed to paying a storage unit owner for decades.