Thursday, May 15, 2008

Clothing Swap

Our multiple birth club runs a clothing swap twice a year. It's a good idea where you bring all your unwanted clothes and hopefully pick up some new stuff. The woman who usually runs it was away for some reason so I was asked to help out. I had no problem with this and at the end of the playgroup I packed all the left over clothes away and brought them back here for sorting. So I had a mountain of second hand clothes in my lounge which I either deemed acceptable and folded and sorted by size or unacceptable - to stained or stretched for anyone to want.

As you can imagine many people see this as a way of getting rid of their old clothes and the pile of unacceptable is very large. I realised as I was packing it all in away that these clothes were all so expensive when brought new. A midrange jumpsuit from Pumpkin Patch is about $30. When they are all piled together it makes me realise what a waste.

I think back to all the things I've brought just because I was bored (not necessarily clothes) - you know the things you didn't even feel that strongly about but just purchased. I feel the need to cleanse my house of all the things I'm hanging on to for no real reason! I'm a great one to keep hold of stuff because I paid good money for it or someone gave it to me or I would just feel to guilty chucking it away.

I feel the need to rid my life of unnecessary clutter. I think it's draining and bringing me down!

10 comments:

Claremont First Ward said...

I sell "stuff" on Craigslist.com all the time.....I love being able to get rid of things that are hanging around just taking up space, and get a little cash on the side, too.

Laura said...

It feels great to get things out of the house and make money!

Jaime said...

I hardly ever sale stuff. I do give a lot away to family or the DI on a regular basis though. I debate it, should I keep it or get rid of it...I never miss it once it's gone, though. It feels great to get rid of a bunch of stuff!:)

I am Arizona; a person, not a place. said...

I've been decluttering A LOT lately, too. I just gave 4 huge boxes of baby clothes to a women's shelter. I have no idea why I hung on to all of my son's clothes, but I did. ANd I had so many things from the girls, too. I'm so glad its all gone. I'm going through the toys now and also getting rid of magazines and other miscellaneous crap that is hanging around. It does feel good! I have to admit that I kept a few of the baby clothes that mean something to me...like all the preemie clothes and a few rompers from my son that I loved on him. I'm going to cut them up and make a quilt out of them...that way i can sleep every night with my children wrapped around me.

Jocasta said...

I think that's a great idea about the quilt - making something useful with baby clothes not just leaving them to sit in a box in an attic

Laurie said...

I think this is something we all go through. The hardest part for me is that because I am a stay at home mom the clutter gets to me more and I then realize all the crap we have and do not need. It is also hard to see all the toys we have and for some reason my kids don't play with them all that much. I get in these moods often when I will just find something a closet, or room and then go to work. If we have not used it in the past year then I find a new home for it. (e-bay or normally giving it to Good Will) Good Will we get a tax break.
It does feel so freeing to get rid of stuff. I also now ask myself when I see something I want... "Is this a want or a need?" and that helps.

Lottie_Ellie said...

I have so many baby clothes and odds and ends to sell it is ridiculous. We have put some odds and ends up on Craiglists... but I think a yard sale is in order soon.

Tracy said...

Amen to lesser stuff!! I feel so liberated when I can give clothes away & not keep them for the other sisters!! Making a quilt sounds good too - to bad we didn't all live closer & work on each others!!

Kim said...

I try to go thru stuff every few months, it's amazing how many bags of toys and cloths I end up with. Plus it feels good to donate it to people who can use it. I've started saving t-shirts that the girls love, I want to make them a quilt for when they go to college. I know it's like 18years away, but I think that will be a neat gift since it will have shirts from when they were babies all the way thru highschool.

Kate said...

I didn't realize how much clutter I had until I was cleaning up for the girls' birthday party. And I was AMAZED. I have so much to get rid of and I really, really can't wait to do it. I would sell stuff, but I just don't DO it and so it continues to lay around. Never tried Craigslist, but I might look into it. I hesitate to get rid of too much with two babies on theway in the family. But than again, there aren't TWINS coming so I can get rid of one set of clothes since nearly everyone bought us identical outfits...

I love the new banner picture, by the way!