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Things you used to love, but now wish to declutter...

(71 posts) (37 voices)
  • Started 1 year ago by themusiclivez
  • Latest reply from djk
  • RSS feed for this topic
Overall Rating: votes

Tags:

  • CD
  • cds
  • collection
  • declutter
  • decluttering advice
  • discs
  • music
  • packrat
  • sentimental clutter
12…4Next »
  1. themusiclivez
    Member

    I used to collect CDs for bands I love. By "collect" I mean imports, promos, etc. Therefore, I have so many doubles of albums and whatnot. Lately, as I have been decluttering, I realize how silly this is. I still love to collect albums with rare tracks but don't need to collect singles just because there is different cover art. It takes up space and the items aren't being used.

    Have any of you stoppped "collecting" certain items because you want to declutter? I just worry that I am going to declutter until I have nothing left!

    Posted 1 year ago #
  2. charmed2482
    Member

    i have a huge barbie collection, its all sitting in my brothers basement right now in huge plastic tubs b/c there isn't any room for it in my small apartment. I haven't bought a new barbie or barbie accessory in a long time, and I gave away the "one" barbie I brought with me to a friend's daughter. my mom is way attached to the barbie collection though so I am having trouble letting it go.

    this collection includes a huge barbie dream house that came with all the furniture, a beach house that came from a yard sale, several barbie cars and other stuff that came from thrift stores and yard sales. and lots of barbie still in their boxes b/c my mom encouraged me to keep them as collectibles. I wish I had just opened them and played with them now instead of just looking at them. I hate having anything "packed away" with the exception of seasonal stuff, like my winter coats and winter boots b/c I know I will use those items again for the entire winter. everything else just feels like wasted space. and its not even my space. Also I don't know how to go about getting rid of the stuff. I know I probably need to do a good sort on all of it, but after that, I would have to find someone to sell it to or give it away too. I don't think i could give it to a thrift store. i used to work for one and sometimes things just get thrown away if they don't get sold, and I can't deal with the idea of my stuff ending up in the trash when its perfectly good. I need to know its going to a good home.

    But my mom is a freak and even said she would take it for me in case I ever want it back. I'm not having kids and no longer like the idea of collecting anything, there is no reason i would ever want it back.

    sorry for the rant.

    I also used to collect pretty pencils, stickers, plastic furbies, things with happy faces on them and just about anything purple.

    Posted 1 year ago #
  3. javamonster
    Member

    Why not just *give* the collection to her? It seems much more important to her than to you. And I remember you saying that your brother would tattle on you if you ever did anything with it. Write a list, and cross it off. Don't think of it as your stuff. It's her stuff.

    Posted 1 year ago #
  4. charmed2482
    Member

    I've tried, but it still bothers me, its still going to be in my brothers basement, he doesn't care if I leave it there forever. I still debate on finding a new home for it, but its going to be a pain since its in another city three hours away and there are 9 HUGE totes of it. I feel like its just adding to her clutter and pushing my burden off onto someone else.

    Posted 1 year ago #
  5. bandicoot
    Member

    i was going to mention my collection of glass animals that i decluttered a few years ago.
    o how i loved them and dusted them and pored over them when i was a child.
    it was a wrench but i let them all go.
    there were about 25 of them and they didn't even fill a shoebox.
    they pale into nothing against nine big totes of barbies! LOL.
    i have to giggle, even while i completely understand your anguish over them, charmed.

    well....if she won't let you get rid of them, then you have to give them to her.
    there is no other option.
    you cannot allow yourself to dwell on what other people choose to clutter their lives with....you have to focus on YOUR situation and YOUR relationship to the barbie clutter.
    if you hand them on, then your part of it is truly done.
    what your mother chooses to do with them is not your concern.
    you are not pushing your burden onto her. she is choosing to take it.

    Posted 1 year ago #
  6. charmed2482
    Member

    you are not pushing your burden onto her. she is choosing to take it.

    I like that, thanks. And thanks to you too javamonster. I think I will just tell her everything in those totes are hers. Including some large and small pink panther stuffed animals that are in there.

