Being Charitable And Clearing Out

I mentioned last week when I wrote about Pete moving in that we were still working on the whole clothing storage solution. Lots of stuff went straight to Salvation Army before it even made it’s way into my house. His list (itemized for tax purposes):

Yeah, that says 25 stuffed animals, all in good condition and ready for a new home. If I don’t have enough space for 25 t-shirts, I really can’t justify storing 25 animals that Julia has already forgotten about.

The donation helped make some room, but there was a lot more that needed to be done (on my part) to make an adequate amount of closet space for the dude. He needed more than the two dresser drawers I cleared out originally; my master bedroom closet itself is very small, so giving him space in there wasn’t even a feasible option. I decided to unload lots of the items in my third bedroom’s closet (it’s a tiny room, so I proclaimed it my walk-in-closet, after all). I’m usually pretty good about donating an item if I haven’t worn it in a few years, so I bit the bullet and began to detach myself from the loads and loads and loads of clothing I had been storing “just in case”… you know, “just in case” I decided I needed a red shirt or “just in case” it fit me again or “just in case” I went clubbing, woo-girl style.

In true Emily form, I made a list. And it too was itemized. (For you guys who don’t realize this, when you drop off goods, you have the option to itemize your materials and save the document for itemized tax purposes. Paid well for me last year. Bingo.)

Yes, 11 skirts, whoa.

On top of everything else, I’ve put 10 purses and 8 winter jackets aside. The purses might be a nice addition to the future garage sale, and the jackets will go to a consignment shop next fall when they’re in higher demand (sealed in a plastic bag and shoved under my bed for now).

My giveaway was enough to clear out the whole guest room closet and give Pete space to hang basically everything he brought over. How’s that for spring cleaning?