I have done it. I never thought it would happen (and neither did my hubby), but I have cleaned out my closet. Actually, closets. Yes, plural. And yes, I am serious.
Hubby’s new closet
Now, before you start freaking out on me about who the heck needs more than one closet for their clothes, let me explain. Until summer 2012 the hubs and I lived in a different state. Financially speaking, we were different people back then. We had bought a house in our former state that we could technically afford I suppose (I mean hey, we could make the monthly payments and that means you can afford it, right?) but it was more house than we really needed. But I completely loved that house, in part because it was a newer home (built in 1995), and in keeping with newer homes it had a walk-in closet.
I must be a classic female. For a long time, clothes and shoes have been my weakness. So for me, living in a home with a walk-in closet was akin to a really hyperactive kid going to Disneyland without taking their Ritalin or their babysitter. Having such a big closet essentially meant that I did little to limit my clothes shopping, since I had plenty of room for it. As for money, I always managed to justify my clothing purchases by telling myself that I needed nice clothes for work. And I do need to look presentable at work, but these days my definition of “presentable” has changed in that I no longer feel the need to wear “new” clothes in order to look nice.
Thankfully we have now changed our financial orientation big time. When we moved in 2012 across several states to our present home, we purposely downsized and purchased a smaller cheaper home than the one we had previously been living in. With this change came- you guessed it- no more walk-in closet. Our current home was built in the 1950s, and apparently people had reasonably-sized wardrobes then. However, Dee the Clothes Horse was moving into this 1950s home with a large wardrobe. There were two small closets in the main bedroom- presumably his and hers- but my large wardrobe took up both. So the hubs, being the agreeable guy that he is, agreed to use the closet in the spare bedroom for his clothing.
Until now. I’ve been meaning to do it for quite some time, since I have been coming more and more to the realization that I do not need much in terms of “stuff,” and that includes clothes. You can only wear so much at a time anyway, right? So this morning I took the plunge and did it. I went through my two closets and sorted through every piece carefully, deciding if each one was a keeper or if it should go to Goodwill or could possibly be sold on Ebay. The result? I am happy to announce that all of my clothes now reside in one closet! I have a large bag ready to go to Goodwill and a pile of 8 or 10 articles of clothing that I think I might be able to sell on Ebay. Finally the hubs will be able to move his clothes into our bedroom so that he does not have to trek down the hall to the spare bedroom every day to get dressed!
My dual closet days are finally over
Truth be told, my stuff is a little bit squished into this closet. I probably should go through and pare down a little more. And I probably will, later. For today, I am feeling like this is another step on our frugal journey- choosing to live with less “stuff.” We hope that with every step we take, we are one step closer to our awesome goal of financial independence!
Has anyone else out there chosen to actively pare down their clothing or other “stuff?” Are there other ways you have found to live with less?
Liz says
atWe live in a home that was built in the 70’s- no walk in closets here either! I have found that the less clutter I see, the more comfortable I feel in our home. Clutter creates stress and so I am pretty aware of what we have as well as what I want to buy. If it isn’t going to fit in the house nicely, then I don’t want it. That being said we do have some extra clothes in the guest bedroom. I’m guessing we probably won’t wear any of those clothes anytime soon. Need to make another haul to Goodwill!
Dee S says
atI used to be so good about de-cluttering on a regular basis. As we have gotten busier and busier with work I have fallen off a bit, but I am trying to do this more! I’ve been putting “Sell items on Ebay” on my goals list every month, which is helping to motivate me more to get it done. I post my goals on my blog, so that’s extra motivation!
DC @ Young Adult Money says
atWe bought a house that was built in the 70s and I guess people back then had smaller wardrobes too! We have three bedrooms on the main floor, each with a modest closet. I took the closet in the office and my wife took our bedroom’s closet. The closet’s are pretty small and it has forced both of us to be mindful of what clothes we have. If we had a walk-in closet I can imagine the clothes would just keep piling up as there would be no incentive to pare down.
Dee S says
atThat’s definitely what I found! I made little effort to keep the clothing population at a minimum when I had the walk-in closet. It’s going to be hard to accumulate new clothes this way- there is room for little else in my one small closet right now!
Holly@ClubThrifty says
atI’ve been getting rid of clothes for a few years and I still have a TON. Part of it is because I’m afraid to get rid of my business clothes just in case I would have to get a regular job again one day.
Dee S says
atOh, I hear you there. That type of clothing can be expensive too, so I can see why you would hang on to it if you think there is any way you might ever have that kind of job again.
Ikonz says
atI have a serious problem with hoarding clothes! I can never seem to throw them out as I always feel like I’m wasting money by getting rid of them?
How did you get over that feeling?
Dee S says
atWell, for me, there were quite a few articles of clothing that I had not worn in a long time. I tried to go by the rule that if I haven’t worn it in a year it’s time to let it go. And I’m going to try to sell a few things on Ebay so there may be a chance that I could make a few dollars out of the whole closet cleanout!
Stefanie @ The Broke and Beautiful Life says
atI have to go through my closets and drawers and purge every few months. Even with everything I’ve gotten rid of, I can’t remember the last time I went clothes shopping for anything other than workout wear.