    Posted 1 year ago #
  7. jbeany
    Member

    Ummm, it's a loooong list! I'm a reformed collector and pack rat. I've gotten rid of masses of things that I used to amass. Teddy bears, dolls, wooden pull toys, wooden boxes, a mouse collection, all things hot air balloon, round pins with snarky sayings, costume jewelry, pretty rocks and beach glass, antique glass bottles, fish tanks and the fish to go in them, fabric, gargoyles, fairies, dragons.....well, you get the idea.
    I still have bits of most of these collections. I've just winnowed them down to the few very best, most interesting and beautiful pieces. I moved into a very tiny apartment in '94, and my New Year's resolution that year was to stop buying anything just because it was "cute". I did really, really well with it - probably the only resolution I've ever kept that long. I've cut down to buying maybe one or two knickknacks a year since then. (Not that they don't arrive without you spending any money on them, but at least I wasn't contributing to the problem.) Getting rid of what I had accumulated took a long time, but I'm really doing well at that now, too.

    Trust me, it's not likely you're going to unclutter everything until there's nothing left at all. Even if you did, someone would give you something that "just looked like you..." and the knickknack count will bounce back to a happy medium!

    Posted 1 year ago #
  8. charmed2482
    Member

    I don't think you will unclutter till you have nothing left, you still need clothes, kitchen stuff, a computer(I'm assuming) and other things. and there is nothing wrong with not keeping kick nacks and decorative items if you don't want them.

    Posted 1 year ago #
  9. Another Deb
    Member

    Most of my teaching idea books are just taking up space in the closets and shelves. I don't have time to incorporate a lot of new material or activities and for that I get ideas off the Internet. It's frustrating because I have gone to years and years worth of training for programs that just languish in binders. With all of the accountability measures coming into place, I am pretty much going to have to "teach to the test" and ignore all of the magnificent curriculum out there.

    Posted 1 year ago #
  10. Sky
    Member

    Please do what you want with your Barbie collection. However....it seems a shame to leave things of any sort boxed up, unused. There are children that could enjoy them. And in this tight economy, parents are looking for ways to save money.
    Could you give them to needed families?

    Posted 1 year ago #
  11. margaret
    Member

    If some of the barbies are in unopened boxes, maybe you could give them to Santa's annoymous? Or sell the lot for cheap. You could just tell you mom that you got a fantastic offer for it so you sold it. She doesn't have to know that fantastic means it made you feel good.

    Posted 1 year ago #
  12. themusiclivez
    Member

    Thank you, jbeany! I really don't want to unclutter until it's all gone. And I should say this: Since 3rd grade I have loved dolls, and started a collection of the American Girl dolls. When I have a house I plan on displaying them like I did before I got married and we moved into a small apartment. Since then I have collected a few Tonner dolls of three of the Harry Potter characters and three of the Twilight characters. They are beautiful! So if my apartment feels too empty, I will always have those to display :o)

    charmed - I know what you mean about not liking that the dolls are stored at your brother's - they are still taking up mental space for you. I feel that way with a Strawberry Shortcake house that is in my parent's basement. I sold all the dolls/accessories but since the house is so big, it has never been dealt with. My parents (who are very minimalist) can't wait to see it go and I feel the same - it is taking up mental space for me! I plan on putting it on Craigslist soon.

    Posted 1 year ago #
  13. Patch
    Member

    Love this topic! Hope it gets a lot more responses...

    For me it's books (still love them but never seem to have the time or energy to read them), kitchen gadgets (especially now that I'm simplifying my food plan and not really cooking anymore for just myself), Christmas decorations (prefer to just listen to the music and look at holiday lights), sheep-themed anything (still like but eh it was "past life" and "too much"), small toys and board games (still like but not enough to tote around), office and school supplies (have always loved shopping for them but now that I've got a lifetime supply that I will never use up...what to do with?), and most if not all of my clothing wardrobe (needs serious updating when/if my weight & body ever gets to where I want it).

    Hardest to give up, I keep going back and forth on whether or not to, are my Music CD and Movie DVD collections. Seeing as how I would rather be offline than online it's nice to have the physical media, but when I consider my minimalism goals I am pretty much ready to release both collections to someone who would use/enjoy them more. Besides, it's not like I have to be all or nothing on this anyway; I can keep a few favorites, and get rid of the rest.

    Posted 1 year ago #
  14. themusiclivez
    Member

    Patch - that's how I feel about the CDs: It doesn't have to be all or nothing! Right now I am getting rid of albums that I already have, in some form or another, multiple times. I am keeping all of the ones that have bonus tracks and rare songs, because after all, for me, it's all about the music and I love having the hard copies. I guess I used to think I was more involved with the music if I owned every single promo that the band released. I have since realized this isn't the case and that it is excessive and doesn't fit with my new lifestyle. After all, those promos and imports just sit on my shelf, untouched, because I have the songs on the USA releases. But I know I can't let go of the rare CDs with hard to find songs. I am a sucker for those!

