Perhaps the best-recognized proponent of a #minimalist lifestyle, Joshua Becker offers a practical companion to his bestselling The More of Less in The Minimalist Home. The book offers easy-to-use strategies to achieve the mental benefits of #minimalism, including a room-by-room approach that starts by #decluttering the easiest room of the house and ends with the most challenging. Keep only what matters to you most, the book says; not only can #minimalism save you money, it can free up the time necessary to give back and engineer a fulfilling, productive life. (As always, you can give some of that unwanted #stuff back by scheduling a free #donation #pickup at ClothingDonations.org.) #SummerReading
Tag: Donation Pickup
Garage Sale, Giveaway or Garbage
As peak #garage #sale season begins, it’s time to start thinking about the many things in your home that you don’t really need. Some of those items may be worth money to your neighbors — money you that could spend on an experience such as a #summer #vacation.
Before you decide to host a garage sale, you’ll want to revisit the tried-and-true “Keep, Donate, Trash” strategy for #decluttering, which dictates that you sort your #stuff into three piles and act accordingly.
Once you figure out what you definitely want to keep and put it away neatly, however, The Organizing Blog suggests you try a new strategy that our expert researchers have developed expressly in preparation for a #yard or #tag sale: Garage Sale, Giveaway or Garbage.
This strategy separates the wheat from the chaff, so to speak, to ensure that any sale you stage doesn’t showcase a lot of #junk that nobody wants. You’ve probably been to yard sales like this — ones where almost everything on offer is cheap, dirty and/or broken.
A successful garage sale has multiple useable items that #thrifty shoppers want, whatever the variety of tchotchkes, household goods, sports equipment, yard tools and clothing is on display. You will sort these items into the Garage Sale pile.
The things you absolutely want to get rid of but just aren’t worth pricing should go into the Giveaway pile. You can attempt to sell them in bulk (used kids’ clothing, 5 pieces/$1, for example) or offer them as freebies to attract attention to your sale.
The Garbage category will include things that are too broken, well-used or incomplete to be of much use to anyone. Appliances that don’t work, chipped dinnerware, stained/worn clothing and puzzles with pieces missing are just a few examples. Don’t even make a pile for these items — put them directly into the bin.
Once you have everything sorted, price the #stuff you’re selling and put up signs directing people to your sale. The Organizing Blog’s Garage Sale, Giveaway or Garbage system will ensure that more of the merchandise you put out actually sells.
Few garage sales sell out of everything, of course, so schedule a free #donation #pickup from ClothingDonations.org for whatever’s left. We’ll make sure that you never have to deal with that stuff again and #donate the proceeds to #veterans.
Veterans Put the ‘Fun’ in Fundraiser
Regular followers of The Organizing Blog know that #donations of used clothing and household goods to ClothingDonations.org go toward programs that help #veterans pay for food, housing, health care and other necessities.
But did you know that Vietnam Veterans of America’s local chapters throughout the country also host #fundraisers that get veterans more involved with each other and their communities — while also helping veterans in need?
Veterans put the “fun” in fundraisers with parades, car shows, barbecue cook-offs and more. In doing so, they sustain chapter outreach and good works in the community, supplementing and building upon the proceeds from #donations of used goods.
Texarkana Chapter 278, for example, hosts a Wagons for Veterans fundraiser that gives locals a taste of the chuckwagon-style cooking of the Old West. The all-you-can-eat feast draws thousands of patrons for a full day of festivities every year.
Chapter 116 in Leominster, Mass., holds a fundraiser that sells locals guesses as to when a mannequin seated on a lifeguard’s perch, “Rocky,” will fall through pond ice during the spring thaw. The closest entry to the exact time wins $500, and veterans get the rest.
Many chapters sell flags, wreaths and walkway bricks to place in honor of those who served. Some hold outdoor festivals, 5Ks and charity motorcycle rides. And more host luncheons, dinners and dances, often inviting interesting guest speakers.
In addition to supporting member veterans, every chapter uses some of the money raised to give back to its community. They award college scholarships to local students, march in parades, build memorials, donate to local food pantries and much more.
If you can attend a local event, great! You’ll take part in the fun. But also remember that every time you #declutter and contact ClothingDonations.org for a free #donation #pickup, you are #donating not just to area #veterans, but to the entire community.
Put Decluttering on Your 2022 Plan
As you embark on a personal #decluttering initiative in the new year, be careful not to get so overwhelmed that you abandon hope. Instead, make a plan, Real Simple says. List the specific spaces in which you want to get more #organized, whether it’s a kitchen drawer, your computer desktop or the whole house. Then, break each area into actionable steps and grind away at them a little bit on a set schedule every week. “Think of it in a similar way you think of fitness routines and diets,” the site says. “These things are most successful when they are approached in a way that can be maintainable with your lifestyle.”
Say Goodbye to the Holidays, Hello to 2022
The first thing to do as you attempt to get #organized in the new year is to get the #holidays out of sight as quickly and as neatly as possible, says A Clear Path. If you have gifts that you won’t use or didn’t give, return or #donate them immediately. Take down any holiday decorations and store them in labeled bins and boxes. Resist the urge to peruse the post-holiday clearance sales unless there is something you truly need. And finally, enter #decluttering deadlines such as an upcoming ClothingDonations.org #donation #pickup on your 2022 calendar.