Clear the Clutter Challenge Day 7: Movies & Books

Challenge Day 7 is all about movies and books.  Naturally, there are some things you need to keep, so don’t be getting rid of old home movies!  But do get rid of movies you no longer watch (or that don’t work) and books you no longer read/can’t use again.

Anyone who knows me knows exactly how much I love to read and how much I love to watch movies.  I find them both to be exceptionally pleasurable past-times and obviously that makes it really hard to get rid of them!

If you have that same issue, this is another challenge that needs to be done in baby steps.  Therefore, the goal for the day is to find five movies and five books that you are willing to part with in some capacity.

We found six American Girl books that Spizzie has agreed to get rid of and I managed to find six movies as well.  I am actually a little proud that I went over my quota, but I know I’ll have to really step it up if I’m serious about cleaning out this clutter!

Here are a few ideas about what to keep and what to get rid of:

Movies–

• Keep what you love and know you will watch over again.
• Keep what you have the capacity to watch–i.e., if you don’t have a VCR, you don’t need VHS tapes.
• Don’t keep it just because someone “might” watch it someday.  If you aren’t sure, it goes!

Books–

• Keep favorites, but limit yourself.
• Replace paperbacks with hardcovers if at all possible.  (Make a list of paperbacks you are getting rid of and replace them a little at a time.)
• Donate to a local library, school, or program that utilizes books.
• Give books to friends and family members if you don’t want to sell them.
• Keep books that have pages that can be used for crafts!

It sounds like a simple task, but if you are as attached to your books and movies as we are, it isn’t all that easy.  A lot of the decluttering process is not just about getting stuff out of the house, it’s about letting go of the emotional attachment we’ve developed with it for whatever reason.  That’s the part that slows me down most of the time!

How about you…Do you have an excess of books and movies?  Do you have an excess of lots of things that need to be gone from your household?  If that sounds like you, please join me on the 30-Day Clear the Clutter Challenge!