We finished going through our closets, cabinets, and drawers and ended up getting rid of 221 items! The majority went downtown to the animal shelter's thrift store, the coats, hats, and other winter gear will go to the church, and we almost doubled the size of our yard sale pile for the spring.
I also put together a big bag of baby shoes, clothes, toys, and feeding stuff for a friend of mine with a little boy. There is only so much stuff one can save for future kids and we have plenty. Might as well share the wealth.The totals were:
93 baby clothes, shoes, and toys
49 adult clothes
8 pairs of shoes
18 kitchen things
9 books/movies
24 general housewares
2 electronics
11 office things
and 7 random other things that didn't fit in any other categories.
J also has two huge boxes of books to sell, but we had them set aside already so they don't count in the great purge of 2011.
Truth be told, we could have probably kept going if need be. Maybe we'll do it again in the spring before our yard sale - I bet we could get another 212 things!
For 2012, we're instating some new "rules" that will hopefully prevent build up and waste in the future.
- For every book, piece of clothing, toy, etc. we bring into the house, an old one gets given away or put in the yard sale pile.
- Using the "backwards hanger" trick to figure out what clothes we don't wear and can donate. Whatever clothes aren't worn by June 1st go. Repeat every 6 months.
- Found money (yard sale profits, tax return, etc.) goes to paying off debt and not to buying new things.
- Keep C's clothes organized by size/season so we can get rid of what we don't need and make sure he's wearing what he has.
- Keep up to date inventories of household items (tools, craft supplies, spices, etc. -- things you may not use every day) to prevent buying doubles.
- Don't just "go shopping" -- have a list and stick to it.
What are you doing differently in 2012?
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