This week I wanted to talk a little bit about what to do with all the stuff you are purging out of your home during this 52 Weeks of Organizing challenge. You are purging right? Don’t make me stick my fingers in my ears and sing la la la la la. Trust me you do not want to hear me sing!
When I go on a purge I always take my stuff to our local thrift shop. 100% of the profits at our thrift store goes to buy hospital equipment. Last year alone they made over $210,000. That’s a lot of cash and it’s such a great cause. I have no problem donating to them. Yes I could make a few bucks by selling it myself but I don’t have a lot of spare time or space to store the items until I get around to doing something with it all. This is quick and easy for me and I feel good about helping out our local hospital. I do want to make one quick plea to those who donate to thrift stores though…please please do not bring stained or torn clothing, broken toys or items missing bits and pieces without checking with the store first whether or not it’s something they accept. If they don’t accept it, all it does is make more work for the amazing volunteers that donate their time. Our store here does not lack for donations and their back storage room is piled high with stuff waiting to be sorted through. The last thing they need is to sort through junk. One thing you can do with old bedding and blankets though is bring them to your local animal shelter. They are always in need of these things.
Now having said all that, if you are looking to make some money from your items one quick and easy way to do this (other than ebay which I personally don’t think is either quick or easy anymore) is to search Facebook for a local buy and sell page. We have one for my small community and I believe it has over 3000 members now. You simply upload a picture of your item with the details and people can comment or private message you if they are interested. You then arrange to meet for transfer. And of course there are always sites like Craigslist or Kijiji to help you find buyers for your things.
However if you like the idea of donating to charity but would like a few more options in this area then have I got the post for you. This post is a must read from the Miss Minimalist website:
Where to Donate Your Stuff: 101 Places Your Clutter Can Do Good
What an amazing list!
Anyway I do hope you find that a bit helpful as you make decisions where to send your no longer needed stuff. Please don’t let it hang around too long though. Remember the idea is to purge, purge, purge to free up space for the things you love and use and that have a purpose in your life. You don’t want that stuff getting comfortable all over again and mocking you from the corner it’s stacked in.
No, you are the boss here, don’t let your clutter rule your roost!! Regain that precious space in your home and put it to better use than as a storage house for clutter.
Questions:
1. What have you purged this week?
2. Now that we are only a short way away from nearing the end of this challenge do you find you are running out of steam or on your way to becoming an organizing addict?
3. Are you stuck in the PROCESS? Let me know and maybe I can help.
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Please feel free to share your organizing journey and encourage one another in the comments. You are also invited to link up to the linky below with any posts related to your 52 weeks of organizing participation or to any post of an organizing nature that you feel will inspire and encourage others in their quest to get organized. Please remember to link back to here though so we can reach out to as many people as possible in need of some inspiration.
One other thing to consider: by including your link below you, you are giving me permission to use parts of your post including pictures as a spotlight in future 52 Weeks of Organizing posts. Proper credit and links will of course be provided. If you are not okay with this please do not link up. Thanks!
Rachel says
In the UK many charity thrift shops are able to sell those torn/stained/unsellable clothes as rags to recycling firms who make it into things like roof insulation. It would be worth checking with your charity if they do this, and separating those items and putting them in a separate bag marked as rags. Better than landfill and the charity still gets a bit of money
Fran says
I live in Texas and our local thrift stores also are able to use ruined clothing. One sells it by the pound to a company in a large city, and another says its unusable clothing goes to Mexico to made into rag rugs and such.
Living the Balanced Life says
If you have something larger that you don’t want to haul or even just children’s clothing, etc, Freecycle.org is a great place to find it a new home. There are local Freecycle groups all over the US, (not sure about Canada, sorry!) You can offer your stuff for people to come and get. The cool thing is, if there is something you are looking for or need, you can put out a request. You never know what you will get! Nothing is bought or sold, only given.
As for me, the local Goodwill people know my car, I donate so often! If I could only figure out where all this stuff is coming from!
Bernice
How to do that thing you REALLY want to do
Nicole says
I love to give all my things to local thrift stores too! They do a lot of good for the community. One place I think that may be overlooked many times is local animal shelters. They DO love ripped and stained clothes (washed of course). Many times they have cages and things that go partly outside or animals outside at all times and during the winter they can use as many blankets, towels, sheets and other clothing items as they can get to help keep the animals warm!
Laura says
Oh that is right, so glad you mentioned it. I’ll update my post to include it!
Allysgrandma says
Oh Laura, Laura you could always do this again next year. I got way sidetracked after meeting up with a high school classmate and have been sewing aprons for craft fairs. I am better, but still have more to do….just need to get through the craft fair next weekend, then it will be another entire year before I need to worry about it. I did have a beautiful picture of my fabric closet I could post to my blog, but it has been neglected. Happy Thanksgiving!
raven says
I am still down with pnuemonia and the past two months of illness have seriously set me back on my 52 weeks. I just keep telling myself that’s okay – because I’m going to do it again next year 🙂
Our kitchen reno is officially starting on Monday, so nothing is getting done this week! Both my kids have science fair projects to do, there’s Thanksgiving, Black Friday..and our traditional “Christmas decorating the weekend following Thanksgiving” routine. I am making no other plans!
When the kitchen is done though, major goal will be accomplished, and I can’t wait to sort through every object we own that came out of there and make decisions on if we need to keep it or not. I’ve been very inspired by the kitchen purging going on around here and in the blogosphere!
I did decide to keep the coffee cups my late mother gave me for our housewarming. We’re throwing out the non-emotional Corelle ones we’ve always had and some mismatched ones I “kind of ” liked instead, and we are going to use the ones she gave us daily. She would like that, and I am happy keeping them and will think of her every day when I drink out of my cup. And hey, they all match, so my ocd is happy 😉
MemeGRL says
Here in the states, our local Goodwill will take all fabric and are excited to have it, either for rags or resale. They explained to me how they try for the highest and best use of everything and either sell here, donate to other places, sell for rags or insulation. It’s fabulous.
My purging this month included a lot of outgrown winter gear (distributed to friends, family, and charity), and an entire carful of toys to a consignment sale. An alarming number were from my “gift stash”–where I finally realized I never “shop” because my kids now have ideas of what their friends want and we end up at Target anyway. It’s addicting though–I’m starting to pull furniture out of rooms!
Sodastream Penguin | toolsforkitchens says
Laura, thanks for the tip regarding local buy and sell pages on facebook! This is a great article for purging and for doing it AND making a difference in the community.
Christy @ toolsforkitchens
Thrifty Military Mommy says
My purging is an ongoing process I never really quit doing. Whenever I come accross something I haven’t used for a while I think to myself, “Do I really NEED this?” If the answer is no or I probably won’t use it for at least another 6 months then I put it in the box I keep in my closet. I then ask myself another question,”Do I know someone who needs this now?” If the answer is yes then I make a note for myself to remember to take it to whoeve it is I think will be blessed with my “junk” and I take it to them the next time I see them. Whatever is left over goes to goodwill.
Great series, thanks 🙂
Julie says
Great Post! I didn’t know about the local buy and sell on Facebook, so that is a great tip!
I also posted recently about finding good homes for Clutter, and in particular wrote about what to do with some specific cast-offs like old prescription eyeglasses and cell phones, and also information on how to calculate tax deductions from donations.
http://blog.customexcelspreadsheets.com/2011/11/clutter-to-good-homes.html
Hope you are all enjoying your Thanksgiving Holiday!
🙂 Julie
Heather says
This is such a helpful post. I was wondering about where to donate stuff just yesterday! Thanks!
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