DawnM Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 and throw it in the middle of the living room floor and have everyone pick out: 7 pants 7 shorts 10 shirts and TOSS the rest! We are overflowing and I can never get a real handle on it and so much of it is stuff they don't wear but it is so buried in their closet or drawers or the laundry room, etc.... UGH! Dawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMWB Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Honestly, having less clothes really helps with the laundry issue - my kids don't even have 7 pants & 7 shorts, they might have 10 shirts if you count short and long sleeve and sweaters, maybe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted November 30, 2011 Author Share Posted November 30, 2011 Nothing the kids own is new. We get some hand me downs and we buy 2nd hand from local Moms or at yard sales. My problem is that when I find jeans in the right size, etc....I buy all they have. I tend to get a bit carried away. Why? Well, because I worry that if I don't buy all 10 $2 pairs of almost new condition jeans, I won't find any when we need them. Also, my middle and younger son wear Husky size so oldest can't pass his down. It is sort of that extreme couponing mentality.....hoard while I can to save. So, this is entirely my fault. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Go for it! Sounds like fun! But make sure you donate or sell those "tossed out" clothes so the rest of us can take them home to hoard! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess in the Burbs Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 I want to do this. I tried this year when shopping to only buy 4 outfits each. But come fall they each needed random things and then I saw cute things and well, it's hopeless at this point. But I did try! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meggie Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 If you do this, you will thank yourself in about a month. Maybe less. We went through and now I have 3 short sleeve shirts, 4 half sleeve shirts and about 4 long sleeve shirts, three pairs of jeans and four shorts/capris and two skirts. DH has his 5 work shirts and work pants, plus two pairs of jeans and I'd guess about 4-5 regular tshirts. He also has his church clothes. Pigby has 7 long sleeve shirts and three pairs of pants. I'm not exactly sure where Digby's at because I just had to put away all his 24 m clothes and I haven't counted how many 2T were left. It's not that many. Chuck has 4 outfits and 3 pajamas. It is the most wonderful thing in the world. Seriously. I wish I had enforced this from the very beginning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Great minds think alike! Our closets are currently empty. Empty of clothes, that is. :) Everything else is either being sorted, or waiting to be washed then sorted. Everyone knows that unless they have pre-screened it, not to take anything back to their room. Everything not being kept, I am posting to freecycle this evening. Hoping this helps tame the laundry monster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxbridgeacademy Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 BTDT I don't limit to a certain # but more to what's needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadianmumof5 Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 and throw it in the middle of the living room floor and have everyone pick out: 7 pants 7 shorts 10 shirts and TOSS the rest! We are overflowing and I can never get a real handle on it and so much of it is stuff they don't wear but it is so buried in their closet or drawers or the laundry room, etc.... UGH! Dawn I want to do this with the toys in our house right now :glare: Seriously. Choose 5 toys to keep and the rest are being donated. And it isn't going to get any better with Christmas around the corner..... (and no I am NOT buying them toys.......) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted November 30, 2011 Author Share Posted November 30, 2011 :lol: Will do! Go for it! Sounds like fun!But make sure you donate or sell those "tossed out" clothes so the rest of us can take them home to hoard! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peachskittles Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 I just need to donate everything and start fresh. The plan next year is everyone gets new clothes. We already started with the kids and bought them new jeans. We are planning to move in a few months if everything works out, so I'm digging through storage items. I found ANOTHER container of clothes. That means I have like 20 bags of clothes that I will donate...when I can make it to Goodwill. I have a few suitcases filled with clothes, a few containers of clothes and oh I don't even want to go into the attic. That's on top of the 3 laundry baskets piled with clothes, the dressers smooshed with clothes, etc. etc. I say do it. You can add more back in if needed when sanity is somewhat achieved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 I do this with ds. I just shipped off 3 boxes of hand me downs to a friend. I downsized my wardrobe, but I can't quite go that small. I have boxed up summer things that I will go through next spring, and I try not to bring anything in unless something goes out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigger Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 I'm in the middle of what DH and I call the GRAND PURGE - we've gotten so overloaded with stuff....it's everywhere....it's nuts! So, I'm going room by room and we're purging, donating, selling on craigslist and ebay or just tossing out in the garbage. The toys, clothes, and just general stuff has got to get under control - so we're finally doing it....I'm not placing strict limits on clothes, but limiting to what fits and what is worn enough times to make it worth keeping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth S Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 It may be easier to do this in the Spring/Fall when it's time for the clothes change-out. I don't think our living room would ever recover from this pile. :001_smile: One thing that works for us is one drawer per son, with an under-the-bed box for out-of-season or a-bit-too-big clothes. And it's definitely fun to bless families with kids a bit smaller than yours with the hand-me-downs! Please take pictures of this for us!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted November 30, 2011 Author Share Posted November 30, 2011 We have not changed out our summer clothing yet! It may be easier to do this in the Spring/Fall when it's time for the clothes change-out. I don't think our living room would ever recover from this pile. :001_smile: One thing that works for us is one drawer per son, with an under-the-bed box for out-of-season or a-bit-too-big clothes. And it's definitely fun to bless families with kids a bit smaller than yours with the hand-me-downs! Please take pictures of this for us!