If this is a year of using what we already have, then it is important to KNOW what we have. I know what we have in our house... a huge giant MESS! I have a closet full of baby clothes for my little girl, plus a floor full of bags of hand-me-down, and other things that might be of use. As you can see from the following photo, there's no organization and no way to go about using what we have. I admit, its been a crazy year that started with this baby girl being born, but she just turned 1, so its time to pull my life together again.
On the top shelf, we have pants. On the racks we have clothes she may wear this season. There are toys in the back of the closet that they may play with when they get older. On the floor there are a box of wipes, a box of diapers (that I stocked up on in 2011!). There's a bag of boy undies in there that I could use for potty training. There's dress-up clothes, winter clothes, rain clothes, and swimming clothes (suits, diapers, wetsuits). There's some carriers, and two guitars which I can't figure out anywhere else to store.
We also have a giant pile of toys, not just in baby girl's room, but in the big boy's room too. Some of these toys have never, ever been played with. Some have been licked once or twice, and some are well loved and enjoyed. Some, like that fire truck in the pile, are incredibly well loved, and broken. Do we need them all? No. That I've known for a while, but its hard to get rid of things that were given to us by people we love.
I went through the clothes and sorted into three general piles of "keep" those were, "things she can wear now or soon", "things she can wear when it warms up", and "things she can wear the season after".
I made a few other piles too such as, "no, my child will never wear this" and "while I think its cute, it isn't as cute as other stuff I know I'll put her in" both piles are donations.
I made separate bags for the swimming things, dress-up things and winter/rain gear.
I went through the "top shelf of death" that had old medicine bottles and stuff. I threw them away. I threw away many other gross things, although I can't yet part with my broken breast pump. Maybe I can fix it and resell it one day...
And here's what I got. The pile on the left outside the closet is all stuff to pass on to other people. The toys that fit in the bin or on the shelf get to stay. Outside the room is a big bag of toys that are going to go live in someone else's house in the near future.
So, now we know what we have, we've cleaned up, we've cleared out, AND we've obtained the opportunity to make a charitable contribution. When we donate them to a charity, we receive credit in our taxes.
Here's how
1. Estimate the value of the clothes and toys that I have to donate. That's done by thinking "what would I pay for this if I bought it at the thrift store/ Goodwill /Salvation Army?"
2. Then you have to write it down and save it in your tax file. The total amount of donated goods = charitable contribution = deduction in taxes = more money you don't pay government = more money for you.
3. You can only deduct it if you file a IRS form 1040 and itemize your deductions. I highly recommend itemizing your taxes. It takes a little work throughout the year, including being organized and saving receipt, but is totally worth it. If you contribute a substantial amount of money/items/in-kind to charities, then it can make a significant difference in the amount of taxes you will owe for Fiscal Year 2012.
4. I just found the following rule on "eHow":
Complete IRS Form 8283 Non-cash Charitable Contributions if the total of your non-cash deductions including clothing is more than $500. If the value of your clothing donations is more than $250, you must obtain a receipt from the charity." Read more: How to Estimate Charitable Clothes Donations | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_12048549_estimate-charitable-clothes-donations.html#ixzz1j6juoymx
Good luck assessing your home. I'll keep you updated as we continue to go through our home to better use what we have, get rid of what we don't need (either by selling, donating or trading) and saving, not spending!
On the top shelf, we have pants. On the racks we have clothes she may wear this season. There are toys in the back of the closet that they may play with when they get older. On the floor there are a box of wipes, a box of diapers (that I stocked up on in 2011!). There's a bag of boy undies in there that I could use for potty training. There's dress-up clothes, winter clothes, rain clothes, and swimming clothes (suits, diapers, wetsuits). There's some carriers, and two guitars which I can't figure out anywhere else to store.
We also have a giant pile of toys, not just in baby girl's room, but in the big boy's room too. Some of these toys have never, ever been played with. Some have been licked once or twice, and some are well loved and enjoyed. Some, like that fire truck in the pile, are incredibly well loved, and broken. Do we need them all? No. That I've known for a while, but its hard to get rid of things that were given to us by people we love.
It is time to assess what we have, how we use it, if we need it, and if we can give things away.
I think I'm overwhelmed and stressed by all of the "stuff" we have accumulated over the past few years. When we moved into this house (when I was 4 months pregnant), it seemed so big. Now, it seems cramped and small. We've even been looking longingly at other houses thinking about moving. Moving costs money. Lots of it, especially if we want a bigger house in our area (Montgomery County, Md). So, in the spirit of using what we have, we've been working on thinking about our "stuff" and how we use our home. We are working on cleaning up, clearing out, re-purposing things, and working to make our home cleaner, more efficient, user-friendly and livable for our current reality (read: KIDS).
So, what did I do with those closets and piles of toys?
I first took everything out of the closet and dumped it all on the bed!
 |
| WHAT A MESS! |
I made a few other piles too such as, "no, my child will never wear this" and "while I think its cute, it isn't as cute as other stuff I know I'll put her in" both piles are donations.
I made separate bags for the swimming things, dress-up things and winter/rain gear.
I went through the "top shelf of death" that had old medicine bottles and stuff. I threw them away. I threw away many other gross things, although I can't yet part with my broken breast pump. Maybe I can fix it and resell it one day...
And here's what I got. The pile on the left outside the closet is all stuff to pass on to other people. The toys that fit in the bin or on the shelf get to stay. Outside the room is a big bag of toys that are going to go live in someone else's house in the near future.
 |
| Here's the closet close up. Much neater, especially for this family. |
So, now we know what we have, we've cleaned up, we've cleared out, AND we've obtained the opportunity to make a charitable contribution. When we donate them to a charity, we receive credit in our taxes.
Here's how
1. Estimate the value of the clothes and toys that I have to donate. That's done by thinking "what would I pay for this if I bought it at the thrift store/ Goodwill /Salvation Army?"
2. Then you have to write it down and save it in your tax file. The total amount of donated goods = charitable contribution = deduction in taxes = more money you don't pay government = more money for you.
3. You can only deduct it if you file a IRS form 1040 and itemize your deductions. I highly recommend itemizing your taxes. It takes a little work throughout the year, including being organized and saving receipt, but is totally worth it. If you contribute a substantial amount of money/items/in-kind to charities, then it can make a significant difference in the amount of taxes you will owe for Fiscal Year 2012.
4. I just found the following rule on "eHow":
Complete IRS Form 8283 Non-cash Charitable Contributions if the total of your non-cash deductions including clothing is more than $500. If the value of your clothing donations is more than $250, you must obtain a receipt from the charity." Read more: How to Estimate Charitable Clothes Donations | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_12048549_estimate-charitable-clothes-donations.html#ixzz1j6juoymx
Good luck assessing your home. I'll keep you updated as we continue to go through our home to better use what we have, get rid of what we don't need (either by selling, donating or trading) and saving, not spending!
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