    Posted 1 year ago #
  15. Kamakazi
    Member

    For me for a long time it was DVDs. In high school and the first part of college I was buying on the average of 2 DVDs a week, and I would get 40-50 for birthdays/christmas every year (that is all I wanted) I was up to 500ish at one point. Then I decided to start paring down. I started selling on Craiglist and trading in to Vintage Stock (think Gamestop for Movies and Music). Made a hefty sum off of the selling of about 450 of them.

    Now I am left with only about 50 movies/tv shows that are the ones I actually really like, and are the ones I could watch over and over again (if Netflix ever fails me or I can't afford it anymore).

    With the 50 I got rid of all the cases and I just have the discs in a binder, so it maybe takes up 1'x1'x6" area by my TV, so I don't consider it very clutterish.

    Posted 1 year ago #
  16. themusiclivez
    Member

    Kamakazi - I am hoping to be able to do what you did, but with my CDs. I have about 300 right now. Over the years, I am sure I have sold/traded in at least 100 - 200. It's insane. Now I just need to control myself. That might be the hardest part!

    Posted 1 year ago #
  17. chacha1
    Member

    I am in the books-DVDs-CDs uncluttering group right now. There's a Kindle in my near future and, knowing that, I have already mowed through my collection to discard dozens of books. I used to love seeing an author's whole backlist on my shelf, but if I know I can get that book again in 90 seconds, why store it for another XX years? It's not like I'm going to run out of things to read. :-)

    Knowing that I have Netflix in my future means I can mow through the DVDs pretty soon. We have a large-capacity CD/DVD jukebox and I'll fill that with movies. All the cases will go in the trash, which I hate, but what's done is done. Someday they will start recycling those and the landfills will turn into plastic mines. (File under "crappy jobs of the future.")

    Music CDs are hard to get rid of because I've been selective for a long time (over ten years) in buying, almost exclusively, discs with danceable music. I'm burning the best dance tracks onto our main computer and storing just the discs & liner notes in small shelf boxes. For strict fair-use laws adherence, I have to keep the discs if I'm copying tracks. Any discs I come across in my review that don't have any danceable tracks are going to Goodwill.

    I've uncluttered my craft stash, uncluttered my records, and almost completely uncluttered my kitchen. I've even uncluttered my art & memorabilia collections. I hit the wall a few years ago, I guess, and just want more SPACE.

    Posted 1 year ago #
  18. lucy1965
    Member

    @chacha I've had my Nook for a week and I love it. I want to bear its children. (All right, not quite that fond of it. :-) ) An entire shelf of children's books has gone into my son's "When partner and I graduate next year and move out" pile, and I have the books on my Nook, many of them with the same illustrations. A shelf of public domain books has gone to the library book sale.

    Posted 1 year ago #
  19. pkilmain
    Member

    @lucy1965 - I recently bought an iPad and have a Kindle reader installed on it. Now my problem is not to spend too much money at once. I can get a book so quickly and easily that I really just need to wait until I want it and spread out the expense. :) I was a library director for the last 10 years of my working life, so I really didn't buy many books (a few cookbooks, a couple of author signed favorites) so my bookcase has stayed the same for those years. Recently however, I've noticed some books that I'll never read or read again, so it's on the declutter list....

    I also have a semi-large collection of stuffed bears and rabbits. I packed about 2/3 of them away when we recarpeted my craft room (where they lived) a couple years ago. They have yet to come out of storage, though I can see the container which is in the closet of my office where the computer is.... I know I need to cull them. Many are collectible and should at least go on Craigslist for other collectors even if I don't get anything for them (i.e. they're not toy quality). Another item for the list.

    Posted 1 year ago #
  20. Amy
    Member

    When I downsized I got rid of most of my collections, and only kept a few. It's just what will fit in the display spaces I have. Two 32" tall bookcases, one small curio cabinet, the top of a drysink, and two vintage dish cabinets in the kitchen. Sounds like alot, I know, but nothing compared to what I used to have. Anyway, when one of these spaces starts to look too cluttered, it gets edited. I fill up a box to go to the auction house, clear a little space and start over. I know myself well enough to understand that I will always have a collection of something. With my small space and neat freak OC, it stays under control.

    Posted 1 year ago #

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