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Is there anything you own too many, too much of?

post #1 of 39
10/22/10 at 3:17am
Thread Starter 
Through my many months of decluttering, I have realised I have particular weaknesses when it comes to spending and acquiring too much of certain things. It has been good to work out what I have spent too much on in the past, so I can change my ways.

Although I do get pleasure from some of these things, I definitely don't need to acquire any more in the near distant future!

It seems I have a weakness for all the following...

Lipsticks
perfume bottles
China and other collectables
books about art or craft
sketchbooks and blank journals
scrapbook and other craft supplies
soaps
body butters and moisturisers
candles
Manicure sets
summer tops
lingerie
nice kitchen gadgets

Anyone else have weaknesses for certain things? Please tell me I am not the only one!
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post #2 of 39
10/22/10 at 3:33am
Duplo. My kids loove duplos (they're 8 and 5 yo girls) and spend lots of time building things. Unfortunately I love buying it for them and now I feel it gets rather out of hand. Take quite some time to put everything in 4 big boxes.
Children story books, also for my kids. However, I do think the problem is more of our limited space (1200 sq feet apartment).
post #3 of 39
10/22/10 at 3:45am
fabric
random vintage kitchen sh!t

those are the things i have too much of but have no interest in decluttering, lol!
post #4 of 39
10/22/10 at 4:28am
Yeah, ok, I'll fess up!

Scrapbooking supplies and kits
cds & dvds
baby girl clothes
kitchen items, especially baking pans
books???
toys
post #5 of 39
10/22/10 at 4:57am
Perfume and books, and sewing stuff, though I've gotten rid of probably eighty percent of the sewing stuff. I've been doing a pretty decent job of getting rid of other categories. (That's not to say that we don't still have too much junk, but it tends to be "didn't think to get rid of it" junk, rather than collection junk.)
post #6 of 39
10/22/10 at 8:19am
fabric - I use my sewing maching about once a year, so no excuse for this! Recently I have had to put the fabric store off limits.

work gloves - an odd thing to have like 20 pairs of work gloves for 2 people. I am not quite sure how this has happened, and how given the situation dh can go out and destroy his hands every day by not wearing gloves.

I was looking at the art stuff today and think maybe I need to stop buying it - how
many sets of crayons do we actually need (admitedly, only one set is whole at any one time)? and how many coloring books? We have a "one item" rule when dd and I go to the grocery store or hardware store, and it seems like a choice between plastic crap and art supplies, so, I usually steer her towards those. Tricky.
post #7 of 39
10/22/10 at 9:10am
Books and kitchen/cooking stuff
post #8 of 39
10/22/10 at 9:15am
wallabi, I think you're the first person with a work glove fetish I've heard of.

- fabric
- books?
- Playmobil and Lego (My children don't agree though. I don't know why that would be.)
- clothes (I finally need to apply the "1 in - 1 out" rule.)
post #9 of 39
10/22/10 at 9:18am
Coats and jackets. I have to have the perfect jacket for each of us, light rain coat, heavy rain coat, light fall jacket, middle weights fall jacket..you get the idea. Its a mess. BUT I am always dressed just right and I really think it makes my time outside more enjoyable.
Now I just have to find a way to store it all!
post #10 of 39
10/22/10 at 9:28am
Children's books and clothes are a weakness for me. I buy very little, but those are the things that are toughest to resist. I just bought my dd about 5 or 6 books from the Scholastic Book Club. But she did agree to let go of 20 books that I also agreed to let go of. I vetoed about 10 because I'm a teacher. Some of them were from my classroom library and some I want for her little sister.

I've been searching the net for the perfect Christmas dresses for the girls as well.
post #11 of 39
10/22/10 at 9:58am
"Sparkly things" as my husband says. I love all things glass.

Stemware. I could open a restaurant. But, there have been times when I've used almost all of it in an evening. And I have this thing where all the stemware for a course HAS to match, regardless of how many people are at the table. So when I buy, I have to buy in groups of 10 or 12, at least. OCD much?

Martini glasses. Different from stemware. I probably only have about 60 glasses right now but we throw an annual martini party.

Port Glasses. Oh my gosh, I went through this phase where I was breaking them constantly and Tuesday Morning had them on clearance. Lead crystal ones for $2 a stem. Yeah, I have a lot.

I've cut myself off from buying sparkly glass vases. I love glass vases, especially colored glass. I don't have enough tables to display them.


Christmas ornaments. Specifically, glass ball ornaments. Oh boy. I try to only buy a couple each year. When we got our new tree I thought I wasn't going to have enough since it was so big. HA! I shouldn't have worried. I have 4 trees and more than enough to decorate them.
post #12 of 39
10/22/10 at 10:05am
Fabric
Vintage kitchen stuff
candles
post #13 of 39
10/22/10 at 11:44am
Children's books
Books on parenting [specially natural, AP parenting. I'm addicted!]
Candles [I have a drawer full of them BUT they are used daily]
Beautiful children's clothing
Lego's [DD and DH have a "Lego Table" and I constantly buy sets when they are on sale, but it's their bonding thing!]
post #14 of 39
10/22/10 at 11:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChristyMarie View Post
"Sparkly things" as my husband says. I love all things glass.

