what to do when the kids outgrow it all

As much as I ask my kids to stop growing they just won’t put a halt to the getting older and bigger business. At times I have toys, clothes, and books coming out of my ears and it’s not a pretty sight… After almost 11 years of parenthood I have gotten pretty good at finding new homes for the things my kids outgrow and thought I’d share some ideas for those of you who need to unload the bins in your storage area.

1) Resale Shops :: places like Once Upon A Child or Kid to Kid will take gently used clothes, toys, books, and gear of all types and there are even online options such as thredUP for clothing. Whether you have one of these chains local to you or another type of store make sure your items are clean and in good condition. Just this week I sold $100 of stuff to these stores and turned it right around to get the stuff my kids needed in their new sizes.

2) Online Garage Sales :: some of you use those online garage sale pages and love it and others may have a personal page for selling to friends and family. Either way it moves stuff out of your house, just make sure if selling to strangers that you are meeting in a safe and public location.

3) An Actual Garage Sale :: this method takes a bit of work but can have a HUGE payoff if you have enough stuff and live in an area that will get a decent amount of traffic. Tagging and organizing stuff for a spring sale sounds like a great winter project. I’ve also had “inside garage sales” for family and friends who come look through a specific size set of clothes in my home.

4) Make a Donation :: no matter where you live there are people or organizations in need that would gladly use your items or sell them to support their ministries. Salvation Army is my go-to donation center but there are also local women’s & children’s shelters, foster care groups, churches, orphan outreach organizations, and the list goes on. It doesn’t take much research to find local options that will accept donations for whatever items you may need to find new homes, if all else fails ask for suggestions on social media.

5) Throw it Out :: Some of that stuff your kids have outgrown is not worth donating or trying to sell. As my kids and I sorted out the 5 boxes of items I sold or donated this week we also filled a trash bag with items that did not make the cut.

I hope this list helps some of you move that no-longer-needed kid stuff out of your homes!