About a year ago, at the advice of GRS readers, I started an experiment. I took all of the shirts and sweaters from my clothes closet and moved them into our spare room. Whenever I needed something to wear, I checked the clothes closet first. If what I needed wasn’t there (as was often the case at first), I went to the spare room to find it. After I’d worn a shirt or sweater once, it was allowed to return to its home in the main clothes closet.
The results of this experiment probably won’t be very surprising. After a couple of weeks during which I was reclaiming my favorite shirts, most of the rest remained unused. For an entire year.
On Tuesday, I gritted my teeth, grabbed the 37 shirts and sweaters still left in the spare room, and took them to a local thrift store. Some of the things I donated had never been worn (or had been worn just a couple of times). It hurt to part with those clothes. I probably spent more than $750 to purchase them (remember, I buy a lot of clothes at thrift stores), so in a way it felt like I was throwing away $750.
But it occurred to me that’s the wrong way to look at it. I’m not throwing that money away now. I threw away that $750 years ago when I bought the clothes I wasn’t ever going to wear. (Plus, I’ve managed to get rid of a bunch of Stuff, which was the whole point of this project in the first place.)
Over the past few weeks, I’ve bought a handful of new shirts to fill some gaps in my wardrobe. But I’ve made a vow to myself: I never want to buy clothes compulsively again. It used to be I’d go into Costco or Goodwill or wherever, and if I saw a shirt or sweater I liked, I’d buy it — even if I didn’t have a need for it. Now, though, I want to apply my new-found financial discipline to my wardrobe. Instead of buying lots of cheap stuff, I’m going to allow myself to purchase nice stuff (I like the clothes at REI), but only when I have a need for something.
Now that this project is over, it’s made me think:
- I wonder if there’s a way to make this an ongoing thing. Is there a way for me to tag which clothes I’ve worn most recently, and which I haven’t? Maybe if I hang the freshly cleaned clothes at one end of the closet, then I’d know the clothes at the other end had gone the longest since being worn. In this way, I could be constantly getting rid of the items I no longer wear.
- I also think it might be interesting to apply this method to other parts of my life. What about my CD and DVD collections? My books? The garden tools that are spilling out of our shed? In my war on Stuff, I’m always looking for new paths to victory, and this method could be one.
My guess is that of the things I own, probably 20% of the Stuff gets 80% of the use. While a part of me wants to be brave and simply pare down what I own to just the bare essentials, I haven’t reached that mental space yet. I’m too attached. But maybe I’ll get there in a few years. For now, I’m just happy to have trimmed my wardrobe down to a manageable size.
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If you have seasonal wardrobes – i just packed all of our longjohns and stuff away – spring & fall are the good times to pare down.
The other option, is do it by space – if the space you have allotted to clothes is full, time to go through and get rid of stuff. When my boyfriend’s t-shirt drawer is full, I make him pull out the shirts with holes & the ones he doesn’t wear.
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I would love to empty my house too of all the stuff I never use and I have gotten rid of a large amount of crap since last year. There is still the garage to go through, however, as well as various closets and the under-stair nightmare cupboard. My own closet is filled with clothes, 90% of which I never wear. I am resolved to getting this unused stuff out of my life and never replacing it again with more unused stuff. I am shooting for a final garage sale in about two weeks time.
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When you wash clothes, hang them with the hangers backwards, i.e., hooks facing out instead of in. When you wear something, flip the hanger. After a while, you will have a quick visual of which clothes you wear and which ones you don’t.
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At tax time you’ll be happy that you donated those shirts. It’s always a pleasant surprise when we enter our donations into TurboTax, especially if we’ve done a major clear out for goodwill in addition to the regular donations.
It’s also always pleasant to buy clothing because you’ve lost weight! I hate shopping, so I do it in one fell swoop, but a little at a time probably leaves you not looking like a clown with falling-off-pants before you bite the bullet and hit the ann taylor outlet. (Well, probably not Ann Taylor in your case.)
Buying clothing because you’ve gained weight is nowhere near as fun… but those size 10s and 12s I got rid of were too young for me and out of style anyway. I think not wanting to have to buy size 12s is the only thing keeping me from gaining even more weight.
