Although I won't be writing a post about every single thing I do to meet this goal, I have been asked from people how to "do" decluttering. I figure as I go through things, I'll write up the steps I'm following, in the hope it helps someone else. I did an early start so that maybe some of these hints can help others.
Today, I tackled DVDs, CDs, and Blu-ray movies.
Overall, we don't have a lot of movies and CDs compared with some people, but there is a bit of "movie creep" that happens over time. A movie sounds great, so you buy it or it gets gifted to you, but once you watch it, you don't need to see it again. Then there's the kid DVDs that your child outgrows. Or, it is a movie you've had on DVD for years, but there's now a Blu-ray version that has more features with better quality that takes up less space. (Or, the worst offender...you have the DVD with certain special features, and then you get a Blu-ray, but can't tell if it has the same features, so instead of checking, you just keep both.) Whatever the reason, eventually the bookcase/shelf/rack that you have for the DVDs is now at the "staple a banana peel" stage.*
Whatever the reason, you're at the point where you need to buy more shelving space (a decluttering no-no) or you have something that looks like this.
Time for decluttering. Here's the steps I use.
* Remove everything from the shelves, sorting them as you go into two categories: DVD and Blu-Ray. Open each case as you sort it to make sure the correct movie is in the case.
* As you clear off a shelf, dust it. Once all shelves are cleared off, move the shelves (if you can) and vacuum underneath.
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| When all else fails, bring in a kitty to help with the decluttering. |
* Beginning with the Blu-ray movies (which are usually newer) and then moving to DVDs:
1. Put any movies back on the shelf that you have watched in the past year and feel you would like to watch again.
2. Put up any collectible, "in the vault", or other movies that you know you can't easily replace (unless you are certain you don't want them anymore).
3. Once you have gone through that, go through all of the remaining Blu-ray movies one by one and be honest about whether you want to keep it or not.
4. Moving to DVDs, look for any duplicates that match a Blu-ray. Unless there is a specific reason to keep both, get rid of the DVD duplicate.
5. Repeat steps 1-3 for the DVDs, but as you go along, think about whether it is worth it to "upgrade" a movie to a Blu-ray. The Blu-ray movies will look better and the cases often take up less space. In some cases, you can even get a small box set of movies that is much smaller than six individual DVDs.
If you have a DVD or Blu-ray that you don't watch and could easily replace in the future (especially a DVD that you could upgrade), put it in the "get rid of" bag. (The exception is a DVD that you have for a child that you know you probably will only be keeping for another year or two. There's no reason to upgrade something with a short shelf life, so don't try and replace that whole set of Barney the Dinosaur videos!)
Also, make sure to read the reviews for Blu-ray movies online on a site like Amazon. In some cases, movie studios have made pretty disastrous "upgrades" when going to Blu-ray, either with a terrible transfer or reduced features.
For older movies, you might not need to upgrade to Blu-ray, unless it has been remastered or has new features on the disk, because the movie quality of a movie from decades ago likely won't be improved just by a new pressing.
If you have a movie still in its original wrapping (after a year or more), unless you bought it to be a collectible for later, it's probably a good sign to watch it or get rid of it.
Look to see if there's any in your "get rid of pile" that make good regifting options. If so, stick a post-it note with the person's name you are planning to give it to, and put it in another pile. If you can't think of a specific person, don't keep it to regift.
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| Today's success: 2 bags |
If you have kid movies, offer a buyback program to your kids -- if they're willing to get rid of a movie, pay a yard sale price (25 cents to $1) if the child is willing to let it go.
Check with Amazon or in-person secondhand stores to see if any of them can be sold for a small credit. If you have a lot of a certain kind, you can try selling them on eBay or Craigslist (for example, a huge lot of 50 toddler-friendly DVDs).
The rest can be donated. Schools and libraries are good places for educational movies, and thrift stores are always an option for the rest.
In addition to the work I did here, my husband also went through his video games and was able to reduce by several. Looking online, we ended up being able to trade half of them back to Amazon for a gift card (about $58) and the rest will be donated this weekend.
How did today go? Here's the after picture. That's 2 bags down, 38 left to go!
*For those who haven't seen that particular episode of The Simpsons, it gets to the point where no one will take out the trash because they can always find a way to cram things on. This includes stapling a banana peel to the bag because it won't stay balanced on the pile of trash in the can.
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