In with new, out with old
During the holiday season, you may get a few new gifts. Now is the time to take stock of what you received and what those new gifts can replace — one new gift in, one old item out. And, depending on how much use you got out of the old items, they should be donated or thrown away.
If you receive new slippers (very exciting I know) you should get rid of your old ones. In all likelihood, your received the new slippers for a reason.
One important area where we make a concerted effort to keep in check is our daughter’s toy collection. When she receives an above-average size gift, like an chalkboard/easel, we will remove a similarly sized older toy. For example, we would remove something like a kitchen play set. Toys are a constant struggle to keep in check. It is also a good idea to have your child take part in choosing what is to be donated and help them understand a toy they no longer play with is going to a less fortunate child.
Popularity: 9% [?]
Posted by Matt on Dec 22, 2008 |
Comments
| 
Tweet This
11 comments posted
Posted by Amanda - 12/22/2008
I think its great idea to donate children’s toys and adult toys alike. When I first had my own apartment, I went to the local thrift stores and auctions to obtain: a blender ($1), a toasteroven ($2), and a sofabed($20). Remembering when some of my household items came from reminds me to take my extra items to a place where someone else could use them.
Posted by Another Deb - 12/22/2008
Donating items and shopping at thrift stores is a great way to keep supplies in the “stream”. I consider that the dark blue tablecloth I found for my “blue and silver” themed Christmas dinner is merely on loan this season and will go back in January.
Remember, there are some things you can always find at the Goodwill. I picked up candle holders, plain colored ornaments and the fabric tablecloth for under $15.00. I also a copy of a favorite movie, and some puzzles and games that had never been out of the plastic and will use them to entertain the guests.
We are not exchanging gifts this year. It’s going to be about family dinners and doing things together.
Posted by timgray - 12/22/2008
I prefer in with the used and out with the old.
New is overrated. I dont have a new 52″ plasma tv. I have a old 52″ plasma tv I bought for 1/3rd the price of new. Old blu ray player for $100.00, Old car. etc…. I decided this year that buying anything other than food, kitchen items,clothes (some) and toiletries new is a giant waste of money. I get no more satisfaction out of a new tv than a 2 year old tv. Both work fine. That 2 year old Macbook is less than 1/2 the price of a new one and does everything the new one does except make me look trendy at Starbucks.
Out with the new, and in with the used! But be sure to get rid of 2 old things for every new thing that comes in the house. I buy a new saucepan, two kitchen items must leave for goodwill,trash,etc… Because it seems that items will magically appear that I cant identify where they came from. That easy pickle jar opener just appeared one day… And that santa cookie jar… I think my mom having a key to the house may be helping the mystery appearance of items.
Posted by Tracy J - 12/22/2008
The toy cycle is great until they start fighting. “no, no no! I LOVE that!” (lots of tears).
I have a one-in-one-out rule in my closet and the kitchen. It is a firm fast rule, so I really have to want to keep the new thing knowing it will bump something else. The closet rule especially has come in very very handy for stopping impulse clothes purchases! If I can’t think of several occassions for wearing something right off the top of my head, then it simply can’t be put in my closet!
Posted by Chiggins - 12/22/2008
When there are toys that simply cannot be parted with, try toy rotation. Store half the toys in a container, out of sight. In a month or two, rotate. Kids love playing with things they haven’t seen in awhile, and everything old seems new again!
Posted by Cynthia - 12/22/2008
Kids will surprise you. This weekend we were cleaning and organizing my son’s closet and his toys. He has a lot of hot wheel cars that he plays with all the time and we were curious to see how attached he was to them, so we asked if he would give 1 carry case with all the hotwheels that fit in it away. He pointed to one and moved on. I think we are attached more to the toys than he is.
We’ve been explaining to him for the last few months that there are other kids who don’t have as many toys as he and that it is good to give them away. I hope that was the reason he didn’t hesitate.
Posted by Rita - 12/22/2008
My son is 15 months old so he doesn’t have any concept of Christmas presents. With the exception of his Grandparent’s gifts to him, he is receiving a used plastic picnic table from Craigslist that has been revived with plastic paint! (See today’s post on my site for photos!). We are planning on stashing the majority of the gifts he receives and bringing them out throughout the year.
Don’t quite know what we’ll do next year when all bets are off, but I think this is great topic to ponder right before the holiday!
Posted by Alison - 12/22/2008
I was just thinking about one in, one out this morning. I actually got excited thinking about presents so I could see what should be tossed. It’s a little different sort of Christmas excitement, but it’s there!
Posted by Annette - 12/22/2008
Rita, let the gift giving members of your family know your acceptable gift rules now while he is small or they will take over with the, “It is MY disposable income and I can do with it what I please! YOU can’t deny me the pleasure of giving to my (insert appropriate relationship).” We spoke to everyone and told them to keep it down to one thing and they didn’t listen until we began sending everything back to them with a short note reminding them that one thing was plenty.
Posted by Nana - 12/23/2008
Ummm, not so sure about getting rid of the play kitchen. My kids used it from ages 2 to 10 (when the shelves /cupboards were mostly holding other toys).
Posted by Victoria - 01/04/2009
It’s nice to think of children’s old toys going to someone “less fortunate” when giving them away. But I’m not aware of any charities that genuinely distribute old toys to poor kids.
All charities I’m aware of, which actually give toys to needy kids, always ask for donations of new toys in the box.
If you give your items to Goodwill, Salvation Army, or St. Vincent de Paul, they don’t actually redistribute the items to the needy. They sell the items in their stores, and use the cash proceeds to fund their programs which help the needy. So if you give toys to those charities, they resell the toys in their stores, and when/if they sell, the money supports the programs they run. Unfortunately, people donate a tremendous amount of unsaleable items, and the burden of disposal falls on the charity.
Even if a charity directly distributes used toys to the poor, I don’t think that’s the best route for them. We’re sort of poor, and we have way too much stuff. My experience with people who are genuinely poor (public housing assistance, or shelters, etc.) is that they have even MORE useless, crappy stuff. A “disadvantaged” child doesn’t need a play kitchen set, he or she needs a responsible adult serving regular meals and giving appropriate attention and care. Add “more toys” into an impoverished child’s life, and chances are it’s more clutter for them and adds to the chaos and unmanageability of their lives.
Lack of predictability and decent food, and the other factors that make people “poor,” also makes people more likely to grab onto freebies to have something, anything, to hold onto. This poverty consciousness turns people into packrats. This is what I’m trying to work my way out of right now.
I’m trying to work my way out of my clutter not by dumping everything off at the Goodwill and letting them sort it out, but by selling the items online. I list things at 99 cents and put the actual cost of the shipping. The 99 cents pays the fees associated with the auction site and payment system so I break even. If no one wants it for 99 cents plus actual shipping, it is truly garbage and then I treat it as such and dispose of it permanently. This is an important process for me psychologically.
Freecycling or giving stuff away free on Craigslist is another option, but I know there are some people who haunt the listings and collect free stuff and packrat it, and I know I wouldn’t be doing them any favors by giving it to them.
This isn’t a criticism of the article, just some thoughts I had while reading it. I almost never reply to blogs but I’ve been reading through various decluttering resources online and I’ve been thinking about this a lot, and your blog prompted me to reply… thanks for writing it.
Post a comment