I admit it- when my older daughter was younger, I went overboard buying her clothes. That girl had WAAAAY too many clothes. When my second daughter came along, it alleviated some of my spending guilt. At least the still new, with tags, never worn clothing that I had packed away in the basement could finally get worn!
Since my only niece wears the same size clothing as my younger daughter E, I haven’t really been passing the clothing on to anyone. Once E outgrew it, it sat in my basement, waiting for…girl number 3?
WRONG! When I learned baby #3 was a boy, I was overwhelmed by the need to GET ALL THOSE PINK CLOTHES OUT OF MY BASEMENT! A girlfriend alerted me to a consignment sale being held nearby the following week. I spent a few evenings sorting the goods (quality items vs. stained/worn unsellable items), dropped off the good stuff at the Rhea Lana consignment event, and dropped the rest at Reach Out Lakota (a community charitable organization). I figured nothing bad could come of it, and I’d just dump the stuff that didn’t sell at Reach Out Lakota after the sale. I didn’t really expect to make money.
I was dumbfounded at the end of the sale that I’d made $186 on things I’d planned to give away.
The local Rhea Lana consignment sale is held each spring and fall. Last week, I cleaned out our storage area and E’s dresser drawers and pulled the clothing that no longer fit. I tagged the nicer items and sent them off to the sale. Once again, I made $184!
SCORE! I didn’t have the time or enough items to have a rummage sale- just a few bins of clothing. No sitting around with grumpy kids in a damp garage involved! I still have several garbage bags full of clothing to donate. My storage closet is cleared of excess bins, E’s dresser is clean, and I have a system for sorting the outgrown clothing. Since the next sale is already scheduled, I know that I’ll undertake the organization project in 6 months again, before the piles of clothing get out of control. Here’s hoping I’m able to rake in another $180 just for cleaning out our dressers again next fall!
