I’ve spent a lot of time getting rid of clutter over the past couple years. We no longer have storage corners filled with who-knows-what. We’ve got a solid routine established of getting rid of stuff any time new things come into the house, which is working well. And as soon as our younger son outgrows clothing or toys, we donate them or bag them up for a friend who is hoping to get pregnant this summer.
I’ve done a pretty good job of getting over the habit of holding onto stuff we don’t use “just in case.” I downsized my craft supplies by about 50% last summer, and haven’t missed any of the stuff I gave away – in fact, I could probably go through my current craft cabinet and get rid of even more stuff. Since we’re working on finishing the basement, we no longer have out of the way corners where we can just stash stuff. We’ve been moving a lot of stuff out of the basement and into our garage in an effort to make it easier to work in the basement, and since neither of us likes the piles of stuff in the garage, we’ve been getting rid of some of the stuff instead.
We definitely prefer a clutter-free home, without piles of stuff in storage. And I’m no longer a fan of holding onto stuff just in case we might need it someday. But what about stuff that we know we’ll need, but don’t need yet? When you have small children, you know that you’re going to need clothing, shoes, coats, etc. in larger sizes as the years go by. You know that your children’s interest and tastes will change, and that they will outgrow their current toys and books. Do you stash things away for the future in that case?
Having two little boys, both born in the same season three years apart means that we have a constant supply of hand-me-downs for our younger son. As our older boy outgrows clothes, shoes and toys, we put them away for our younger son. But we’ve also been paring down the supply as we go, and donating some of the stuff rather than storing it. When I dug out the 12 – 18 month summer clothes a couple months ago, I found something like 15 pairs of shorts. And since then, my mother-in-law has added a few more pairs to the pile. Given that I wash laundry every couple days, there was no justification for having that many pairs of shorts, so half of them got donated. We’ve whittled the clothing supply down so that all of our boys’ clothes fit in the four drawers under our older son’s bed (they share the drawers) and their two closets. Nothing is stored away in the basement or garage, and it’s easy to see what we have on hand for our younger son to grow into.
We used to use an additional dresser for their clothes, but my purging over the last few months meant that we didn’t need that space anymore. So we moved the dresser into the guest room, and it sat empty for a while. But now I’m using it to store things that will work for our older boy in the future. I had been reluctant to have such a storage area, because you never really know what the future holds or what your child’s interests will be. But we can be fairly sure that he’s going to need things like a winter coat and bigger shoes, and I’ve also come across some truly fantastic toys – I’m taking a gamble that he’ll like them.
In order to purchase something for my “in the future” dresser, it has to be a killer deal, great quality, and fit in the dresser. Those rules mean that I’m not going to end up with a basement full of things that our boys may or may not want someday. But it also gives us a place to put a few great finds.
This past weekend our town had its town-wide garage sale, and there were more than 100 garage sales. My in-laws were in town, so my mother-in-law and I took the boys and spent a few hours on Saturday morning going to garage sales (we only made it through three neighborhoods, out of about ten). We found a couple of great toys that are perfect right now for our older son. We got a huge tub filled with Playmobil stuff – numerous sets all mixed together, and our son has spent hours and hours playing with it this week. We also got a giant tub of marble tube tracks. It has at least three full sets of track in it, both wood and plastic, and it’s also been a huge hit with our son. In keeping with our one-in-one-out rule, our son came home and purged several things from his toy collection to make room for the new toys. I’m very happy with his current toy supply, as pretty much everything fit in bins along one wall of the playroom, and just about everything is a toy that requires a lot of imagination (Playmobil, LEGO, blocks, marble tube track, Lincoln Logs, etc.).
But in addition to those toys, we also found a few things that we knew would be perfect a few years down the road. I got a brand-new pair of shoes that will fit our son next summer – for 25 cents. And my mother-in-law found an excellent winter coat for a 6/7 year old, for three dollars. We also found a K’Nex Screamin’ Serpent kit for five dollars (it retails for about $300). And yesterday at Goodwill I found two LEGO Technic kits that retail for about $55 each – Goodwill was charging four dollars each. I already had one toy stashed away before I set up the dresser as storage (another K’Nex kit), and the rest of the stuff has joined it in the dresser.
I feel pretty good about our storage dresser – especially since it was already in use to store our sons’ clothes until very recently when I got rid of enough clothing to not need it anymore. We haven’t taken up any additional space in our house, but we’ve got some really good stuff stored away. I know that the shoes and coat will be used, and I’m 99% sure that our sons will love the K’Nex and LEGO stuff too – especially given how much our older son already loves LEGO, Playmobil, Lincoln Logs and other building toys. But if they don’t, we could always give them to a friend or sell them on Craigslist.
If you have small children, do you have a storage area dedicated to things that your children haven’t yet grown into? Do you allow yourself to buy things for the future if it’s a great bargain, or do you always wait until you need something before buying it?
