How to Donate Regularly & Painlessly
How you can make a difference to those in need without opening your wallet.
I think the guy who designed my home didn’t have a wife, a daughter, or at least a live-in girlfriend in his life. Why do I think this? Because I have the smallest walk-in closet I’ve ever seen in a fairly good-sized home.
And as a former real estate agent, I’ve seen a lot of closets!
I know this is a first world problem. How can I be whining about the size of my closet when there are people who only own the clothes on their backs?
I get it. I truly do. I grew up poor, the product of a single mother and a deadbeat dad. Clothes weren’t always a top priority, and honestly, they still aren’t. I’d rather buy 10 pairs of black capri leggings from TJ Maxx to use for working out, than one pair of Lululemon’s. Who can sweat in $120 leggings??
I’d also rather buy two cute sweaters from Kohl’s with my Kohl’s cash, 20 % coupons, doorbuster coupon, and any other gimmick they come up with, than one overpriced sweater from White House Black Market.
But that’s just me.
I’m hard on clothes and I don’t want to worry about how much money I just wasted when I dribble chocolate on a pair of expensive pants. I don’t want to mourn the loss of a sweater if oil splatters on it while I’m cooking — I like the option of saying, “Oh, well,” and getting on with my day, knowing that I will try my best to get the stain or the grease out but if nothing works, it’s not a tragedy.
This article is for the lazy donors
But this article isn’t about my clothing choices, nor how cheap I am, it’s about how to donate regularly and painlessly.
The reason I mention my closet at all is because I have to frequently weed out the clothes that no longer fit and remove outfits I haven’t worn in a long time, in order to make room for a new season or (cough, cough) a larger size (current dilemma).
I make the weeding out task as simple for myself as possible. I keep a large, sturdy garbage bag in my closet, right below a rack of dresses. Any time I discover something no longer fits, or finally admit I’m never going to wear a particular outfit, I fold it up and put it in the bag.
Instead of doing one large purge per year, I do mini purges all month long. What a time saver!
When the garbage bag is full, I take it downstairs and place it in a section of the garage that everyone in the family knows is for donations. Because I live in Southern California, the garage is our only option. Should you be lucky enough to have a basement, you may want to store your donations in an area near the laundry room.
The reason your Donation Centre should be near the laundry room is because there are times when, like me, you might be folding clean clothes, fresh from the dryer, and decide that a shirt no longer looks good on you, or it no longer fits. If your donation staging area is nearby, you can quickly walk over and place the clothing on the pile in the garbage bag and then get back to what you were doing.
Easy peasy.
Find a Local Donation Center
After about four or five garbage bags are filled, and boxes are full of other household goods we no longer need, I load up my car and take the gently used household items and clothes to a drive-up donation center.
I can’t tell you how easy it’s been to donate often by using this system. I can’t tell you how easy it’s been to prevent my closet looking as if it’s bursting at the seams with the addition of one garbage bag on my closet floor.
If your goal is to donate more regularly, make it easy for yourself to follow-through. All it takes is a couple garbage bags, and a willingness to let things go.
Day 12 of the 30 Day Blogging Challenge I dared myself to start (and finish).
