It’s finally feeling like Fall, time to get the cold weather gear out and make way for the cold weather clothes. That means it’s a great time to donate clothes and accessories that no longer fit or work for you and your family.
Block off a few hours to sort through everyone’s clothes, turn on some fun music and follow these tips and in no time you’ll have a clean closet and plenty of room for new Fall clothes.
1. Gather Supplies
Collect bags, boxes, bins, or laundry baskets to sort into three piles. Those three categories are donate/sell, store, and clean/repair. Additionally you will want to keep a trash bag or bin close by for clothes that are too stained or beyond repair. Some folks will use scraps of these for rags, others may save the most sentimental pieces for a quilt or rag rug- it’s up to you what you’d like to do with them.
2. How to Sort
If you have name brand or designer clothing or accessories use your smartphone or computer to check prices on eBay or Amazon. You may consider selling them online or going to a local consignment store.
Next look at sizes. If it doesn’t fit it goes. I know we may lose and gain weight over time, and if you think you may need your other sizes store them away. In general though it’s an unhappy reminder of what was and what your goals are, so make space for what works now. My rule is if you haven’t worn it in 12 months, it should go. The exceptions are pieces that are used rarely like cocktail-wear or for men a suit they only wear for special occasions.
Storing hand me downs for kids is a great way to stretch your clothing budget. I could give you my tips, but Megan (who is a mom of 5) has a great post about how to store hand me down clothing in this post: super simple strategies to organize hand me downs and off-season clothing.
Lastly, anything that is stained or in need of repairs goes in the last bin. Those items either go to the tailor, the dry cleaner, or into the wash with stain remover.
3. Put it Away
Now you need to organize everything as you put it away. How you do that will vary based on your storage system. I like to group items by tops, bottoms, and underwear and pajamas. Sweaters and sweatshirts also go in a stack. Anything that’s hung I organize by sleeve length and then by color again grouped by type. It may be a but excessive (ok a lot), but it’s easier to find things that way. Of course you’ll want to drop off your donations as well.
4. Go Shopping!
Now comes the fun part! Get ready to go shopping. Use my Fall shopping tips to help you get organized and stick to your shopping budget. If you’re shopping for yourself you’ll want to read my post on Fall trends on a budget.
Donations Do Good
Amazing fact: Did you know that donating one bag of clothing and one bag of books can equal up to 2.3 hours of on-the-job training for someone in your community? It’s pretty amazing that just decluttering and donating can help create a positive impact on someone’s life. While you’re at it why not declutter everyone’s closets?
What happens when you donate to Goodwill?
A simple item donated to Goodwill can help provide job training programs, employment placement services and other community-based programs for people who have disabilities, lack education or job experience, or face other challenges to finding employment. In fact, Goodwill is the leading nonprofit provider of job training programs and career services in the United States and Canada.
To find your Local Goodwill
Visit www.goodwill.org to find stores, headquarters, job training centers and donation sites near you.
Try Goodwill’s Donation Impact Calculator
Learn how many hours of service or programs your donations can create in your community by using the Impact Calculator. You can also use Turbo Tax’s It’s Deductible to track your donations for tax purposes.
Kelly
