introduction

[panda]

Hi, my name is Panda! I'm a college student who had to condense an entire apartment's worth of stuff back down into one room, because I moved back in with my parents. Most of my stuff is in storage, but my room is very full right now, especially my closet. I just have too much stuff in general. I have a problem hanging on to things that might be one day useful. I also have a problem hanging on to things people have given me as gifts that I will never actually use, but I'm keeping out of a sense of guilt. My book collection is also too large. I'm trying to limit it down to only books that I actually will reread, but it's hard.

I like the one in one out system, and I look forward to using this com. :)

Comments

[beachlass]

Welcome! I think you'll find a lot of us struggle with some of the same motivations for hanging onto things.

[panda]

Thank you! I suspect that's true.

[pinkadot89]

Welcome, Panda!

I also had a lot of gift clutter, but thanks to this community I was finally able to say "But I don't use it, and it's taking up space, etc, so bye bye!"

[kalloway]

I'm a college student who had to condense an entire apartment's worth of stuff back down into one room, because I moved back in with my parents.

This is what happened to me when I finished school. I'm still trying to clear things out and decide what needs to stay/go. If you're done with school or not going back/not going to have another apartment any time soon, don't feel bad about getting rid of extra items. When the time comes, your tastes will have probably changed anyway and you can rebuy things to fit future!you.

[moonreviews]

I am also trying to make my book collection a bit less large.
Some things I used to decide whether or not I'd keep a book:
-Does it contain old, outdated information? (for reference books, for example old computer books that aren't useful anymore, like Access 95 or Java 1.1)
-Will I re-read it? If I'm not sure whether or not a book is re-readable, I read it again. This summer I've also started writing reviews for most of the books I read and it's a good way to decide if I like the book enough or not, because when writing a review I start to think more thoroughly about the book. I also included a "rereadability" field in my reviews.
-Is the book a translation and do I want the original version (if it's in a language I can read)? If so, I remove the translation from my bookcase and put the original version on my wishlist. When I want to re-read the translation anytime soon OR I'm not interested in the original version, I leave it in my bookcase.
-When the information in that book is already in other books you have (or easily findable on the internet) and it's not an exceptionally good reference book or outdated, I remove it.
-When it's a duplicate book and you're not using it for lending it out to people, I remove it as well.

However, I have more trouble cleaning out my clothes, because I think "but maybe I'll wear it sometime again...".