Squash the Collector Bug: It is Time to Break Free!

A short while ago, I helped my friend Jane move her things to a more convenient apartment. I knew she loved chickens and I had noticed a few when I had visited her. Now that we were actually packing up, hens and roosters were everywhere. We began to count late into the game and came up with more than 300 in her tiny house.

She lived on a fixed income, and she said some of them had been given to her as gifts through the years. She was having a hard time letting go of each one. She needed money and some of those chickens could have been sold to supply her needs for medicine and food. Many of them would be valuable to someone.

I, too, have collected. My collection is packed in a box for 10 years waiting for a dust free shelf to be designed with just the right shelving and lighting. Hundreds of dollars of demitasse cups are enshrined in tissue, and I scrape by now trying to meet the challenges of our family. I am holding on so one day I will enjoy them. What I have had to consider is, am I able to let them go?

In some ways, these cups weigh me down. I force my family to tote them around from storage to storage. We rarely enjoy their beauty. One might think, "These are an investment! What investment were Jane's chickens? She held on to these porcelain gods to the very end to see them donated or given away to friends. In a sense, it is pouring our money into a shrine of pieces for gazing each day. In thinking about freedom from this enslavement, I came up with a few ways to help to break free from the collector bug.

First, break free by avoiding the places where get your stuff. You know that you will be drawn into spending, so consciously fill that time with another activity. Sitting and stewing on the couch is not recommended because you may find yourself down at the local flea market or online with sellers due to the thought that you may be missing something really great.

Second, pare down your collection to a few items. Take time to select a certain number of the best pieces and arrange to have them in a display so they are readily noticed by those visiting you. Jane could have kept 10 of her most prized fowls displayed in a manner that was noticed by all who came.

Third, sell the other pieces. Have someone else do the transaction if it is too emotional for you.

Last, enjoy freedom and spend your saved money where it will best benefit you. You will find a simpler life uncluttered may be taking something that was a lead weight and making it into a stepping stone to financial ease. It is just what the collector bug needed to get him out of your life.