Wednesday 4 December 2013

Clearing Out Your Wardrobe to Gain Storage Space



There are so many reality television shows that depict how we, as human beings, hoard a lot of things. Typically, items in our homes fall into just two categories: wants and needs. At the start, we would usually be able to tell our desire to buy things as a need or a want. However, as we move along our everyday life, the advent of internet, information is readily pushed our way – that this item is good for you or good for the household, yet our vision gets blurry that we sometimes mistaken the need to be a want. Hence, we end up buying and accumulating items that we usually do not need at all. And the biggest purchases that we tend to mistake our need to be want are clothing and clothing accessories. This does not only goes out to women, but believe me, it also applies to men (as there are more and more metro sexual men nowadays).

Apart from walking down retail shops and shopping malls, attracting us with discounts and promotions, there is also the convenience of online shopping. Our email pops up with all the promotional emails and these tend to be very attractive! Even if categorizing these emails, as spam is as easy as a click, we tend not to do it since we are still ‘wanting’ to have the first option to buy something that we want at a very discounted price. Nevertheless, even if the price is not that attractive, but so long as there is a discount, we just buy the item!

One of the storage spaces that easily gets filled up is our closet or wardrobe. Wardrobes can easily become overcrowded as you buy new clothes with each passing season and some clothes become worn out or unfashionable. Sometimes you can’t just throw these away as you have just worn these once and the cuts and designs are classic designs. However, instead of filling up your clothing storage, there are some simple ways to make sure you can always see what you really have in your wardrobe:

  • Give it away - anything that you haven't worn in a while can be given away to charity or thrown out if it is worn out. Usually, you would give away something that you have not worn for 6 months or if you see that the buttons are falling off. Someone would be willing to sew the buttons and use your piece of clothing.
  • Sell it – These are pre-loved. If you can find some good clothes that you no longer want, and you have only used these once (and not even for a couple of hours), just sell them on Ebay or in a garage sale to earn some extra cash.
  • Store it – These are usually winter clothing that are bulky and take up a lot of storage space. Buy vacuum bags and place these in empty cupboards in your home and even some mobile storage units that you can store in the attic. These are great ways to keep your clothes but free up precious wardrobe real estate.
  • Think seasonal – Just like any other inventory, try to move your clothes around in storage season by season. For instance, in summer you can pack all your jumpers and winter woolies away until it gets cold again. You can go back to the previous item, wherein you can store these in vacuum bags and have these in storage somewhere in the home, like an attic. 
  • Create sections – It is still best to organize your wardrobe. Create some sections within your wardrobe space and have some small storage for your accessories, or even underwear. Don't let your clothing become jumbled; otherwise it is very difficult to find what you need. Instead have specific sections for your clothes and accessories for easy access. If not, you will end up not using some of the items while some will be worn out in no time. 

Sounds simple? Yes, it is! Although you always hear this from friends and family members, especially if they had the chance to take a peek of your closet, it is still best to see these simple ways on how to clear your wardrobe space. Don’t wait for your pieces of clothing to tumble on you when you pull something out. Treat this storage space as their home, where they also need to be organized and be pretty from the inside and out. Once you have done such, your life will be easier and you will be able to find what you need to wear for the day.


Sunday 1 December 2013

Clearing Household Clutter with a Garage Sale

Doing spring-cleaning once in a while at home is therapeutic for most of us – it keeps you occupied and clears your household with all the clutter that you have accumulated. Some say that by clearing your household with the clutter, you are also giving yourself some much needed space to breathe and be able to have a better and ‘cleaner’ perspective of things. Having some ‘eye’ space – a cleaner and more spacious area for your eyes to roam around in your household, you could think clearly and put things in a better perspective of things.

There are a few of those who would donate to charity some of the clutter that are still in good condition, while for those who are some entrepreneurial spirit in them, although half goes to charity, the other half would be put up for sale. Hence, there comes about the garage sale, which does not only bring about some extra cash, but friends and family members re-kindling friendships and relationships and just have a good conversation!

Garage sales happen mostly when people are moving, apart from just doing your annual or regular spring-cleaning. For those who are relocating, throwing a garage sale before your house move not only clears away the clutter but it can also raise a few dollars to pay for packing materials and removalists. It helps you defray some of the costs of moving, no matter how small the earnings will be.

When moving you always have two options when clearing out your items – to keep them in storage or just do away with it. Garage sales or donating it to charity would be good as you create some space, earn some money, and keep your costs down when it comes to storage. While you will want to keep some items in storage, anything you won't need at your new address can be organised and sold. Once you are done with the sorting, creating some publicity for your garage sale would be the next week. You need to sell these off before your big move; otherwise, you are left with the same dilemma of having too many items on hand.

Here are a few ways to make your garage sale a successful one:

  • Create strong signage and add it to poles, fences and notice boards in your local area. If you have a lot of items place an advertisement in the local paper as well. Just try to manage your costs on the advertisement page. One of the objectives you have in mind is to earn at least some cash and if your advertisement costs are higher than your projected income, then it defeats the purpose. Might as well give these items away. 
  • Make sure your prices are much cheaper than retail price. Remember, you're not trying to make a profit, just clear your unwanted items.
  • Have cheap tables and baskets of $1 and $5 items. If not, request people to bring their own bag, and if they do, you give them $1 off. You are at least doing your part of being environment friendly. 
  • Make sure you have a power cord and batteries so people can test any toys or electronic equipment.
  • Keep your big money items (or things you really want to get rid of) front and centre just like you would in a store.
  • Have some plastic covers in case there is a slight chance of drizzle. It is better to sell items that are dry rather than wet and damp. It might reduce the price you set.

These are just one of the few items you need to note when having a garage sale. Regardles of how big the scale is or not, you still need to publicize it; otherwise, you will end up with more items in self storage, or might as well donate these to charity. It doesn’t hurt to earn a little bit to defray the costs of moving.