Stemware. I could open a restaurant. But, there have been times when I've used almost all of it in an evening. And I have this thing where all the stemware for a course HAS to match, regardless of how many people are at the table. So when I buy, I have to buy in groups of 10 or 12, at least. OCD much?

Martini glasses. Different from stemware. I probably only have about 60 glasses right now but we throw an annual martini party.

Port Glasses. Oh my gosh, I went through this phase where I was breaking them constantly and Tuesday Morning had them on clearance. Lead crystal ones for $2 a stem. Yeah, I have a lot.

I've cut myself off from buying sparkly glass vases. I love glass vases, especially colored glass. I don't have enough tables to display them.


Christmas ornaments. Specifically, glass ball ornaments. Oh boy. I try to only buy a couple each year. When we got our new tree I thought I wasn't going to have enough since it was so big. HA! I shouldn't have worried. I have 4 trees and more than enough to decorate them.
ChristyMarie - Where do you STORE all these glasses? We have a decent-sized kitchen & pantry closet, and our wedding glasses (and some pre-wedding glasses) are all in boxes in the basement. We own 2 port glasses, and no martini glasses.

I have too many prepared foods (gluten-free mixes, sauce packets, jars of chutney). We're in a routine where we eat the same 5-6 dinners, and my time for trying new foods to prepare eat is VERY limited, but yet I'm drawn to making these types of purchases. Ironically, my desire to have less "stuff" and clutter draws me to purchase consumables. We just don't get around to consuming them. Example: on a trip to Charleston, SC, we visited a former rice plantation, so our souvenir from that trip was a bag of SC-grown rice. We haven't eaten the rice yet, and the trip was over 2 yrs ago.
post #15 of 39
10/22/10 at 12:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ASusan View Post
ChristyMarie - Where do you STORE all these glasses?


All of the crystal ones fit in glass faced cabinets in my kitchen.

Then I have all the non-crystal ones in cabinets over my bar in the family room. Easy access for parties.

Martini glasses are all on display shelves in the library - some upright, some hanging.

I do have about 6 dozen in carry boxes in the wine cellar - but I bought those to travel to other houses for our wine club so it makes sense to keep them packed and ready to go.

I still have space in cabinets over my basement bar should I feel the need for more.
post #16 of 39
10/22/10 at 12:43pm
Condiments. I like to cook, but don't have as much time to as I did before DS was born (duh!). So I have cooking wines, sauces, etc. in the fridge and pantry cupboard that are often specific to just one recipe... that I'll never again have time to make!

Like a PP, I love coats. I don't have a HUGE amount, maybe 10-12 including my running gear. But I love and wear them all, so weeding through for something I haven't worn in a while is next to impossible. At least they're all quality items, generally pretty fashion neutral, that won't wear out anytime soon.

Gymboree baby clothes from ebay. I have to stop. I have almost an entire wardrobe for DS of Gymboree shirts, onesies, rompers, and hoodies. I justified it by purchasing it all at dirt-cheap prices... But he has enough outfits to last 2+ weeks. They're just so freakin' cute that I can't help myself, especially the hoodies. I love hoodies...
post #17 of 39
10/22/10 at 1:14pm
Another Gymboree addict here and both of my kids have way too many coats. I can't resist a good deal on a nice coat.
post #18 of 39
10/22/10 at 1:20pm
I have issues with Gymboree, too (and Janie & Jack... and Gap). We have too many clothes, for sure. But yet, I can't stop buying!! Our spare room is now a 'family closet' with 8 clothing racks set up, if that tells you anything.

Toys are also a problem. We could stand to get rid of 75% of it. I keep saying I am going to do so, but I put it off b/c I don't want to take the time. Then I get frustrated with the volume of toys spread around the house. sigh.



eta: I have too many hoodies, too. I counted like 22 boy ones recently. It's too hard not to buy the coordinating hoodie for new outfits, and yet, I have several still NWT hanging up. I am actually excited b/c today and yesterday morning it was cool enough to justify wearing hoodies.
post #19 of 39
10/22/10 at 1:27pm
Perfume. But not just any perfume. Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab. I have more than I will ever wear, especially since I apply so lightly. And there are some that I have that smell horrid on me, but I cannot bear to get rid of because they are associated with something I love.
I am trying VERY hard not to buy more right now... I can resist most updates, but these few weeks when Halloween and Yule are up together, and now scents based on The Last Unicorn... it's hard. Very, very hard.
Compared to my BFs, I have a ton of perfume. Compared to some local BPAListas, I hardly have any. I am always torn between the urge to collect and the urge to be practical - buy what I'll use, and use what I have.
post #20 of 39
10/22/10 at 1:28pm
hand me downs for ds. I know it isn't one specific thing, but I sometimes wish i wasn't the dumping pile for everyone's hand me down boy stuff. I get tired of getting it, going through it several times, forgetting about it and then ds outgrows it before he wears things. Mainly hand me down clothes and toys. All kids are different in their style and toys/books preferences. Ds spends hours playing with dinosaurs, his trio blocks, and match box cars-none of which are hand me downs. I've about had it though, I've finally gotten to the point where i chuck the clothes i don't like to a donation box, i am getting ready to start with the toys and books as well. I am just getting overwhelmed with them.
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