musicMagpie Blog

The summer starts out great. You've got no lectures, some cash left over from your loan and nothing to do. Shopping sprees and nights out become the norm, and you start to feel a bit like someone from Made in Chelsea.

But then the loan dries up. You're faced with 2 options: you can either get a job and ruin your much-needed 3 month relaxation period, or find another way to make some cash.

Well, we've got good news: you're sitting on a gold mine "" your CD and DVD collection. Not only will we give you cash for your unwanted DVDs, you won't have to lug as much back to uni when the term starts again.

All you need to do is sort through your collection and decide what to sell. Unfortunately, that's the hard bit. That's why we've come up with this step-by-step guide to clearing out your CD and DVD collection "" follow it for a stress-free and ultra-efficient decluttering session!

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The mind-blanks

We've all got CDs and DVDs that we have no recollection of buying. To this day, I have no idea how Danny Dyer's horror-comedy Severance ended up in my DVD collection. I haven't even watched it.

Anyway, you don't remember buying them so you'll have no problem getting rid of them. Stick them in the sell pile and we'll move on to…

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The embarrassing regrets

Ah, yes "" the CDs and DVDs we keep under the bed where no-one can see them. We loved them once, and we might still love them a little bit, but they're too embarrassing to see the light of day; these are your Steps albums, your Rob Schneider DVDs and so on.

Sell them and feel the weight of potential embarrassment lift off your shoulders. Feels good, doesn't it?

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Rubbish presents

They say you should never try and buy clothes for someone else, but we reckon that applies to CDs and DVDs too.

Rubbish presents cause clutter, so it's time to swallow your pride, say sorry to your Auntie Mary and sell them. Honestly, she won't ask where that Creed CD she bought for your 11^th birthday has gone the next time she pops round (we're really, really sorry if she does).

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The big money makers

Now we're talking. These are the rarities, special editions and boxsets that are going to earn big bucks.

If you aren't going to watch or listen to your big money makers anymore, this is an easy decision to make "" sell, sell, sell!

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The impressive-but-never-watched-or-listened to (AKA glorified ornaments)

Who hasn't approached someone and tried to impress them with their collection of 90s acid jazz?

Everyone has CDs they thought would make them seem a bit cooler, but not many people actually bother listening to them. They're more or less glorified ornaments. If we're being harsh, they're plain old clutter.

And we know where clutter goes: the sell pile.

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Nostalgic items

This is easily the toughest category to cut down, with the CDs and DVDs that you loved in your youth or that remind you of a certain time up for the chop.

CDs and DVDs, despite being little plastic discs in cheap boxes, hold a lot of memories. But if you're not listening to them anymore, they're just taking up valuable space and making your move back to uni next term harder.

Let go and make some extra summer spending money for new memories. We'll be here with a box of tissues and a shoulder to cry on if you need us.

Have you got any CD or DVD decluttering tips you'd like to share? Tell us in the comments or on Facebook or Twitter!

Image credit: Fred von Lohmann