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justasque Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 I keep an ongoing box of clothes to donate. When we go to various homeschooling events (co-op, skating, etc etc), I put the box out with a "free clothes" sign. Most of it goes home with someone else. If something's been in the box a while, it gets dropped off at Goodwill. This works because it's an ongoing project. I also tackle the clothes one category at a time. Oldest's t-shirts, then middle t-shirts, then youngest t-shirts, then oldest's pants, and so on. Oldest to youngest works best. You just have to do a brief clean-out on a regular basis, otherwise it gets away from you. It also helps you to know what you've got so you don't over-buy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted November 30, 2011 Author Share Posted November 30, 2011 Sounds freeing! Can you come to my house next? Dawn I'm in the middle of what DH and I call the GRAND PURGE - we've gotten so overloaded with stuff....it's everywhere....it's nuts! So, I'm going room by room and we're purging, donating, selling on craigslist and ebay or just tossing out in the garbage. The toys, clothes, and just general stuff has got to get under control - so we're finally doing it....I'm not placing strict limits on clothes, but limiting to what fits and what is worn enough times to make it worth keeping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Love HSing Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 I've tried and tried! It never works. :glare: Everyone always gives us the hand me downs, the kids get clothes for gifts, the older ones have their own money to buy clothes too. It got so bad I made dd14 go through her clothes recently and get rid of some (3 boxes worth) now she's has 29 shirts, 10 hoodies/sweaters, 16 pairs of jeans, 5 pairs of jean shorts, 7 pairs of sports shorts, 7 jerseys, 3 work shirts, 3 skirts, 8 dresses & 15 pairs of shoes. She's bought most of it with her own money or we're given to her. It is insane! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuirkyKapers Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 I have done this with my sons wardrobe. However, with my daughter, it is much harder. I mean, how can I narrow down all those cute horse shirts that were given to her. Plus, she does wear them all. With my son, he just wears the same stuff over and over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigger Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Sounds freeing! Can you come to my house next? Dawn Only if you provide lots of wine! :cheers2: I'm seriously exhausted today - I've spent three rounds of time in the playroom and barely have made a dent.....but, do have six bags of garbage and three boxes of carp to toss! Tomorrow (fingers crossed) I can sort and purge more for donations and selling online.....I basically only got through "is it garbage or not" today :001_unsure: and have to do a lot more tomorrow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bang!Zoom! Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Don't involve the others in the house. Stage a laundry "accident". Here's how you do it.... Take it all out of the house, go to the commercial cleaners say..(as your alibi). Pretend you saw some big nasty spiders in the closets or something as an additional cover story... Clean and fold and bring home the good stuff along with a sob story about a mistake with a big bottle of bleach for the missing duds. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfamilygal Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 We did it. 8 warm outfits 8 cold outfits 4 dresses each for the girls. The rest? Gone to the resale shop. Yeah! Laundry is so much easier!!! And no random articles that don't fit in any outfit! Plus I gave away ALL the socks in the house and only bought the Hanes socks with color coded writing on the bottom. No more "30 white socks with no matches"! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gentlemommy Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 I did a version of this when my dh had to work out of town for 8 weeks, leaving me at home with a five year old, a two year old, and a three month old. I just stored the rest into Tupperware bins in the closet. When one thing got stained/ruined, I tossed it and pulled out another thing to replace it. If you do that, you can still stock up when you see things for a great deal. I understand about needing to do that as well. I simply can not afford to replace clothing at full price, and my girls are hard to fit. If i can buy brand new jeans for $4.99 on 75% clearance, I'd feel dumb for not buying ahead and having to pay full price six months from then, kwim? I am about to do the same thing again, put everything away except for 7 outfits. I wash clothes everyday, so they don't really need more than that anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyof4ks Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 Yes! I stay on top of my littles as they still need me to switch out their closest, but my oldest is 11, and she had clothes that have not fit in two years in her closet. Once I had her pull everything out and only put back what fit, I realized she only had 2 pairs of pants and 4 shirts. She would put clothes in the wash that she tried on but did not fit. Seriously, I had to take my tea and sit on the porch before I said something that was less than nice. We went shopping the next day for enough to give her a week worth of clothes, and she has ins ructions to put items that don't fit in my room so we can replace it. I am done with huge piles of clothes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee in NC Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 I can't even imagine. We have WAY less clothes than your list and we are still buried under clothes on a regular basis. I have a constant Goodwill bag in my room because I am constantly purging (we get a lot handed down to us.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mycalling Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 I did that about 2mo ago and it was wonderful! I then put away all shorts and most of the short sleeved shirts. Clothing is manageable now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpidarkomama Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 Best thing we ever did!!!! All of us have a nice, basic wardrobe, with five holiday/sabbath outfits (we often have 3 days in a row where we can't do laundry when it's a Jewish holiday). I love the nice, simple organization this takes. When we get hand-me-downs, I skim off the very best things and pass along the rest. I save one size larger than their current size, but no larger. It's been GREAT for three years now, though it really is time to do a bit decluttering! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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