I read cookbooks to get ideas, but I do not follow the recipes to a "T" unless it is a baked good. I will get ideas from several recipes and them combine them the way I like. I prefer finding recipes in books that I trust than on line, as I do not trust a lot of the on-line recipes. There are certain people on the cooking forum here that I trust, however, and I will ask them for recipes from time to time.

There are other things I would rather eliminate than books, although I do not have all that many cookbooks to begin with. The books I do have contain recipes that are difficult to find on line.

I suppose you could get rid of old maps, if you think they are clutter. My sister destroyed my map collection, and I was never able to replace many of them. I collect and keep certain historical maps but throw out old road maps if they are recent but out of date. However, I do enjoy looking at old maps.

I once purged every book that I was positive I wouldn't read again. I've never looked back. I limit myself to two very small low book shelves. I now give away books as I finish them. For some, books are sacred, but in my reality of limited storage and dust mite allergies they are lovely short term items that need to move on to the next person. I feel like I lost weight without having to diet or exercise.
Other items that have gone out of my home and I don't miss are a variety of china sets, extra sofa pillows that take up an extraordinary amount of storage room, a variety of towels, sheets, etc. I love having the extra room and feel less cluttered in my head.

I donated all my cookbooks 11 yrs ago when I was forced into a drastic downsize. It wasn't really a hardship because I realized I seldom used any of the recipes, I just liked to read them!

Just yesterday though, I was thinking about a few and felt a little regretful - wishing I still had them. Looking up recipes online is so easy, but somehow not as fun as turning glossy pages.

I have moved so many times in my life that I've become extremely judicious about what I "keep". I also dislike dusting, and that fact helps me resist the urge to acquire knick knacks, books, etc.

Hmmm, I didn't think this through until reading the responses. I have never really loved cooking, but for the longest time kept those books because I felt like I was suppose to. I guess if I loved cooking and trying out new recipes, then the place to purge would have been somewhere else. Maybe it was just a matter of setting myself free of them and the expectation they represented. I do love to eat though :)

Funny that maps were brought up- that's something I've kept! Not even sure why- maybe because you just don't see them as much anymore. I remember when I got my first car and joined AAA, they would give you a pack of maps that applied to the areas you might be driving- and we kept them in our glove boxes, and even used them from time to time. Fun memories, I suppose.

Something similar happened to me too: I got rid of a few cookbooks (didn't have too many to begin with), relocated the rest outside the kitchen keeping only one that I refer to frequently. Got rid of all the recipes I had ripped off magazines and all the recipe booklets I got from food products (after scanning a few onto the PC), deleted all the "I'll try this one day" recipes that i had bookmarked in various ways and then devided the remaining recipes (print outs and handwritten) into two folders (sweet and savoury). Then promptly started cooking more, with greater creativity, and less "what are we having today?" anxiety. Taking photos and sharing MY recipes on FB helped too.

I work in publishing, and we get cookbooks sent to us for review; I would end up bringing some of them home. Or people give them to me as gifts.

I had to pack up the dining-room storage unit so we could do some construction in that room, and I used that as a chance to focus on the cookbooks and get rid of them. I was relatively ruthless.

Then when it was time to UNpack, I couldn't find the cookbooks! I went to make something from one of them, and I couldn't find them. It took a few months, and I finally located the box--at the bottom of a stack of about 12 boxes in my DD's closet (same construction project, but I'm not unpacking her stuff).

I do still want them out of there. But I think I'll be able to purge even more after this "absence."

Talley Sue, not sure if it was the point you were making, but you hit upon a problem I find myself having the older I get and the more stuff I accumulate. I get to a point of having so much stuff that it's tucked here and there and never can find exactly what I want in the moment. Sometimes it seems like I work with what I find, rather than what I wanted!