How to Find Things Good Enough to Donate

Awhile ago, I went through my entire house top to bottom to get rid of everything that I had used in awhile. My plan was to find and get of things we never used. My plan worked, except now I needed to get rid of them. That’s when I started looking into donating.

Whether it’s donations for military families or just generally helping families in need, charitable donations are great thing to participate in. Not all of us have the money and time required to really be able to make a difference in Third World countries or even with veterans charities or soup kitchens. But we all have material items that we don’t need that could benefit someone who does. Every bit counts and it’s amazing how great you feel after donating. Once I dropped my things off at a donation center, I really felt like I was a part of something bigger. I don’t know where my items went. I don’t know if they were donations for military families or putting shoes on a little child’s feet but I just knew that in some small way I had made a difference to someone’s life.

Maybe you’d like to make donations for military families or homeless shelters or to others in need but you just don’t know where to start. Here are a few tips for going through your home.

Room by Room
If you are feeling motivated to really un-clutter your home then you should begin at one side of the house and go through each and every room organizing and cleaning as you go. If you start in the rooms that not many people see you like the bedrooms it will motivate you to keep going so that your “show rooms” will look as good as your bedrooms when you’re done. If you start with places like the living room in the kitchen you may end up stopping halfway through and never getting to those back rooms.

Three Boxes
Put three boxes in every room before you even begin. They should be fairly large but not enormous. Label them: “throw away,” “donate,” and “restock.” As you go through each room, any trash or broken items can go in the throw away box, items you want to donate that are still in good condition can go in the donate box and items that you were keeping that don’t belong in that room can go in the restock box. You could add a fourth box, “storage” but the problem with the storage box is you could be tempted to put everything into storage and not get rid of anything. Try as much is possible to stick to just the three boxes.

The Six Month Rule
If it’s hard for you to decide whether to throw something away, donate it or keep it try adhering to the six month rule. For example, you find a waffle maker in your kitchen. This should be your line of questioning:

Does it work?
If not, throw it away. If you haven’t fixed it by now, you are not going to. If yes, move onto the next question.

Have I used it in the last six months?
If not, put it in the donate box. If so, keep it.

This method works with pretty much anything including clothes although if the season has just changed, you may not have one something for six months because it was too warm to cool for it. In that case you can add this question:

If I were to go out shopping now would I buy this again?
If the answer is yes, then keep it. But if the answer is no, put it in the donate box.

Reorganize as You Go
One of the great things about looking for things to donate is it gives you an opportunity to revamp your house. After you have gone through a certain room, give everything that is left, a place. Every pen, every safety pin, every toothpick should have it’s own spot. Once everything is put away properly then you can pull the furniture away from the walls and get to work deep cleaning.

Enjoy yourself and don’t regret anything you donate! Donations for military families, third world countries, your own home town- wherever- they are making a difference.