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Comment by gingerlime | Hacker News Reader

I really like the idea, and it came at the right time when I just moved and it's time to throw away stuff, but I keep wondering about things like:

Books - Chances of me reading the same book again are slim. But it's really hard to let go of them. I now own an e-reader, but even if I could get all of those books on it (which seems impossible, if not very expensive and for no good reason), I would feel something missing. Then again, they do take much space, gather dust and are likely to be left untouched.

Gifts from people - whilst I can relatively easily throw away stuff I bought, it's so much harder with gifts people gave me. It almost feels like betraying them.

Any practical or (pop)-psychology suggestions on how to get over these hurdles?

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About the books; I ended up keeping only the books that I felt 'defined' me. Those that shaped my life in some meaningful way.

Every book I own now I'm able to enthusiastically tell someone about if they would ask.

Books: Book are expensive, voluminous, heavy and costly to move about. There is absolutely no benefit to actually owning your own copy when you can borrow it from your local library with extremely little effort. Get rid of them.

Gifts: My friends and family have a new policy for gifts: "No stuff, only experiences". I don't want a DVD or a book, but I'd be grateful for some French lessons, or yoga classes, or a cooking class, or... (insert experience here)

What's the use of cooking class if you have no pan to cook in? Honestly, this is such an artificial separation. Watching a DVD or reading the book is an experience. What if it is an educational DVD? What if the thing is a telescope which can provide many nights of an amazing experience?

Offer the books to your local library. You can always visit them ;)

That's what I did, anyway. I don't own an ebook reader (yet), but I'm pretty sure I won't be reading them again any time soon (if ever, for many), so I just kept a dozen of my favorites and gave away the rest.

> Offer the books to your local library. You can always visit them ;)

Incorrect. Donating is nearly the same as selling them. Libraries don't lend donated books (in the common case), they dump them to a resell wholesaler for pennies on the dollar.

But still, better to pass your book along to someone who might read it, then to have it collect dust.

Well, I suppose it's just a difference between countries. My books are definitively available at my local library.

Photographs can help. They capture a lot of the mnemonic value of an old belonging, but prove easier to transport, to find later, to back up against loss, and to accommodate in terms of space.

I've just had all my boxes of photos digitised and synced to Dropbox and stored the originals at my mums. It was quite satisfying to know I don't need to worry about losing them.

Here is another option for those books you really want to keep but don't want them to take up space:

http://1dollarscan.com/

nice idea. Are you aware of any similar service available in Europe (Germany)?

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