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The trick to keeping track of what clothes you wear in your closet is to flip all the hangers around so that the hook is coming at you, and then flip it back once you wear that item. It makes it pretty easy to see what you’re actually wearing and what’s just sucking up space.
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One method I’ve read about at other sites is to hang your clothes with the hanger backwards in your closet. When you wear the item, rehang it correctly. At the end of the season, year, or whatever period you choose, get rid of anything still hanging backwards.
I haven’t done this yet, but I’m on my way!
Good luck with the weight loss. I need to lose about 35-40 pounds this year. I’ve lost the weight in the past, but gained it back.
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I recently read about a handy way to keep this sort of closet cleaning up.
Every year turn all of your hangers around, whenever you use something put it back in normally, that way to you can differentiate the unused from the used, without needing an extra room as you loose weight.
http://www.43folders.com/2007/08/13/hanger-trick
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One easy method to determine if you are wearing an item or not is to turn all the hangers backwards on the rod on some given date, then turn them around once you wear the item. It becomes apparent pretty fast which items are actually being worn. After one year, if the item hasn’t been worn, out it goes.
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What a great way to pare down your wardrobe! Thanks for sharing your findings after a year.
I keep my wardrobe in check while safeguarding my wallet against clothing “needs” by doing a comprehensive analysis. Specifically, this means evaluating and categorizing each piece of clothing and rating it on a set of criteria. I use an excel spreadsheet and pivot tables. Yes, I’m serious. I am happy to describe my methodology if you’d like more detail.
In the end, I have the analysis to help me make objective decisions about what stays and goes, know what needs repair, and assess where the gaps are in my wardrobe. So, the next time I walk into anyplace selling clothing (whether it’s Costco or a roadside garage sale), I know exactly what I need (and don’t need).
This analysis takes 2-3 hours of one day, and it lasts me a year or more. I have not calculated how much money it has saved me, but I know the results of my analysis have helped me show clothes-buying restraint on more than one occasion.
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I just today read your comment about how to organize your wardrobe using spreadsheets and privot tables. I see that it was written 2 years ago,May of 2010. I confess that I know nothing about pivot tables. Do you still have time to explain about this. I need help when organizing a wardrobe and makeing new purchases.
Many thanks,
Julie in Arlington, TX
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I’ve done Something similar before where you hang everything with the hanger facing the wrong way. As you wear thinga and put them back, place them in the closet as you’d normally hang them. That way you don’t have to worry about keeping stuff separate.
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JD: I was able to almost entirely eliminate my DVD collection by sorting through it about once a month, eliminating the ones which I knew I would never watch again. Each month, I became more and more selective. After I had cut it down to a “reasonable” amount, I forgot about the project for a while before going at it again, this time with a fresh eye. When I was finally to the point where I had only my absolute favorite titles, I bought a nylon DVD case which would hold the exact number (or close to) of DVDs I owned. Then I filled the case with the discs and disposed of the cases.
Now, my DVD collection is manageable, able to be hidden away and I don’t have room to expand due to the size restriction of the case. I haven’t bought a DVD in well over a year and have no desire to do so. When we want to watch a movie, we check the case first and if there isn’t anything we want to watch there, we go to Redbox. If nothing is there, we might check out the movie theatre and if nothing is there, we find something else to do.
This may seem strange but I think the hardest part was throwing away the cases, especially for the boxed sets I owned. They stayed in a pile next to my entertainment center until about 2 weeks ago when I finally had the strength to part with them. I think it was the artwork of the packaging that made it difficult to get rid of them. That, and maybe the idea that if I ever wanted to sell them, I probably wouldn’t be able to do so.
Then I realized that I kept the movies for a reason, because I didn’t want to sell them and into the garbage went the cases. It wasn’t easy but I did it and in a way, it feels liberating to have finally parted ways with these last few lingering emotional connections to my Stuff.
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I’ve never done this, but I vaguely remember reading about a system where you put a bread tie on every hanger in the closet. When you wear an article of clothing, you just take off the tie. At the end of the year, hangers that still have twist ties hold the clothes that get eliminated.
