confessions of a church ditcher.
OH yeah we ditched church today. and i feel fabulous about it, well except for when the kids ask why didn't we go to church today? otherwise great!
lance made pancakes this morning, and we hung out. he's been doing laundry like a fiend. and really i'm past overwhelmed with the family closet. i have to PURGE HERE. a butt load of stuff. it has to be gotten rid of.
TOYS? i never want another one brought into this house EVER! nobody plays with them.
Blankets? what do you do with the old ones? how do your store them? or do you just donate everything you don't use all the time?
Clothes? i have a load of clothes, that PAXTON doesn't fit in, what should i do with them , I'm thinking they are at least 2-3 years away from fitting Pierce. i have loads of nephews i should share with BUT, i could just keep them, and wait until Pierce can fit into them. instead of passing them here and there and all over, and having to buy new for him later? what do you do with old clothes? hoard , donate, or hand me downs?
honestly i lean toward hoard these days. which does me no good with the sheer amount of crap in my house. BUT i believed Lance and my mom that we'd be in a better situation later, and getting rid of clothes a few years ago, and passing them on was smarter since we had limited space, and NOW? i can't really afford to dress my kids . SO i shop at savers? great. i had all gap , and gymboree, before, and now we are cruising second hand and ultra classy walmart. no I'm not bitter. just hesitant now.
so do i pass everything on? or only keep what i think we will really use? it might be ONE box of stuff, if i were to save it. what do you think?
oh and today i trimmed Joy's hair. only a couple inches. she was not thrilled, BUT it was so freaking stringy, and split endy. i had trim it. and it was so long even if i ruined it enough to tell, there was more than enough room for error.
and i cleaned the boys room today. super fun. freaking dorks lured me down there, and then ditched me cleaning. i even had the pleasure of making up the bunk beds. i hate putting sheets on bunk beds. SEVERELY HATE IT!
OH and get this, the kids had been grounded all week from the computer until their rooms were clean. FABULOUS! no fights , no sharing, just me having unlimited computer time, since they couldn't play. HEEHEE! and my room isn't clean, but we live by double standards here, and i'm perfectly comfortable with that. so their rooms are pretty clean but not all the way clean. so here i am having blog time. YEEHAW!
ok so there we are.
and remember i had a question or two for you...
1. what do you do with old blankets, and comforters?
2.TOYS? what do you do with the ones, you NEVER SEE ANYONE PLAY WITH? donate? or sell? i've never actually had a garage sale. the thought of making money off of crap i don't use anymore is tempting, but we all know i lack follow through. and is it worth the effort?
3. clothes that you have a kid coming up that could wear them in a few years? share with cousins? OR save and hoard the ones you like? since once they've made the rounds they look like crap and i don't choose to use them.
guitar hero beckons.
and yeah i should clean something.
later!
30 comments:
Ditcher! JK, I would to every once in a while if I didn't have the calling i have! Toys? I have purged, anything that doesn't have ALL the pieces goes in the trash, anything they are too old with and never really played with, donate and then I take half of what is left and box it up (great way to use those diaper boxes with the handles built in!) and put them in the attic and then at some point I flip them out and exchange, all new toys and half the mess.
Clothes? I save what is worth saving (ie no stains, holes and will really be worn so worth saving) and the rest either give the family option of taking or just donate. What I keep is bagged in garbage bags, labeled by size (3-6 month, 2T, etc) and put in rubbermaid containers that fill Gavin's closet since he doesn't need to have the closet for anything anyways. Blankets and comforters? Don't really have enough worth saving, baby ones get packed up with baby stuff other than that I don't own alot of them. Whew, that was long! Have a fun night, and what a nice relaxing day, I'm jealous!
Everyone was sick today here so no church.
Being that I just cleaned out my basement and filled an entire huge dumpster I can tell you I saved too much stuff.
Blankets and comforters that are not being used should be donated. Do not save them. Buying another one if needed is worth the money.
As for clothing. I am not the best on advice. I have never used hand me down for my kids. I saved every stitch of clothing from Lindsey and Jacob but my family came in a way they could not hand down clothing. So now I went through like 20 bins and I already sent some to DI. The other bins are going to a resale shop. Good stuff has already been sold on ebay. I think that far away is probably longer than I would save the stuff unless its great brands. I just prefer to rebuy it after that many years. Styles change etc... If money is an issue buy it used like you are doing.
The stuff in my house has taken over my life. NOT anymore. I am trying really hard to let it all go. Toys are the worst. I just throw them out all the time. I donate good stuff. I try to not get stuff they do not play with but others give it to us anyway. It's hard. With that many little people its bound to be a constant process and something you will always battle. Good luck! I am fighting it all the time.