Cindy Brick says
I buy ahead all year round for Christmas and birthday presents — keep an extra stock of baby, wedding and graduation stuff, too. But not in the amounts I used to — just a few items on the latter. You’ll need them eventually — and if they’re a terrific price, they save you money in the long run! (Not to mention having to run to a store at the last minute.)
We call this area my ‘Present Box.’ (Although it’s really a closet.) The family is not allowed to poke around in there.
Jennifer @ kidoing! says
I used to buy a lot of toys, books, clothes for the future, but I’ve reduced that in the past 6-9 months. I have shelf high in my closet and an underfed box for those things. However, what I recently learned was that:
1. I was spending too much time shopping/looking for bargains.
2. My kids could not play with all they had, and preferred to play imaginary games with each other instead of playing with all the toys.
3. After 2 above, we got rid of a lot of stuff and I have been contemplating why I would continue to buy more since I just got rid of so much.
We are having baby #3 in October (same month and gender as my first child). We have everything in storage so, like you, I’m anticipating reusing everything over again. I’m actually kind of giddy about seeing how much we can reuse for this baby. The only two things we need are a carseat because our old one was too old to be considered safe and possibly an Ergo carrier.
Frugal Babe says
We’ve had a lot of that same realization lately too. We got rid of a bunch of toys that weren’t being used, and noticed that our son almost always gravitates towards the toys that involve a lot of building and creating, rather than toys that are already made into a single purpose item. We also weeded out our book collection and donated a large box of books to the library. I feel like we have all the toys we need for a good long while now, since so many of them are toys that can be used for several years as the boys grow. Clothes are another matter, but for now, we have plenty.
Congratulations on baby #3!! I’ve been thrilled with how much stuff we’ve been able to reuse with our second son. We bought him a new carseat, and that’s about it. One of the slings I had used with our first son had been recalled, so the company sent me a new one when our second son was born, and I use it almost every day (Infantino Wrap and Tie – I love it!). We also got a new-to-us stash of cloth diapers just before our second son was born, from a friend who had tried cloth diapers and didn’t like them. Other than that, we’ve been able to reuse just about everything.
Jennifer @ kidoing! says
Thank you! Yes, those toys your son likes are what my kids like, too. They had been given single use toys or mass market toys as gifts and willingly offered them up to other kids which was nice because there was no struggle. I’ll have to check out the Infantino Wrap and Tie (although I already have a Moby and not sure if they are alike)!
Frugal Babe says
The wrap and tie is definitely different from the Moby. We have a Moby too, which I used all the time when our little guy was tiny. But I prefer the Wrap and Tie now that he’s older. It’s easier to get on, and much easier for back carry. I always had trouble using the Moby for back carry without another person there to help me get it on – and even then, I sometimes felt like it wasn’t tight enough. The Wrap and Tie is very easy to use for back or front carry, and I use it almost every day with our 14 month-old.
Heather says
I buy ahead for a majority of my oldest son’s clothing. I shop two huge consignment sales each year, and also the local thrifts. I typically keep stuff in two sizes up from his current size, and both summer and winter clothes. I find this lets me always have the quality and style of clothing that I want, rather than what I could find at the time that I needed it.
Heather says
I also buy toys all year round, and most of them are only given at birthday and Christmas.Like you also look to the future- I found a marble run (not as complete as yours!) and some legos that will be great a little later on, but not quite yet.
Springleaf says
Just a thought, but have you ever, or would you ever, buy a really good deal and then sell it on a website like ebay to make a profit? Is this not in the spirit of garage sales or is it just a way to make a few extra pounds/dollars? I sell my second hand stuff that is in good condition, but is it somehow cheating to buy and then resell?
Frugal Babe says
I would have no problem doing that, although it would have to be something that would sell for enough money to make it worth my while. Several years ago, I bought a few items of clothing on a sale day at a local thrift store and then took them to an upscale consignment store. I think I made about $30 on the deal, and it was fun – but not something I’d have time to do on a regular basis. The toys we’ve been buying for our boys are the sort of things that last forever and have a high retail price (Lincoln Logs, LEGO, Thomas the Train, K’Nex, etc.) Someday when our boys outgrow them, I might sell them on Craigslist (for a lot more than we paid for them at thrift stores and yard sales), but more than likely I’ll just pass them on to a friend or family member with small children.
I definitely don’t think that it’s “cheating” to buy something at a yard sale or thrift store and then resell it on Craigslist or ebay. The person selling it at the garage sale could have done the same but most likely didn’t want to go through the trouble of listing things individually and then shipping them. Once you buy something, it’s yours to do with as you wish. But as I said earlier, it would have to be something where the profit margin was worth the effort involved.
Kay says
I do it.. .with clothes. I used to buy bigger sizes and stash them. And they have been very handy. If I get handmedowns, I pare them down and add to the stash as well.
These days, I know my daughter’s taste and her preferences change as she grows, and so, it’s getting trickier to buy bigger size clothes on sales/clearance/etc.. But I’m safe with pink and purple and leggings etc..
Toys – I do not buy toys she’ll grow into.. But we’ve been given some brand new toys that I think she might grow into and keep them in a storage closet in basement.