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I’ve often used the technique of placing all the clothes hangers on the bar backwards (so that the end of the hook points towards you rather than the wall ) once a year. Then as you use the clothes put them back on the hangers normally. All the clothes are still in the same place, but now you have a way to identify how long it has been since you last wore them.
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I do the seasonal purging — spring and fall (it’s TIME!). All the long underwear and winter coats and accessories should be unnecessary for another 6 months!
However, I also keep some things I only wear once a year or so that I hang onto for those special occasions. But those go into a special storage space — not in the regular closet.
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What a great idea J.D. I have urged my church for years to live simply and to de-clutter. I believe that most Americans could go 2-3 months never wearing the same thing twice, never washing anything (except under-garments). This, while most people in the world have 1 or 2 outfits, period. We don’t have to strip down (pun intended) to that level, but most of us could stand to have less clothing.
Still, I’ve never really thought of any creative way to prove to yourself that this was the case. I love the idea. I think I will try and talk my wife into doing this with our clothing!
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For non-clothes, try putting post-it notes on each item, then removing them every time you use the item.
And don’t forget that the clothes you donated to goodwill just might end up being someone else’s new favorite shirt!
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A trick I’ve heard about for clothes is to hang all the hangers backwards, with the hooks pointing out, and every time you wear an item, put it back with the hanger the regular way. At the end of your allotted time anything still on a backwards hanger goes. I’m going to try this myself when I do my seasonal clothes-shuffle in a few weeks (if it ever stops snowing in Wyoming).
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My problem? I’m trying to purge clothes with sentimental value (for lack of a better term). My mother passed away two years ago, and, being the only one her size, I got the clothing. I tried to not accept at least half of it (not my style, etc.), but my siblings wouldn’t hear of it. I pretty much had to take anything that remotely fit. Once I went to the effort of bringing it home (I had to buy 2 large suitcases at a thrift store to get it all on the airplane!), though, I can’t bring myself to do a thorough purge. I’m doing alright at getting rid of a piece or two a month, but I’d like to accelerate the process.
(I should mention that ‘not-my-style’ does NOT mean ‘grandma clothes’ – those would be easy to get rid of. As it happens, I’m more conservative about clothes than my mother ever was! So these are clothes I could wear, and no one would look twice, unless it was to compliment me on my style.)
Any advice for overcoming the psychological barrier?
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Take pictures of the clothing and put them on your computer. When you want to be reminded of your mom, pull them up and browse through them. This also works with gifts that you don’t use or don’t have room to keep. No one is benefiting from those articles of clothing if you keep them packed away. I’m sure that your mother would want someone using them. Pick a couple of favorites to keep for sentimental reasons and get rid of the rest (after the picture-taking, of course!).
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If you don’t need the cash or something you should make a quilt or some other keepsake with your mom’s clothes. Maybe one for you and each of your siblings. a great way to repurpose her clothing.
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Ha. Okay, so while I was off doing other stuff, several people posted the same “reverse hanger” trick at the same time, and all of their comments were held in moderation, so nobody could see that somebody else had already said the same thing. Thus, there are a half dozen people all with the same tip.
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You didn’t really throw away $750. You gave a couple of hundred dollars to a charitable organization when you bought the clothes and, by donating them back, you’re enabling the organization to make money.
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“Any advice for overcoming the psychological barrier?”
I would also like to know this. I have a bunch of clothes of my mother’s that are from the 60s and 70s. I will never wear them – she was much smaller back then than I am – but I just can’t bring myself to get rid of them. They were hand made for her and are so cute and vintage.
I did, however, eventually get rid of some other family items that I kept for sentimental reasons. I kept on saying to myself, “You have other ways and things to remember your loved one by. Their memory will not disappear once you give this away.” It helped a little but it was still hard.
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I have largely solved this problem by following these 2 rules:
Hint: you must follow both of them
1) if an item of clothing is PERFECT (fit, size, shape, color) or can be tailored to make it so, BUY IT- even if it’s more than you would normally pay for an item.