I believe its easier to keep things clean when there is less stuff. Atleast that is what I am hoping for as I purge everything!
I vote for "share with cousins" :) Trade you for 2 boxes for Pierce. And I'm having a garage sale next Sat. because I am getting rid of all my baby stuff - it needs a room of it's own and I don't have any more room for it. I'll have to risk tempting fate. So come and bring some crap and hang out with me. Maybe you'll make a few bucks.
making bunk beds sucks.
I ditched today also, but I did have a headache. I made my husband go because we hadn't gotten a sub for our primary class. Otherwise he'd have stayed home as well.
Now for my 2 cents worth as far as your questions...
Blankets, I don't usually have extra blankets. That's something that I kinda wish I did, but for now, I don't. Full bedding sets though, I sell at garage sales. I have a hard time throwing things away that I know still have plenty of life left. And I am bad at just donating. I prefer to get a little bit of my money back.
Toys is the same, except that we have way more than we have any clue what to do with! I always had a hard time just chucking, cuz I was way into ebay, so everything had a value of some sort. These days though, I'm ready to get rid of in whatever fashion I need to in order to unburry our house.
I do love having garage sales from time to time, but toys don't always sell that well. I'd rather sell on ebay if I know it's going to sell for an amount to make the hassle worth it. (Because I don't do ebay the way I used to, that's just what it is anymore...hassle!)
Clothes on the other hand, they sell super well at garage sales. I have never really hung on to any clothes for more than about a year. If someone didn't fit into it after that point, then they went to garage sale bins. I would much rather buy decent used clothes when my kids grow out of their current stuff, than go digging through stuff that I hung on to for 2+ years...weird I know, but atleast there's something that I have no problem getting rid of!
Good luck with it all!
On the clothes...I usually go through the "get rid of" pile before putting it directly into a garage sale, and weed out any that are in excellent condition. Those I usually take to Once Upon a Child. You can for the most part get more for them there than at a garage sale. Although, I do drive to the one in Chandler, because the one in Gilbert has a daily cash limit on how much they will actually buy. After they've hit the limit for the day, they will only give store credit, which is fine if you find something that you need/want while you're waiting.
I wanna ditch! Sucks that NO ONE else in my ward plays the organ - even vacations are tricky. So jealous!! :)
I ditch the blankets, comforters and toys! Off to DI they go and if they sit too long in my garage before a trip to DI - they go in the trash. Sad, I know but I hate the extra clutter.
As for clothes - I would keep what I KNEW I would allow Maddi to wear or would still be in style from Kylee. If not, off to DI, my sisters or the trash.
Hope that helps! Miss ya!!
♡ I save and use all of our blankets! But we're a lot colder here too? When we're not using them I fold them up and store them!
Toys, I'm getting ready to go through them again and we're gonig to have a garage sale my first so that should be interesting!
I keep all my clothes for the smaller kids. But since we're not sure if we're having anymore and if we do it won't be for a little while I'm going to pull out my very favorites and I'm going to put all the rest in the garage sale!
1. Blankets: I keep them. But the space they consume gives me anxiety. I keep a few in the closet & the rest in storage bins in the basement. For wintertime. Or emergency. Whatever.
2. Toys: Purge! Purge! Purge! But still, my kids have too many. The toyroom is a cyclone-zone and they don't keep it picked up. Stinkers. I finally sorted them out & put a bunch of bins in basement storage & we rotate them every 3 or 4 months. We call it "going to the toy store." I have 'em brainwashed.
3. Mimi shops from Isabelle hand-me-downs in the storage bins. I keep everything that's in good condition! She calls it her Shopping Box and she loves it. Keep it all! Don't share! You'll use it!!!!
I agree with supercoolmom: making bunk beds DOES suck.
I also agree with Laura: getting rid of stuff makes you feel free and uncluttered & it's easier to keep your house clean. You just HAPPENED to address the three things I save! Well, I did purge the toys and then only keep out very minimal amounts of toys.
WHY IS IT THAT THEY DON'T PLAY WITH TOYS? Mine go through phases of that, too.
OKay, confession time....I ditched too. We didn't get home from the lake until really really late, and I was tired.
Toys - I get rid of the ones that no one plays with. I throw away and give away. I just donated some to the church nursery.
Clothes - I keep the cute ones from Taylor for Connor to wear. I put them in big rubbermaids and label them with what size, so I can find them easily later. And then it goes in the garage. Then Connor's clothes (at least the ones that are new to him) I give to cousins or friends.
Blankets - I do keep a few around for picnics or guests. Some go in the linen closet, and some go in the garage.
{Getting the idea on why we have an extra garage now?}
We ditched church yesterday too!! Just could not muster the energy to get them all ready. Well, they WERE ready for church, then went outside and played in the hose while I was getting ready. I just did not have the energy to get them ready AGAIN.
