A few times a year I sort through the clothes in my closet and weed out items I haven’t worn in awhile. As usual a few of the items I came across didn’t fit any longer. I guess I can attribute that both to the dryer and to my favorite bowl of late night ice cream. The rest of the items still fit, but I know I’ll never wear them. In some cases the color seems wrong, in others I don’t like the pattern or the overall cut. Regardless of the reason these rejects will show up at mother’s house and whatever items she doesn’t want will make their way to the local donation center.
I love the feeling of purging unwanted items. It feels so good to get rid of the dead weight and make space. During this purge I tried to categorize the items I no longer wanted. Most of the items fell into three categories:
- Unwanted gifts
- Items I purchased because the sale was too good to miss
- Yes, cotton does shrink.
The lessons from my purge:
- If possible let the gift giver know that the gift isn’t the right color or the right fit.
- If it’s not possible to let the gift giver know try to sell or donate the item right away. There is no reason to hang an item in my closet that I have no intention of wearing.
- A sale is never too good to miss. Just because an item is practically free doesn’t mean should I take it home with me.
- Cotton does shrink. Think twice before buying a 100% cotton item that fits perfectly.
I certainly hope to keep these lessons in mind the next time I receive a gift or go shopping. I hate looking at a pile of practically brand new clothes. What a waste of money.
I need to do a real purge, I've been doing it in bits and pieces.
One thing I notice about myself is that I seem to buy the same item over and over. Not the exact same item, of course, but items that serve the same purpose. So, for example, I went to New York and found a store with great prices on clothes that I really liked. So I bought a few skirts and tops. When I got home, I discovered that I already had a cute knee length green and brown cotton skirt. The two were different but I couldn't really wear one one day and the other the next without looking like I was wearing the same thing.
When I looked deeper, I found I had at least one other skirt that was similar.
yeah, I need to get organized with my clthes shopping!
Don't forget about consignment stores! If your clothes are in good condition and practically new like you say, you could at least recoup some of the cost so it wouldn't be a pile of wasted money on your floor.
I'm doing a "get rid of stuff Sunday" feature on my blog because the feeling of purging stuff is so good and I want to try to minimize the "stuff" in my life.
@5dollarsaday — I do the exact same thing. I find something I really love, only to come home and realize I have something in the closet that looks pretty similar.
@me in millions — I've never looked into a consignment store before. Maybe I should try that, before dropping my clothes off at the donation center.
So true!! Whenever I feel the urge to 'shop', I purge closets first. It's a great reminder of how I don't want to waste anymore money.