2) if it is NOT PERFECT, do not buy it no matter how cheap it is or how good the sale is.
following these 2 rules has left me with a clothes that I look good in and feel comfortable wearing and has eliminated all those pieces that were almost right and never got worn.
Surprisingly, even though the perfect pieces are more expensive than I would have let myself spend in the past, using this approach has saved me A LOT of money. All those times I avoid buying the 9.99 sale shirt allows me to pay more when I find the one that really fits.
Not for nothing, the more expensive, higher quality clothes also last longer!
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Hey, I like this idea! I’m going to try this with my electronics.
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to anon, 9:46:
The piece or 2 a month seems to be working just fine. Worst case would be to keep doing that, till all the discards are gone.
Another possibility is giving them away. This would work really good at Christmas time. You’re not throwing them away, or dropping them off at a thrift store; you’re “giving them to people who would really like them.” Who doesn’t like to give gifts? Don’t just shove them into a garbage or shopping bag; fold them up nicely, stack them neatly. Think good thoughts about how happy the recipients will be to get them, maybe have Xmas music on as well. You’re not getting rid of garbage, you’re giving gifts to people you don’t personally know.
Don’t want to wait till Christmas? Pick a birthday – hers, yours, Bach’s, somebody’s. Same deal, maybe different music. It’s my birthday and here’s a gift FOR YOU!
Hope this helps.
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I think a lot of the problem with oversized wardrobes is the vast amount of closet space modern homes tend to have. When we moved into our new house, I had to take the spare bedroom closet because my husband’s wardrobe is so much larger than mine (out of necessity due to work). But my wardrobe was still bigger than the spare room’s closet, so I HAD to eliminate a good chunk of my wardrobe. It simply wouldn’t fit. Now, 2 years later, I realize this was a godsend. I simply cannot keep outfits I don’t wear regularly because I don’t have space. As a result, I have to make sure that every piece I buy is something I absolutely love, and mixes with other pieces of my wardrobe. The result? I’ve cut down on my clothing budget, PLUS have a better selection and quality of clothes to choose from every day. Can’t get a better than that!
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Moving into a smaller place helps.
Other than that, I like to just pare down over time. I cull our books once a year or so, though we don’t get rid of many of those. Clothes get sorted through and given away every couple of months. Small closets help.
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Ha – the reverse hanger trick posts cracked me up. It was back to back the same thing, and I’m like “wow, nobodies reading comments before they post.” Then I saw JDs explanation. Very funny. That’s a great tip though.
I actually have more problems with my t-shirts though than hanging clothes to be honest… my test is when the drawer won’t close I have to pick a few to get rid of. It’s made me figure out the most efficient way to fold my shirts at least. The throwing out the shirts with holes thing doesn’t work for me as a guy though, the holy t-shirts are my favorites! I guess I could throw out the ones without holes since they’re the ones I don’t wear.
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For those with clothes of loved ones.
I donate to a very local good will. I have actually seen a few of my grandmother’s things on kids. I try to remember that she would have loved seeing her things used- and imagine someone who needs them- in them.
Work clothes- ladies- Social Security helps women get back in the workforce with a tie to the Salvation Army here. They specifically take work clothes and put them in the hands of people starting over!:>)
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I love reading about this project of yours JD… you and Adam have inspired me to do something similar. The paring down of my wardrobe will most likely happen much quicker (I’m a bit compulsive.) I’ll also be chronicling the entire experience on DFA for all to read. Thanks for the kick in the tail, and good job getting rid of those 37 shirts
I know it couldn’t have been easy to part w/them.
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The reverse hanger trick is pretty awesome.
I just wanted to say congrats on your weight loss journey! I am there (have lost 31-33lbs depending on the day so far), and know the trouble of getting clothes that fit. You’ll figure it out!
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#12 Melanie “I’ve never done this, but I vaguely remember reading about a system where you put a bread tie on every hanger in the closet. When you wear an article of clothing, you just take off the tie. At the end of the year, hangers that still have twist ties hold the clothes that get eliminated.”