1. Clothes: I would keep them for Pierce if it will be 2-3 yrs. For boys, I do not think styles change THAT much. And besides, they are kids, who cares if they have the latest fashions? I'd rather have $$ in the bank than have my kids in the latest fashions... save it for their teenage yrs! LOL I DO shop the name brand labels (Gym, O.N., etc..) for the following year because they are priced what I would find used at consignment shops. Those names have better re-sale value at garage sales.
I am also a BIG fan of Goodwill's 25 cent day! I have found Gymboree, Old Navy, Tommy, and Ralph Lauren clothing for 25 cents a piece there. My kids always look great (with a layer of dirt! LOL) It's taken me a while to get to this point of view, but the $$ in the bank is worth it to me.
Blankets: Each child has 2 blankets for each season, and I have one set for guests. Other than that, I have sold them at garage sales. And YES, they ARE WORTH ALL the work and energy you put into it. I just made $450 from only HALF of what was in my basement. It paid for shoes and summer clothes for the kids. And 3 pairs of shoes per season for each child KILLS my budget (as you know very well!)
Toys: I just sold half of what we have. I go through them regularly, tag them for selling, box them and tape the box shut. If the kids have not missed it, I sell it. It is SOOOOO much easier to keep things clean after you have purged and organized them. I also take half of what is left and rotate them. Half of the girls and half of the boys gets put in the basement and rotated every couple months. They forget they have them and it feels like Christmas again!
HTH!
I have a ton of extra blankets and I want more, and since I have 4 boys...the clothes are all getting saved...and I say we just have a big bon fire and burn all the toys...hehehe...It would make my life more pleasant...
Ps. I cut Layna's hiar today aswell..it was so stringy and ratty...IT looks so much better now. I want it shorter but its wavey I dont know if she would look good with a cute bob. After she gets baptized I think we will go shorter...Oh I went to Crismons and found a dress for her...unfortunely the one I liked was a $100...Figures!! It was kind of fun, it felt like we were trying on wedding dresses....
Since I didn't think we'd have more kids I have passed on pretty much everything. Since I only have one girl, her stuff goes right to a younger cousin. The boys stuff gets passed down to the next boy and after Jared is done whatever is salvagable we pass on to cousins too. I am looking forward to new stuff for this baby, although I don't have money to do it. I rotate toys my kids get bored of. Our family room has a hollow window seat-bench. So half of their stuff is stored in there, the other half in their rooms. We rotate about every six months, then the toys feel like new. I get rid of a lot of junk stuff, but hang on to the good toys I know will get used again.
Well, I lean towards keeping things, but have been getting better at getting rid of too. Mostly I just give the stuff to the Attic {closest thing we have to a DI round here}. As for clothes, I tend to forget I have boxes and bins of them til it's too late! Join you sister and have a garage sale.... my husband keep trying to get me to have one and well I haven't gotten there yet! :)
You could get those bags that you vacuum for your blankets, then they would only be 1/4 inch thick....I'm all for garage sales. My kids clothes sell like hot cakes. I've never made less that $300 at a garage sale, even if I don't have a lot of stuff. I also dump a lot at goodwill. Then you can write it off on taxes. You could also sell your namebrand clothes on ebay.
I hate making bunk beds. We finally got rid of ours.
I think everyone should ditch church every once in a while. Good to relax the brain and not worry about the guilt.
Garage sales are GREAT!!! $$$$ in the hand!
I always sneak the toys out when my son's asleep. He never notices. I do all of the above, hand me down, MS pick up, and SALES. Good luck! It feels so good to PURGE!!!!!!!!!
My garage has those drawer like storage bins and I put labels on them and keep what will still look respectable in a few months or years. If it is scary or I think it will be to out of date I toss or donate. If things are stained I usually toss them because if I go to the thrift store I am not going to buy even slightly stained things. Let's face it my kids can accomplish that on their own no extra help needed!! I have a rule One toy in one toy out. I do not sell them at garage sales because toys usually do not sale well in my experiance.
I saved everything from Marina and now I get it out and can't believe I saved some of the things I saved and other stuff I'm SO happy I have, esp when the budget is tight. If it's stained or looks like ratty play clothes, get rid of it. Socks aren't worth saving cause they don't have size tags and they're cheap to go buy new. Some shoes are worth saving ... like church shoes that get worn once a week ... if that. I put everything I want to save in big tupperware containers in the attic, garage or basement. Good luck!
toys: ditch anything that is broken and old that nobody will play with....and donate the rest! I have way too many in this house and we are purging this summer! :) clothes: I am a hoarder on this one....I HATE to buy new clothes because they are way too expensive. I have rotating storage totes just for this reason and it's worked great with 3 boys all born the same time of year....but if it's stained, junk or outdated, junk. I rarely donate clothes....but after my boys are all out of these clothes, I will donate what it decent, but after 3 boys....it will probably be all yucky and just junk! And as for making bunk beds....HATE IT! I cam so excited for the new beds in the boys room....NO bunk beds and will be so much easier to make! Good luck with everything!:)
Hi there-
That's quite the weekend agenda- It feels so good to purge, I have been doing it a lot myself lately and it feels good! What do I do?
