Simplifying~Kids Clothes Part II

I am feeling pretty good about the stuff that is leaving, making more room for life
and less chances to frustrate the kids with over-full drawers,
frustrate me when they don't put stuff away well, and no more wrinkles!!
I started with just 1 little drawer....

Yup, just 1 drawer and I had 2 piles of too small, ripped or stained!

That really motivated me to do the rest and I have all that above AND

 2 more BIG PILES!!

And one more big white bin I already took to the garage!
I don't know HOW I managed to collect so many pairs of pajamas for these kids who sleep in undies most nights but it was obviously too many!

I couldn't believe how much was too small, these kids have all grown at least a half inch since school got out in June!!

Hoping to participate in our local kids consignment sale in a few weeks and get this stuff outta here and make a little bit to help fund the next round.

I couldn't get rid of everything that was too big or just out of season, they each have a little bit of next season/too big stuff. I am keeping most of it in the closet that no one is using up above, out of the way but still accessible since we will need it faster than I want to think about.

Yes, these drawers look MUCH better!

And I REALLLLLY limited the girls clothes in her drawers, she wants to wear a dress everyday anyway!

I really think they all have what they will NEED, and that is really what I am going for.

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Kids School Clothes Shopping

I know Back to School shopping sounds like a cuss word right now in the middle of July, but the best deals on basics are happening NOW or soon!

I have to do some prep before it's time to get to business.
 This is how we prep

~First we try on EVERYTHING! It takes a lot of time but sometimes they have little leg growth spurts we might not notice and I don't want to find out jeans are too short after we just miss a big sale.
~See what we have left, compare it to this (new) list, plan for what we need, then

~Decide on a budget.. and STICK to it! (that is the hard part for me)
Because I have overbought so much in the past, I only have to budget for jeans for all the kids, socks and a few other random things, plus a coat for 1 or 2 and leaving a little bit extra for something they might just really like that isn't on the list. I remember Back to School shopping was so fun as a kid, I want to keep it fun  but reasonable too.



Over the weekend we worked on this along with another daunting task!
We are finally officially moving the boys in together! Bunk bed on the way and whole do over is coming soon!

Can't wait to share all the progress we have made in simplifying, organizing and getting these boys settled in together! Just a few days away.

Once the shopping budget is set I will be watching the sales and ads and deciding what are we going to do with a whole empty room?!  I'm voting for a craft room (we will see how that goes over with the Mr.)

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Simplifying~Kids Clothes

And I thought parting with MY clothes was hard.. nothing compared to kids clothes!
I am an addict, I admit that and I also hate that I do it,  I overbuy far too often. Sometimes I think our kids really have more clothes than they can wear.

I'm REALLY going to have to try this time, and it is going to be a 2 part thing for me, baby-steps in my addiction breaking.

Step 1.
Make a list of what they TRULY will need for back to school.

Yup, that's my list.. it will be SO hard but step 2 will help with the separation anxiety.

Step 2.
Keep a few backups for the inevitable stains, tears and lost items (and really to help me ease into this MUCH less clothes thing)

I have a lot of closet space I can fill with backups but shouldn't.
My plan is to put the stuff that is on the bigger side right now as the backups so they will get used when someone outgrows something anyway.

So my goal for the weekend is to have much emptier drawers and closets for these kids!
Y'all come back next week for the progress and my next step in Simplifying life round here!

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Simplifying~Closet Organization

I said I was going to simplify some things around here, some of them will be more drastic than others, and I am sure our "drastic" is probably nothing compared to others but for us there are some big changes.

Our closet is THE worst, I am a sucker for a cute top, and for a deal. This leads to lots of excess. I'm working on getting better, cause I realize a "deal" on something I don't need is NOT a deal. Hoping to get a little back at the consignment store. I've got a bag with about 20 things in it ready to go to the consignment shop. It's not as much as I was hoping for but it makes a dent.

In going through my clothes I realized I was keeping stuff that was too big, that is cute but I haven't worn in ages, or at all.  I got hubby to try and help me, hoping he would be a voice of reason.. he wasn't... soo I am using the backwards hanger method for everything that is left. Once I wear something I will hang it back up the wrong way. Any tank top that wasn't worn all summer has got to go!

I better start wearing some tank tops!!

I think dresses will be my issue, and things have changed, I work out of the house now, and tank top style dresses just aren't gonna work in the summer like they would if I was home.
So I know some of those will not get worn this summer and I will have a hard time parting with them! Unless I wear them every weekend when I am not at work.

Next up is the kids stuff! Already working on a more realistic list of what they need for clothes and hoping I can stick to it!  Why is it so hard?! Girl stuff is especially hard for me.

Do you have a go to list of what you keep on hand for your littles?

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