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  • Moving made me realise just how much stuff I owned which I rarely used. I've never been a hoarder but the accumulation of things just occurred over time: DIY/bike stuff you keep just in case it'll be useful, you buy new clothes but don't ditch the old stuff, electronics etc.

    Trying to find a practical home for my 500 CD collection in the new house was the final straw and I did something about it.

    The first step was the hardest, coming to peace with ditching the CDs. I ripped everything to FLAC and shifted the lot on musicmagpie. Sure it was sad to see a CD that had memorise attached going for 83p but after a few weeks I never thought about it again. One compromise was to keep the few that were signed. I had to be careful to limit that compromise to signed ones and not widen it to special editions/collectable as that would erode my commitment to decluttering. The more special stuff went on eBay to get a better price.

    I really thought I'd miss the CDs but now I don't even listen to the FLAC copies as I use Spotify. Best decision I made. I can see it being more difficult with vinyl but the space it liberates it so rewarding. An idea may be to widen a decluttering effort into a proper think about how you use your living space. Suddenly that space full of books/CDs/vinyl/electronics/bike parts becomes floorspace to do yoga on/set up a sewing/hobby table/place a plant. This can give extra drive to your decluttering and help you ditch stuff you're struggling to let go of.

    In total I got rid of CDs, clothes, bike parts, furniture, old TVs, shoes, kitchen bits, DIY bits, old toys. Sold 80% of it on here/ebay. 10% went to charity shops. 10% to tip. I don't regret any of it. It was so freeing, mentally and physically to have the extra space. I did sell two things that I now regret and am looking to replace them (a cycling jersey and a side table) but the net result is overwhelmingly positive. I can buy replacements if I decide to.

    It can seem a daunting prospect to part with things but once you start seeing the results in terms of space/cash decluttering can become quite addictive.

    Just make sure you're a bit stricter when you buy things in the future otherwise you'll end up right back where you started!

    TLDR: had a massive clear out, now feel great, you should too.

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