YES!! I do this, because I’m anal about having all my clothes hangers facing the same way. I purge twice a year when I have to ‘flip my closet’ (move the now seasonal stuff to the center – oh how I miss my walk-in closet in our old place…)
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#18 — one idea is to find a piece of clothing that is special for some reason — she loved it, or you love the fabric — and have it made into something else you can use. (Or do this yourself if you are crafty). Fabric could be used to create a scarf, framed and hung on a wall, made into a pillow, a jewelry pouch, even napkins or dishtowels! Something you would see and interact with every day, instead of a piece of clothing that is hanging in a closet or sitting in a box.
Creating something like this might give you the peace of mind to donate the rest of the clothing and let it find its way to a new and thankful owner.
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I read a tip about putting a sticker on each article of clothing, which you remove when you wear the item. After a period of time you reevaluate everthing that hasn’t been worn. That would be like the Post-it tip above.
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@bjs1109 – Awesome idea. Her birthday is coming up. I won’t ‘donate the clothes to Goodwill,’ I’ll ‘give them as a present to someone who will wear them’ in honor of her birthday. Perfect way to reframe it – I already feel less guilty at the thought of it!
And I’ll take the pile that I would wear if only they fit better to the tailor, too.
Thanks!
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To #18 anon – How about donating to a battered women’s shelter?
Also, note that Goodwill will accept garments with rips, stains, etc, for salvage.
I have the exact opposite problem – not enough clothes. I HATE shopping (yes, I know the only woman on the planet) and have to force myself to go. My SIL once asked me where I kept the rest of my clothes after seeing my closet! I own five pairs of work pants (in black and gray) and maybe 8 or 10 shirts (in black, white, red, gray)? For years, I didn’t own a pair of jeans. I do all the laundry once a week, on Sunday, so everything is ready for the week.
I do live in the sub-tropics so there is no need for seasonal clothes. When I was home with the kids, I lived in short, T-shirts and sandals.
What I do spend on is sun resistant SPF swimsuits and clothing for the beach, pool and outdoors. Love Solumbra and Coolibar.
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I had to give away 100s of articles of clothing when I lost my weight, and I’ve still been holding on to the last “one size up.” You’ve inspired me to work on letting them go.
As for the rest, maybe there’s something to this hanger thing.
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You can still get you REI cloths without paying full price. You just have to be pickier about where you do your thrift store shopping. I find that driving to a more upscale neighborhood thrift store will yield me better quality clothing.
I get a thrill that I run around in complete outfits that cost me less then $10 all the time. None of my friends are any wiser
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Books–I made it a goal to get rid of 100 books this year. A moderate dent in my collection, but still.
I went through the bookshelves and just pulled out what I knew I wouldn’t read again or wouldn’t read ever. The first 50 books were easy. It was the next 50 that were tough to let go of!
It was hard at first to look at all of the money I was letting go of. But then I realized that getting rid of all of these books I didn’t want was really rather freeing. I didn’t feel pressure to read them. I ended up with room on my shelves to display my wedding shoes and some family photos, which was nice, too.
What’s funny is that as soon as I finished letting go of 100 books, about 50 more books came into my possession. However, these books were all free and in a language I’m learning!
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@S: “I HATE shopping (yes, I know the only woman on the planet)”
No, you’re not. “Women love shopping” is a stereotype, and it’s not true. SOME women love it, but if I had a nickel for every woman I saw post on the internet that she hates to shop, well ya know (and there are plenty more who never post about it). I don’t like retail shopping either much at all.
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Have you checked to see if a SWAP is happening in your area?
http://theswapteam.org/
It’s a great way to donate clothes, but have a chance to pick up some new-to-you items as well. At the end of the swap all the remaining items go to charity.
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How do you determine the value of the clothes (or other household items) you donate, for tax purposes? Take button-down shirts; if you’ve owned for X years and bought it for $16.99, what’s the cost when donating?
Or do you guess?
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@S Thanks for the reminder about women’s shelters. (That’s actually where most of Mom’s shoes went – I had forgotten about that option, though.) I think that’s what I’ll do – a birthday gift to a women’s shelter.
And I hate shopping, too. Which is good, because I have a hard time getting rid of stuff – even if it doesn’t have sentimental value.
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I support your war on Stuff and love reading about them.
