Confessions of a collector

[Crusty McPottydoodle]

Okay, I am not so much of a collector as a hoarder. I can't bear to give up anything that I own. I think it stems from a lifetime of uncontrollable losses. I have so much stuff I don't need and will likely never use.

This week I made the first really big step to decluttering my house - I put my first oboe up for sale and someone is coming to try it out next week.

This was a very difficult decision for me. I bought it 13 years ago and it is 3 years older than I am. I learned to play it as an adult and it got me through my first year and a half of music school. I replaced it 2 years ago when I went back to college to finish up a diploma in music so I could get a piece of paper for all those unused credits I had from dropping out of university and I haven't touched it since.

This oboe and I went through a lot together. I played it whilst my dog ran from the room, I played it through pregnancy, I played it whilst my baby slept next to me, I played it through the collapse of my marriage. I played it as principal oboe in a local amateur orchestra. I played it for a multitude of auditions.

I finally realised last week that it is not doing anybody any good sitting on a shelf in my office and the money it will bring in would certainly come in handy (chickens need a new permanent coop, don'tcha know).

So, here I sit realising that it is time to say goodbye to so much more than just my oboe. I have hundreds of books I don't read, I have about 40 years worth of Time Magazine I don't need - it was offered up to me by a friend and I just couldn't say no - that is part of my problem. I have equipment and supplies from about a dozen different hobbies that I never used past the first few times. I have furniture in my garage. The list goes on.

I am hoping the more stuff I get rid of, the easier it will become.

Wish me luck that when the time comes to take the money, I can let go of the oboe.

Cheryl

 

[chickbea]

I was going to get on to commiserate, because I am the biggest pack rat going, and I come from a large family of pack rats (my gramma's house was like a museum). However, I get on and see that you are selling your oboe, and the first thing I think is, "I need that oboe!". See how bad it is?

 

[ranchhand]

Good on you for making the effort to declutter. I hauled boxes all over the place for years, and finally asked myself WHY? I was moving all that stuff from one attic to another.

I began selling it off about 2 years ago, and have never had a moment's regret. It is stuff, and doesn't define me as a person. Once you get past that first hurdle, it not only gets easier, but more fun, because the money starts coming in!

Good luck and

.

 

[SunAngel]

Good luck!

I have been looking around the house thinking I have way too many 'collections' and should sell some. I have 2 curio cabinets filled with musical carousel horses that family has given me since I was a teenager. I think I could maybe make a couple hundred dollars from them. DH says not to sell anything, that I might get the money, but then will spend it on food or a bill and then have no money and no carousels. So they are still sitting over there. I really need to declutter our lives though.

 

[Crusty McPottydoodle]

Quote:
Okay, you had me laughing at that.

I cringe when I think of my grandma's place. I used to be scared to sleep in her bed because every year it got farther from the ground and I swear my nose would start bleeding. Stuff was piled so high, there were pathways through her apartment. From the front door it forked, to the right it went to another fork between the bathroom and her bedroom and to the left to a fork between the living room and the kitchen.

I have to admit, my office got a bit this way (which may be why I decided it was time to declutter), but at least I haven't taken to marking everything I own with my initials in red nail polish!

I sure do miss my grandma.

Cheryl

 

[Whispering Winds]

Glad to know someone else likes to "hoard". I am cleaning out also, not old or sick, but just sick and tired of all the clutter. My attic is full, I already culled a ton of my gorgeous Xmas stuff, need to do it again . . .I love Halloween, so naturally I have several tubs of that kind of stuff . . . I love recipes, so have a million or two of those "just in case", and I love to read . . .get the idea. I luckily have a friend who has a yard sale every year and I am already starting on collecting. . .I have decided that I want more critters, and they need more housing, so that is what the extra money will go for. If my husband would get rid of some stuff, sheesh!!! We could build a Taj Mahal!!!

 

[NancyDz]

Good for you, I accumulated a lot of stuff myself and it's a hard process but it is amazing how much "stuff" brings you down. If you added up all the time and money spent moving, sorting, packing, storing, and thinking about your stuff you'll be amazed. I've been purging for about 2 years now getting ready for a cross country move and went from a 3 bed/2 bath 2 car garage huge house with an extra 1000sq ft game room separate from the house on acreage to a 1 bedroom /1 bath house with a small yard. It resulted in over 15 dump runs, 4 garage sales and numerous craigslist listings. But wow it feels good to be so downsized. I do still have a storage unit that I need to go through and will in the next couple months. It is amazing how much time I have to do fun things. I used to not make plans for the weekend thinking I would go through my stuff, organize, clean, etc , etc but never did and then just beat myself up for not doing it constantly. Now when I move and have to fit everything in my SUV and trailer.. it will be so nice and stress free. If you have items like your oboe that are really sentimental, take some nice pictures of them and save the pictures ( digital really helps with storage) You can have the memories and even see it .. without it taking up space in your life.


Good luck! You will be amazed at how cleansed you feel after getting rid of things and if they are useful to someone else .. even better


I also used freecycle if I didnt want to sell something or dump it.


Nancy

 

[quiltnchik]

I know it's hard to imagine, but you will feel SO MUCH BETTER once you start decluttering, and then you won't want to stop! I keep way too much stuff too, but when I get in the mood to declutter, it's no holds barred - things HAVE to go and I feel GREAT afterward! With us moving, we've been making a Goodwill pile, I've been putting stuff on Freecycle, and we've also been recycling. It has felt wonderful to know we're not going to be carrying stuff with us that we haven't used in FOREVER! Hang in there - you CAN do it!!

 

[chickeypoo]

I have to admit....

i love STUFF. i have Taste of home mags, that i don't even read. i buy all kinds of cook books that i don't need. i look at my book rack and i have probably at least $1000 worth sitting there. ugh. i have knick knacks, of cows and chickens, and hubby has foxes and owls. i have one lone sea horse too lol. i have three car seats, two or three strollers, a closet full of clothes... baskets upon baskets of clothes, an overflowing dresser(which im going through later.. its' just the BYC is soooo addicting) lol. i already got rid of a bunch of socks i won't wear or that my children wore out. undies that i won't wear.. (i look at them and think.. "why?!?!?!" lol)

so i hear you. lol. ihave lots that i am going to sell, in hopes to get closer to the home we so want. haha. good luck to you and to me it seems
Sue

 

[flyingmonkeypoop]

I am not a packrat but I come from a long line of packrats. I used to keep everything but all of a sudden when I was about 16 I decided I didnt need it all so I started tossing it. Then I moved in with grandmother and a brother that are packrats and I am going crazy! My grandmother has 3 bedrooms full of stuff, her room is packed, the dining table is covered in stuff. I keep trying to get her to declutter but she wont. She always says "I'll do it later" which annoys me. I think I am about to go through it and list it on CL or something. She has a huge collection of Time's and tons and tons of plates and stuff. Maybe I will just box them up and have her go through them another time just so it isnt so cluttered, I dunno.