Comments on: On Simplifying: No More Hand Me Down Clothing Stash!

By: Sarah

Sarah — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 02:18:32 +0000

I only shop new children’s clothes for undershirts and socks. My toddler is about to potty-train, and we’ll add undies to that list. Everything else is garage sale shopping or an occasional gift from friends or relatives. My infant garments are gender-neutral, and will be used for this next one due in a month, and all of their external garments will be either hand-me-downs, garage sales, or hand-made.

By: Renee

Renee — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 02:51:26 +0000

Yes, I have a big stash. It first developed because my husband and I were about to adopt and a friend said her sister who was also adopting had to have everything ready for the child– a crib, a toddler bed, everything. My husband was in grad school and all our money was going towards saving for the adoption, so I freaked out and got a ton of free clothes on craigslist, both for a boy and a girl as well as a crib and a ton of other baby stuff that I thought I would need for the home study. Turns out those things aren’t required before you have the child placed with you. However, I held on to the stuff because we truly didn’t have extra the money to buy much, and it became a way for me to cope with infertility and plan for a child.
My son is now 2, and I did appreciate not having to go shopping because I had a ton of super cute clothes already. However, I have culled down everything to my favorites, and now any time a friend gets pregnant, I invite her over to go through my stash (I still have tubs of girl clothes too). I honestly haven’t thought about just donating them all, as we are preparing to adopt again. I guess I could. I have a great community here where I do not think I would want for clothes because people freely give away clothes their children have grown out of.

By: carrie

carrie — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 18:58:51 +0000

“But as the kids get older and their individual tastes differ, hand me downs don’t work out so much anymore.” – Exactly. Often when I saved an older kid’s clothing, the younger child wouldn’t like it. Another issue to add to the list above

By: Suzanne Holt

Suzanne Holt — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 15:40:45 +0000

We did more of a switch around. When one kid outgrew their clothes, we gave them away right away and eventually someone would pass their hand me downs down to us. But as the kids get older and their individual tastes differ, hand me downs don’t work out so much anymore.

Suzanne
Radically reducing the use of chemicals in personal care and cleaning.

By: Christine Holroyd

Christine Holroyd — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 21:20:23 +0000

I have only one child and friends have given us hand me downs. As soon as they don’t fit, off they go to the Op shop (known as Thrift stores in your neck of the woods). I do, however, have what I call an archival bag of clothing & shoes. Some special items that I look at and they remind me of Charlotte’s baby yrs. They bring a big smile to my face and every so often we both go through them and it’s a lovely experience. Charlotte is now 6 yrs. Good for you being so ‘brutal’ Carrie. You will feel much lighter, I’m sure.

By: carrie

carrie — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 20:39:03 +0000

Wow- that’s crazy about the consignment shops. I guess it’s good for the buyer though, you have lots of inventory!

By: carrie

carrie — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 20:38:29 +0000

I so agree Tiffany! Down with Tubs! LOL. I love that we can actually use our basement now. We may even put something soft on the floor and turn it into a rec room.

By: carrie

carrie — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 20:37:58 +0000

The more I thought about this post, it began to sink in just WHY it doesn’t work for me. Similar to your kid’s lineup, mine are Boy/Girl/Boy/Girl/Girl.. then a space of 5 years until Baby. That means that clothing has to sit too long before it can be used by another kid. If I had two or three of one gender in a row, or kids that are one year apart, it might work for me.

By: carrie

carrie — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 20:35:38 +0000

If I find a really great deal on something that’s just too good to pass up, I will go ahead and grab it, as long as I know for certain it will be used within a few months.

By: carrie

carrie — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 20:34:16 +0000

I’m so glad it was helpful! I knew I wasn’t alone in my thinking on this.

By: Mommy Reporter

Mommy Reporter — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 20:27:41 +0000

You have totally inspired me to get rid of my stuff!!! We are planning a yard sale, but I need to seriously get this crap out of my house and out of my life… thanks for sharing your story… It made me see that I was making life harder for myself now and in the future.

By: Judy

Judy — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 18:29:55 +0000

I’m in the midst of doing a similar clean-out. I’ve been saving clothes for 3 years, and although I’m 99% sure we’re one-and-done, that 1% of uncertainty has made me hold onto clothes. And seeing those bins and bags of clothes just sit there makes me feel claustrophobic. We have a cousin with an almost 1 year old that can certainly use clothes, so that’s where it’s going.

I do stock up on clothes to grow into, and go through them when seasons change so I’m not surprised. We have enough 3T to last, and some 4T in the wings, but beyond that we’ll have to see what we can find.

By: Clover

Clover — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 17:59:01 +0000

I was your comment on The Happiest Mom and was intrigued! I’m in the midst of the clothing shuffle right now. My kids are 7 (girl), 6 (boy), 3 (girl), and 1 (boy). So if I want to save things from one kid to the next, it has to be stored for several years. While I am very ruthless about what I save for the next kid, I don’t see myself not keeping any stash. Some things, like plain colored turtlenecks, all four of my kids can wear. I do hate that mysterious-stain syndrome, but it usually is a small percentage. While I do have to buy some clothes for the second in line, I really do save a lot of money but not having to come up with a wardrobe from scratch, especially since my kids are extremely skinny and it’s hard to find the slimfit or adjustable waists in the clothes I want for them. Very interesting point of view, I may have to mull this over more!

By: Tiffany

Tiffany — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 17:52:55 +0000

I have one big tub of my older’s boys clothes for my younger boy to wear someday so it is not enough to make it a burden to keep. But when I get more than that tub can hold I look through it and get rid of my the most worn pieces. We keep all clothes, regardless of season, in our closets so that we don’t have to store them. I HATE having tubs of clothing in the garage or basement where spiders lurk and we don’t have room anywhere else.

By: Tsoniki Crazy Bull

Tsoniki Crazy Bull — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 04:20:34 +0000

The only “in case” clothes I have are for the baby. He’s in 18 months now and I have 2t, in one tote, on a shelf in my closet.

Not even talking about stashes, but my kids had too much clothes that fit them now! We just moved into a smaller place (we lost a room plus more square footage) so I decided to use this chance to downsize. I don’t like the idea of having stuff in storage so every few weeks I go through what we have and do something with it. I have a bag of items to give away and a box of clothes to take to the consignment store. Our consignment stores are so fully that they only allow you to give so many pieces a month. I need to branch out to other stores I know.

By: esper

esper — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 02:15:06 +0000

What I gave up is TV. About a year ago now.

By: Kim

Kim — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 00:41:52 +0000

I too am guilty of keeping large stashed of clothes for my kids too grow in to, but, like you, I forget what I have most of the time. Right now most of my stash is baby/toddler clothes. I have it all over my bedroom. My closet is stacked to the ceiling with boxes, and under my bed is ridiculous. I am attempting to go through it all now, but it is a daunting task. Congratulations on getting yours cleaned out!