Let's see....
Blankets-Since i live in CO, I keep a hold of the decent ones to use for family and friends. The torn and tattered, they get donated to the humane society for the stray dogs and cats.
Toys- I am holding a garge sale next weekend for this very reason. But, usually I donate or give to daycare centers that are in constant need of clean, gently used stuff.
Clothes-I almost always donate. However, my girfriend and I have a swapping system since both of our boys are a year apart from one another. I am a HUGE fan of Gymboree and they wear so well and for so-o long that's why we've been able to swap for so many years. The garage sale is to purge the older items in hopes to get new for the upcoming school year! ;)
Hope we all give you some ideas to purge-just do it!
Go, get your game on with Guitar Hero and have a spectacular day!!
P.S. Thanks for signing my guestbook! :)
blankets=old blanket drop cloths=garbage
toys=save for potential new baby=save faves for potential grandchildren= give rest to charity.
As for clothes,
since I only have 1 kid I have room to hoard. However, I do spend oodles of money on Sophie now, but there was a time when I couldn't-and during that time a friend gave me a very expensive corky and company winter coat for Sophie--ever since then I have found that I will give away the special 'boutique' stuff to friends--it just makes people feel good you know?
Now, there are 2 rules I like to live by
1. if it hasn't been worn or used in one year--get rid of it... and
2. if I need something new I have to make room (for God to give it to me) by getting rid of the old.
OK that's it--that's just me--no judgements--we are all different.
thank God!
I'm so happy for you and the computer time! YEAH! you deserve it.
1. blankets-I keep them, I take them camping or on picnics when they get old and ratty. When the batting inside is showing, I throw them away.
2-toys-I love to throw away toys, it just makes me happy. But I have 2 boys so everything is broken anyway by the time I get to this point. Or I give them to my family, depending what shape they are in.
3-Clothes-I hoarded my boys clothes for the 5 years in between them. I just couldn't imagine having to go out and spend all that money on clothes again. And the styles didn't change too much. And I have never regretted keeping them because I'm kind of a cheapskate. Also, the attic is a great place to store old clothes (if you have one) I put them in rubbermaid bins and then every season go through them and pull out the clothes. Most people would label them by size but I'm not organized enough to do that.
Good Luck!
I have always saved my children's clothes, or traded back and forth with my sister. Now that I'm done having kids, I sell clothes that can't be worn again by my kids on craigslist.com. I've sold all of my baby gear on there too. I do donate non name brand items (no one wants to pay for those). If something I have doesn't sell on craigslist, I give it to goodwill or desert industries. I used to have yard sales, but now I never keep enough "junk" around for a sale.......which is a good thing.
We ditched church this week too!
I have a bunch of small blankets, like receiving blankets, that are too small for the girls, so I'm going to sew them together and make a quilt out of them. Toys? Ugh. I hate them. My kids rarely play with them, too. Now that Luke has discovered computer games and the Wii, he doesn't play with toys at all. I've sold some things in the past at garage sales that my mom has had at her house, but I never make much money. I still prefer to sell the stuff so it doesn't languish in a landfill. I tell my family to give money for birthdays so i can put it in the kid's savings accounts, but my family never does that. We always get more toys.
I so know how you feel about all the toys! I don't want one more toy in our house either! I feel bad when six months after my kids get bday gifts or christmas gifts I end up sending half of them to DI. But I can't stand to keep them when no one plays with them. And all the other crap in our house...well DI is great. Just wish I could keep up on it and not collect more crap!
i am SERIOUSLY getting an "i would love to" jar!! that is the most awesome idea! love it! (hopefully it will work on my husband... wonder what i will have to put in the jar? LOL)
we ditched church too. my inlaws were here and there was a street fair and it was gorgeous outside and we just got up and never quite made it there. our ward meets at 1pm...it is east to dtich at that time. oh well.
i need to have a yard sale. we have soooo many clothes. J's finally going through a growth spurt and all if her super cute stuff from last summer is too short. we have lots of REALLY cute, in great condition clothes to get rid of. i use to take her stuff to a consignment shop, but i never got what they were worth. i am sure i won't get what they are worth at a yard sale either...i wish i knew someone around here to just give them to, i think that would make me feel better knowing they were going to someone who needed them.
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