Dee S says
atGood for you! I have gotten a lot better in the last year or so and have not done much clothes shopping in that time frame, but I really let the “purge” habit go when I had the walk-in closet. It was high time to clean out the closet(s)!!
Bre @ The Weight of Debt says
atI also just cleaned out my drawers and closet this past weekend! I’m trying to really cut back on a lot of stuff. It is on my to blog about list because I want to go room to room and see what I can cut out and organize.
I notice that I don’t necessarily buy clothes often. My problem is I have a hard time parting with clothes. This past weekend I parted with like 4 pairs of pants from high school. For the longest time I thought that maybe I would be able to fit in them again one day and that they are still really nice jeans. But the truth is they don’t even fit over my thighs and I’ll never wear them again. 😛 Congrats on making such a big step towards your goal!
Dee S says
atGood for you on doing some cleanouts too! I think that’s a really good habit to get into, I used to be better about it but somehow stopped doing that much somewhere along the way. My advice: don’t ever stop doing that! “Stuff” can creep up on you when you are not looking!!
Bre @ The Weight of Debt says
atThat is the truth! I try to make a rule of thumb that if I haven’t used/thought about it in 6 months it has got to go!
Dee S says
atGood for you! I think you just about have to have a rule like that, otherwise it can catch up with you!
Kurt @ Money Counselor says
atAs a person who typically spends maybe $200 per year on clothes, the challenges of ‘clothes horsing’ have never been mine, but I congratulate you on what sounds like great progress!
Dee S says
atThanks Kurt! I think it may be predominantly a girl thing… my hubby has no clothes horsing problems either!
Grayson @ Debt Roundup says
atMy wife and I clean up our clothes every year and donate them. We are actively cleaning up our other junk now as we are selling the house.
Dee S says
atGood for you! Moving is an awesome excuse to get rid of a whole bunch of stuff- we have moved quite a bit, and I virtually never miss the stuff we get rid of.
Ryan @ Impersonal Finance says
atOur home is from the 50s, so no walk in closet, and the one in our bedroom is pretty small at that. Even so, we still have way too many clothes. Congrats on all your progress. Let us know how selling them on eBay winds up working out!
Dee S says
atThanks, that’s a good idea, I’ll have to put up a post about the Ebay sales results. Thanks for the blog post idea my friend!
Samuel says
atHi Dee,
I thought to stop by and leave you this short comment. Keep up the good work around here!
– Samuel, Internet Dreams
Dee S says
atThanks for stopping by!
E.M. says
atAwesome work on sorting through everything! Clothing can be really tedious. When I moved out of my parents house, I got rid of some stuff, but I think I still have too much. I also took over our one closet, so the boyfriend gets a tiny section, and we both have dressers as well. When we move again we will both be reevaluating things, since I’d rather not move with ten boxes of clothes!
Dee S says
atThanks! I probably still need to get rid of more. But moving is always a great excuse to pare down!
Mel @ brokeGIRLrich says
atCongrats on getting the closet cleaned out! My own is a disaster area… and I still feel like I’m always selling stuff on eBay. Ugh.
Dee S says
atThanks, I hope to have some success with selling a few articles of clothing on Ebay! We’ll see…
Amanda @ Passionately Simple Life says
atGood for you for going through your clothes and choosing what really isn’t needed anymore. I did the same thing after graduating from college and it was the most amazing feeling ever. Everyday there are clothes there that I love. But we are in the same position that my clothes are in the spare bedroom’s closet. Hopefully soon enough that will change with a bit of paring down and some organizational shelving.
Dee S says
atThanks, it did feel good to pare down the clothes! Good luck on your endeavor to do the same!
Laurie @thefrugalfarmer says
atGood for you, Dee! We did some similar stuff too, and man, it feels good, doesn’t it? Financial security is SO much more fun than “stuff”. 🙂
Dee S says
atAgreed! So right- we would MUCH rather have financial security than stuff!
Raquel@Practical Cents says
atI can relate. I realized I had way to much clothes when I bought my house which has a walk in closet. At my rental I had clothes in drawers and under the bed in storage so I never realized how much I had until they where all layed out in my new closet. I found stuff I had forgotten about. I really haven’t bought any new clothes since. It’s great for my budget!
Dee S says
atNice! That happened to me a few years ago when we moved, I found some clothes I’d forgotten I had. And amazingly, they still fit. Double bonus!
Ajaveen says
atGreat post Dee. I actually used to have the same problem. After paying off 8 credit
cards bills last year Ocotber 2013 most credit cards were for clothing stores..I am no longer a hoarder.
I have not bought clothing within the exception of socks and underwear since May 2013.
Your post is an inspiration to me a former clothes and shoes junkie LOL.
Dee S says
atHa, thanks! I still actually have a couple cards to clothing stores- but I haven’t used them in months! No room in my single closet for more clothing at this point!
Jason @ froogalism.com says
atGreat job, Dee. Less mess, less maintenance, less washing (and, especially ironing). It also makes choosing what to wear easier. I think you made a great decision.
Dee S says
atThanks Jason. I have really not even noticed the difference in the amount of clothes that I have! I’ve still got plenty to wear 🙂 In fact, I could probably stand to get rid of more…