Clearing out the Christmas Clutter

I always love watching our boys open up gifts. The expression on their faces is priceless…a mixture of sheer joy, excitement, and appreciation!

My second thought after seeing their many gifts (given mostly by loving grandparents, aunts, and uncles) is, “Where in the world are we going to put all these toys??? The toy box is already overflowing!”

Clutter stresses me out. A bazillion toys littering the floor of my living room stresses me out (unless the kids are actually playing with them at that moment…that I love).  I like for things to be simple, neat, and clean, although accomplishing this task is a bit overwhelming to me (remember this post?).

So yesterday afternoon and evening, Prince Charming and I worked really hard to go through toys, clothes, and decorations that we no longer want. I was in a major purging mood! One rule of thumb I’ve recently adopted is everytime we bring home something new, we donate something old.  A new toy? Get rid of one they no longer play with. A new sweater? Trade out the hanger of one I don’t wear very often.

Many people have garage sales, but we’ve found it is more beneficial for our family (and my stress level) to keep a record of the items, condition, and approximate value of items we’ve donated and deduct it from our taxes. Plus, we don’t have a lot of “big” items to sell that would lure anyone to the garage sale in the first place. This may or may not be the right decision for your family…you might be interested in reading this article to decide whether to donate your items or have a garage sale.

So…if you suffer from organizational woes like I do, maybe these tips will help:

• Recruit a helper. This job is no fun to do on your own. Grab a friend or family member to help and the process will go much faster…and it will be WAY more fun.
• Make a list of donated items with 3 columns:  description of item, condition, and approximate value.  I like to do this in Excel with my husband’s laptop. He pulls out the items while I type the info on the spreadsheet.
• Use this valuation table or this valuation table to estimate the approximate value of your items.  They’re provided by the Salvation Army and Goodwill and are very useful in determining how much your stuff is actually worth (at least according to them).
• Use bags and boxes to transport the items right away.  We’ve put clothing in trash bags and more fragile items in boxes. If you wait very long to take the items out of your house, you’ll forget about it and the clutter will continue to pile up.
• Ask for a receipt!!!  The rest of your hard work will be in vain if you fail to get a receipt. When you drop off your clothing at Goodwill (or similar thrift store), ask for a receipt. Make sure it is dated and signed.
• Reorganize toys with cloth bags and plastic containers. My mother-in-law made a drawstring cloth bag with animal fabric that we use to put all of our animal toys in (I might have to recruit her to make some more for the other toys). I also put a plastic tub inside our toybox for all of the cars. We keep the balls in a separate basket. Does it stay like this??? Not for long…but I’m in the process of training Big Brother to put the toys away in their respective containers.
• Rotate the toys you keep.  We have a large bucket where we keep about half of the boy’s toys. Every couple of months, we pull out the bucket and “trade out” the toys in the toy box for the toys in the bucket. That way it feels like the kids get new toys every few months! And since both of our boy’s birthdays are within a month of Christmas, this is a great way to bring some “new” toys out in the middle of the summer!

And since the end of the year is quickly approaching, now is a great time to clear out the clutter and deduct it from your taxes for the year!