the one about not wanting my home to look like a video rental store

Many people who know me are aware that I am a hardcore film fan and in the past I owned a lot of Laser Discs, VHS and I own a lot of DVD’s but last year I was in a conundrum.  I had too many large DVD racks all over my house and a bedroom.  It was really getting out of hand.

I had about eight of them total and several would be dedicated to films, another for American animated films, another dedicated to anime (Japanese animation), another dedicated to my surfing, sports and WWE DVD’s and then another dedicated to music based DVD’s.

Needless to say that I own a lot of DVDs.  Many that I purchased myself and of course, a lot that I reviewed over the years.  And with Blockbuster and Hollywood doing these previously viewed sales of buy 4 for $20, the collection started to mount.  Also, I started to receive more DVD’s for review and I started to lose space.  So, the problem is that they can really clutter your home.  Some I didn’t mind and at first but I knew it was starting to bother the wife.

So, I decided to find a way to unclutter things and that was purchasing binders.  At first I started with binder cases but those became too costly and they could only hold close to 200.  My goal was to unclutter my life by putting my video games, my music CD’s and my DVD’s all in binders.

So, at first you start going through Target and Wal-Mart.  Target has these brown leather binders that hold 250 for $17.99 and Wal-Mart has these binders that hold 350 for $26.99.  But the better deal was Fry’s Electronics.  They would have these deals of $14.99 or $17.99 for these cases that hold 450.  A much cheaper alternative.

And so, I was able to eliminate the racks and a lot of clutter.  But many who are in a similar position that I used to be in asked what I’ve done with the cases and such.

For CD’s, I trashed all the jewel cases.  For DVD’s, I tried to sell cases on eBay for literally free (they pay shipping) but no one was buying, so I am trashing a lot of them.  As for the paperwork, I have the covers for all video games, CD’s and DVD’s saved and in alphabetical order, so I can refer to them if needed.

The box sets are the ones that pose a problem because they take up space.  From “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, “Angel”, “LOST” to the many anime DVD’s in massive boxes that man, they sure do take up space and many are in bins in my garage.  So, I haven’t decided but I kept them all tough.

The main goal was to eliminate clutter so my home didn’t look like a video rental store and have accomplished that.

Some may be wondering about my LD and I have no desire to get rid of my laser discs as they are sentimental.  As for my VHS, I don’t care so much for those and I have trashed many or have given them away.

I heard there are much better storage places online but definitely would like to hear from you on how you were able to avoid clutter in your home.