How do you control yourself? (limit your collection!)

[Deana]

I habitually buy and later resell decks. I do the unthinkable and resell them for pennies at Half Price Books (that's because I love finding decks at Half Price Books and I hope the people whose decks I've bought there never decide they'd get more on eBay and stopped selling there). I do the same with books. Each year, I buy dozens of new decks and books, and at the end of the year, I still have about 20 decks and 200 books. The rest go live at Half Price Books until someone else adopts them. Of course, I habitually throw away old journals, too, so maybe I'm not one to ask.

I'm the opposite of a collector; I'm a declutterer. My grandmother lived in one house her whole life. She was born in one of the bedrooms and she lived in that house until her death. I think she never heard of the word declutter, and when she died...room after room of stuff...the horror. The place didn't *look* messy, like if you were visiting, but every "spare" part of the house was crammed full of stuff. It was enough to make me a ruthless lifelong declutterer. I think the idea of being surrounded by years and years worth of old stuff is just too horrifying for me to deal with. I'm off to declutter now before I break out in hives or something (I live in an 800 sq ft apartment and I still feel overwhelmed by clutter. Getting a large house like my grandmother had is not going to happen in this lifetime. When my kids are grown I want a 200 sq ft cottage.)

 

[Brammetje]

} My first and most effective tip:

"Find the perfect deck!"

Haha, I know that's really hard but perhaps it's not impossible and it should limit your tarot collection a great deal.


} The second tip:

"Do research before you buy a deck"

Watch pictures of the tarot cards online, read about what others think of it...
Then give it a few weeks, and do research again. If you still like the deck,
it will probably be the right choice for you.

} The third tip:

"Figure out the reason why you want another tarot deck"

Look through your collection and try to figure out which deck you like best and why. Is it for study purposes, Is it because you like the art work. Is it a combinatiuon of both. You can best learn from your experiences and get an idea why and for what purpose you might need a new tarot deck.

 

[MercyMe]

I knew I'd reached my saturation limit on decks when I was gifted with a brand new deck, actually two, and returned one to the store unopened and the other still sits, almost a year later, unused. I like both decks. I wanted both decks. It's just that I found my own "I have enough" place. For me, the number is around twenty. I will probably acquire more over time, but for now my collection is enough.

Besides, I found that I read most often with my very first deck. Go figure.

 

[raventepes]

Other then being picky about what I buy...I don't. Simple as that.

 

[SilverCloudedWolf]

I'm very choosy about what I like anyway, more so since I got a couple of decks that I thought I'd love but when I got them it was a bit anticlimatic. So now I make sure I absolutely want a deck before I'd consider buying it, mostly by looking at pictures of the deck on the internet many times and seeking out different selections of images and looking at them as objectively/ruthlessly as I can. It's worked and my wishlist has shrunk.

Plus, being pretty broke is also limiting

Silver

 

[euripides]

that's nice, logical advice, Brammetje! (you sound so sensible....)

One deck that I'm longing to have is the Gaian Tarot. absolutely gorgeous. Might be another year or two before its finished though.

Deana, I'm a bit like that clutterwise. Having a family of clutterbugs (and a hundred hobbies and interests myself) is driving me nuts. My favorite shows are things like "How Clean is Your House" because seeing how messy other people are makes me feel a little better. (just as well they didn't have their cameras in here when the kids were little. Plenty of allergen exposure to build their immune systems!)

a_shikhs, I understand the hard-to-get thing - I live in country Australia, and our one little 'New Age' type shop stocks just a couple of decks. I basically can't walk into a shop and buy. So online buying is the way to go, but the postage kills. From Amazon USA, the postage is as much as the deck (to India or Australia, LOL!... ) Next time I'm in the city I'll have to look out for some desirable decks so that I have something tradable right here.

Budget is always an issue, isn't it...

 

[LadyMedusa]

I had one deck for many years. Then I found AT. In the first year and a half here, I went overboard looking for "the one". I think finding the one or two decks that I really connected with was what slowed me down. In the last 2 years I have only aquired around 8 decks. I am far more selective now. I don't pounce on every deck that catches my eye anymore. I learned if a deck can't hold my interest for several months on my wishlist then it won't hold my interest when it's in hand either.

LadyMedusa

 

[Formicida]

My strategy for limiting myself is a variant of the "keep it on your wishlist" method. If I decide I want a new deck, I'll set a goal (usually tarot-related, but not always) that I have to meet before I buy it. For example, I'm currently doing a daily study of the Thoth, one card a week. When I finish the Major Arcana, I can buy a second copy to trim the edges off. That means that if I keep wanting it, I can always work toward it. If during the time it takes me to reach the goal, I decide I don't want it, then that's okay too. I'd probably get myself some other treat instead (this hasn't happened yet, but I suspect it will soon).

People tell me it's a weird method, but it works for me, and it ensures that I only buy decks that are worth some trouble.

 

[DarkElectric]

Poverty works for me.

It does a much better job of ensuring that I don't go nuts purchasing every deck I could ever want than I could by myself. In fact, it's the ONLY reason it hasn't happened so far. Hmmmmmmmmmm. I guess I'm the wrong person to ask about limits...

 

[Sheri]

My goal isn't to have every deck that was ever made...I just want decks that I like and potentially would read with - a working collection. This limits my collection yet still gives me the freedom to gather decks that I like and will probably use.

valeria