I am trying to pare down my closet too, but its definitely a challenge because my weight fluctuates easily.
From college to working in an office I put on a bit of weight that I thought I was never going to get rid off (realistically, I’m not going back to college size, right?)
I outgrew my pants and bought new ones, discarded too tight pants and jeans and shirts.
Then I went through a stressful period and lost all that weight, now I can’t wear my *new* pants and jeans.
I can’t hate losing weight, but I’m just not going to spend that much money on clothes anymore.
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@41 If the place you donate doesn’t give you a sheet with suggested ranges of dollar valuation, you can usually get one online. We generally just make a note of how many of each item we take in (3 long sleeve women shirt, 5 t-shirts men etc.) and tally up around tax time with the lowest value in a listed range.
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@Ari (#41) – the Salvation Army has a valuation guide for determining the value of clothing and other items. Visit salvationarmyusa (dot) org, then click on Ways to Give > Donation Receipts – Valuation Guide.
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This is a great post; and one we need to start implementing in our house immediately. I’ve had the wrong outlook all along. I look at my ‘Stuff’ and decide what to get rid of based on the question, “Do I plan on wearing/reading/using/listening to this at ANY point in the near (or far) future?” That leaves a very small percentage of gleaned items based on my changing/evolving tastes. Another problem I have is ‘reasoning’ that I’ve already spent the money on this once, why would I get rid of it now and spend more on it again later? The problem with that is our storeage space is finite, while our ‘collection’ slowly grows ever-larger.
Thanks for the refreshing point of view!
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JD, what a novel way of looking at getting rid of clothes. I absolutely love it.
The idea of getting rid of $750 worth of clothes is not costing you now $750, it cost you that when you first bought them. In fact, as we know the clothes can now be a detriment, for so many reasons. And in fact it costs you more by keeping them. Thanks JD.
For me, after reading this blog, it’s interesting to see the reasons to get rich slowly is based on so much great common sense.
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Hi!
I really admire this war on stuff! Actually you’ve inspired me to take the war on clothes. I’ve copied you in every way, but since I only got 16 square meters I’ve hidden my unused clothes in drawers and one wardrobe and uses the other wardrobe for the clothes I’m using.
Actually I’m allready sorting out the clothes I’m using, to throw or give them away. I realise they’re not the clothes I want for different reasons. How about that?
Wish you good luck on your projects furtheron, I will follow through reading and maybe doing the same when I’m in march next year has ended the clothes project (or got a bigger place so I can do more work like this at the same time).
Thanks for a great blog!
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One of my challenges this year is to only buy clothes second hand for myself and my two boys – there are INCREDIBLE deals to be had on second hand clothes for literally pennies on the dollar.
A couple months ago I realized that I don’t NEED all those deals in my own closet. It definitely is hard to pass up brand name clothes for 98% off retail value but I do value simplicity more than a dozen designer shirts… especially as a stay at home mom who doesn’t have much practical use for the fancier clothes
That being said… shopping at thrift stores has allowed me to dress WAY nicer than I could otherwise afford and I do like to “shop ahead” for new seasons and anticipate needs in my children and my wardrobe if I find a great deal on something. But I try to pass on clothes to others if I bring new pieces into my house.
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My wife and I are one year into a fourteen month round-the-world trip. At the start of our trip we had to decide what to keep, what to sell, what to bring and what to throw away. For everything that we brought we had to like it enough to carry it on our backs for a year. For everything that we wanted to keep we had to like it enough to pay to store it. In the end we kept very little. It was really tough for me to get rid of all of this stuff that I love, but it felt so good to have it gone. I definitely want to do a similar process regularly, hopefully every year.
When going through stuff I realized that there are some t-shirts that I’ll never wear again, but that have a lot of sentimental value. It’s the same for CDs – I’ve moved entirely digital with my music collection, but there’s still some of them I want to keep – old favorites, friends bands, etc. I had to realize that some possession that I was previously considering “functional” possessions (ie: I had them because they were useful to me in my day-to-day life) are in fact souvenirs. Then I put them where I keep those kinds of things instead of where I keep my clothes, etc.
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