As the summer comes to a close, you will probably notice that your house is full of things that you didn’t even realize you had. It’s amazing how much you can collect in just a few short months. Something about summer makes our houses go to waste. Maybe it’s because we are outside, enjoying the sunshine and not home to clean or maybe it’s because the kids are off school and it’s pointless trying to clean. But, especially if you have kids, they grow out of clothes and toys so quickly that you end up with a whole wardrobe full of things you don’t need in just two or three months. So, what to do with those things that your kids don’t need or fit anymore? Here are a few ideas for how to efficiently rid yourself of all of that.
Used Clothing Donations
Charities like the Red Cross donation center are always on the lookout for gently used items. When you donate clothes to Red Cross donation centers, this is particularly helpful because the Red Cross does more than just take blood. Whenever there is a natural disaster, you will find the Red Cross there, handing out blankets, food and yes, clothes. Flood and hurricane victims as well as victims of other disasters can lose everything that they own and the tattered clothing they have on their bodies are all they have. Just getting a sandwich and a jacket can be the glimmer of hope that they need to keep going. Take all of the things that you don’t need but are still in good condition to a Red Cross donation center and they will be able to put them to good use.
Hold a Yard Sale
If you want to make a little money from the stuff that you don’t need, you could hold a yard sale or a garage sale, depending on what you have. Set everything out in an attractive manner so that passers by can look at what you have. If you want to get more customers, find out which day your community usually does yard sales and make sure you do yours on that same day. Saturdays are usually good for yard sales. You could even advertise it on sites like Craig’s List and Offer Up. Put up signs in the main street nearest your home, pointing the way to your yard sale to gain more attention as well.
Sell to a Consignment Store
Many second hand shops will buy your gently used items for resale. There are usually shops for grown up clothes and then stores for baby clothes but occasionally there will be a thrift store that will buy them all. Usually the way that it goes is they will have you 50% of the cost in cash or you can get 70% in store trade. If you kids are going to be needing new, bigger clothes, it’s a great way to save some money and make some room in their closet at the same time. Consignment stores can tend to be a little picky because they want to keep the reputation of having like-new items in their stores so don’t be discouraged if they end up not taking a lot of things.
Sell Online
There are sites and apps like Craig’s List, Offer Up and Ebay where private sellers can list their items for sale and receive offers and sell their things. If you aren’t picky about your price then this might be a good idea. However, make sure that you are wary of scams and don’t give out personal information. Instead of having people come to your house to pick up your items, you can arrange a meeting place or charge a delivery fee to take the item to them. If someone is not willing to do that and only wants to go to your house, you probably don’t want to tell them where you live exactly.
There are a lot of options for getting rid of stuff from Red Cross donation centers to making money off of them. Whatever you decide to do is up to you, the goal is to get rid of stuff and make your home clutter free.
