newbie here--to save or get rid dilemma

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newbie here--to save or get rid dilemma

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Started 8 months ago by jeff
Latest reply from debsue
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jeff
Member

Hello,

I am a first time poster here. I just found this website, and I was excited to find it. I have high aspirations when it comes to decluttering, but at the same time...I am a bit of a hoarder. I am excited by the possibility of being able to pick up and move one day without the horrific experience I had during prior moves (boxes and boxes of junk).

So I decided to start in one room in one corner and go from there. Immediately, I am confronted with some old videotapes and DVDs that I once paid good money for several years ago. I have several VHS tapes that I never even opened--still in plastic. I had intended to give them to a friend for a birthday about 7-8 years ago. He would have liked them--sports videos. But yadda yadda yadda, and it never happened. Now I don't see the friend anymore. I tried offering them on Craig's List for free, and no responses. Throw them out???

Thanks for any input!

Posted 8 months ago #
debsue
Member

Hi Jeff,

I am also a first time poster here. But, I have looked at the website for a long time and it is very inspirational. I have been getting rid of things slow
ly for about one year. In my town there is a store that buys back DVD's, CD's and even VHS. They don't accept everything I bring in, but I have gotten a little cash there. Same with books. First, I try to sell them to the used book store and what they don't take, I donate to the library. The library will then either use them or sell them at their annual book sale.

Debbie

Posted 8 months ago #
susanintexas
Member

Welcome, Jeff -- I would donate them to an organization such as Goodwill before I chucked them out. Someone might want them and if not they have ways of disposing of them responsibly. A nursing home might be interested in old sports tapes. There's still a good market for VHS for children's tapes -- easier for little kids to handle than more fragile DVDs.

Posted 8 months ago #
JuliaJayne
Member

Hi and welcome, Jeff.

I think most of have wrestled with that feeling "I paid good money for this". It was a constant struggle for me in the beginning, but it lessened over time. A few shifts in my thought process helped me get the unused stuff out of the house. One, was to embrace the feeling that my donations (I prefer the simplicity of donating) would benefit others in my community. I also believe in "what goes around comes around". I feel like I have gotten back far more than I've donated. Finally, the good people here reinforce the fact that the money has already been spent on the object. Whether it was used until it wore out or it was purchased then just sat collecting dust, it's all the same -- the money is gone. Good luck and keep us posted.

Posted 8 months ago #
Nina
Member

Even now when I get rid of something I sometimes have that "but I payed good money for it" twinge of regret, but it doesn't stop me getting rid of things. After all, if I'm not using it now and don't plan to use it anytime in the near future (or love it as an object in and of itself) then it feels better to let it go then to look at it and feel bad about not using/loving it. There are very few things that keep most or at least some of their monetary value - and after years of thinking about "stuff" it has made me buy less and more consciously.
Btw, there is another post here about "donating and selling" which might be interesting for you. The downside of selling is that it takes time and you might not actually sell it in the first place. As far as donating goes, I only donate stuff that is in such a condition that I would use it myself if I had the need for it or it was (still) my style (for instance clothes). I think I threw the vhs I still had away when we moved a few years ago, but I would ask your local charity if they can use them or not and decide then.

Posted 8 months ago #
lottielot
Member

They no longer accept VHS tapes at our local charity shops, though DVDs are usually fine. If you can't find them a new home, throw them out: your home is not a rubbish bin!
Welcome Jeff and debsue :) Uncluttering gets so much easier with practice: I can't believe how much more ruthless I am a year after starting uncluttering with the help of this forum! I probably would have agonised over those tapes, nowadays I would just chuck them without a moment's thought. Though always donate or recycle if possible is my motto.

Posted 8 months ago #
EraserGirl
Member

Donating and giving things away takes practice - finding the quickest and most appropriate destination. ..you will get better at it, but the trick is to do it RIGHT AWAY - don't save things packed away expecting to do it at a later date. Give yourself some deadlines...donate it within a week or a month. Then put it on the curb.

Actually throwing things into the trash gets easier with time, you need to separate the item in your mind from the amount of money you paid for it. You spent the money on the items, you used it and got your money's worth (or didn't) and if you can't wring any more enjoyment from it..then the time has come to send it to the trash (or a donation bin)

But as the others have said, it all gets easier with practice..start slow if you have to, don't get too overwhelmed, but a thing a day is a nice steady goal.

Posted 8 months ago #
JuliaJayne
Member

Lottielot said: "your home is not a rubbish bin". This is so true it could even become a mantra when you find yourself struggling.

Say it with me...
"My home is not a rubbish bin."
"My home is not a garbage dump."

You get the idea :)

Posted 8 months ago #
mugwump
Member

There is a website for a US company that allows you to mail them stuff for recycling http://greendisk.com/gdsite/Default.aspx. They accept VHS tapes, if you can't find anyone who wants them locally.

Posted 8 months ago #
KeKeD
Member

If selling or donating the tapes don't work out, your city may have an electronics recycling that accepts tapes. Ours takes VHS and cassette tapes.

Posted 8 months ago #
luxcat
Member

I had this challenge with old cassette tapes, and I was able to find a local recycle center who took them for free

Posted 8 months ago #
djk
Member

welcome, Jeff, and welcome, DebSue!

someone wiser than I on this forum commented on exercising your uncluttering muscle. Start with something manageable, with one thing (or one category of things) per day (or week, if you only have a weekend day to work on this)and eventually that muscle strengthens and you realize you are becoming quite good at becoming critical about what things deserve space in the life YOU want and deserve.
so ditch those VHS's, or whatever it is for you, and move on!

when you love something, by all means keep it!
but if you don't...?

Posted 8 months ago #
jeff
Member

Thanks to everyone who posted their input here. Very good input and much appreciated.

Posted 8 months ago #
ElFish1
Member

For me what works is not getting too caught up in finding the right home for whatever I'm discarding. In other words, simple is better. My decluttering efforts go in the recycle bin, the trash can, or they go to Goodwill. If I get too caught up in finding just the right place or person to bestow my cast offs on I lose valuable momentum.

Posted 8 months ago #
ninakk
Member

Welcome jeff and debsue! Hope you'll hang out here often.

Posted 8 months ago #
debsue
Member

I like to look around here nina. There are many good ideas. I just sold some DVD's to our used record shop and the ones they didn't want, I donated to the library. I would love some day to live in a tiny house (like Tumbleweed Houses), but I don't know if I could pair down my books far enough :). Besides books, I'm pretty simplistic.

Posted 8 months ago #
bandicoot
Member

welcome to jeff and debsue!
i fantasise about a tiny house, but it just ain't happening around here.
too many cats for a start....and we really enjoy the wide open spaces in our home, that our decluttering has brought us so far!

Posted 8 months ago #
Jeri Dansky
Member

Another way to find new homes for things like this may be your local Freecycle group. It's (often) worked for me.

Posted 8 months ago #
debsue
Member

I just joined our local Freecycle group :) Haven't used it yet.
I have 3 cats, bandicoot. The litter boxes alone would probably fill the floor space of a tiny house ;)

Posted 8 months ago #
bandicoot
Member

i love the way that cats just take up all the available room.
they unerringly find the cleanest pillows and softest blankies in the sunniest spots on the comfiest daybeds and then they spread out in the exact centre.
we'd have to live in some sort of tiny house annexe...

Posted 8 months ago #

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