Share the Clutter?

By sharing, of course I mean donating!

Donating is a wonderful way to get rid of the excess and clutter in your life quickly, while compassionately helping someone else in need. A win-win if there ever was one.

Here are some great reasons you should consider donating your excess:
1) You Have Too Much Stuff! You have too much stuff! You have too much stuff!
A few stats: Seven out of 10 Americans live in cluttered homes.
80 percent of what we own we never use.
Use Lee Silber's mantra "I have enough stuff. There is enough. I need no more". Place this somehere you can see daily!

2) Someone Else NEEDS It.
Do you have a friend that is jobless? Know a young adult moving out on thier own on a tight budget? Do you or your church group know a family in real need? If not, charitible organizations do! If you are "blessed" with excess, do the right thing and donate the items you do not NEED and do not USE. You can make a huge difference in someone else's life.

3) Donating is kind to the earth.
Recycling and Repurposing helps to limit the volume of trash in the landfill

4) It Will Improve your life and save time.
Donating clutter will make cleaning faster and easier, increase the space in your home, you will spend less time time looking for things, and do away with the embarrasing piles of clutter.

5) It's good for the pocketbook!
When helping clients sort through the clutter - we almost always find money, gift cards, and uncashed checks. With less "stuff" you will be able to FIND what you have, and avoid having to go buy another! Best of all, donations are a tax write-off. If you are in the 15% federal income tax bracket, for every $1,000 worth of stuff that you donate, Uncle Sam will "pay" you $150 on your personal income tax return. If you are in the 25% tax bracket, a $1,000 donation saves you $250 in federal income taxes. Or you could hold on to it all andspend an entire weekend holding a garage sale for hopefull the same result. This is a NO brainer.

6) You will save time.
Thinking of a garage sale? If you add up all the hours you'd spend - it comes up to about 20-30 hours! Instead, load up your stuff and take it to the nearest donations site and be done with it! Besides, on average, you will only sell 30-40% of what you put out and have to take the rest to be donated afterwards anyways :)
You will spend less time hunting for things and less time cleaning around the excess in your home. If you want to really save time? Call and see if your local charity will pick up at your door!

Tips:
Your donated items should be in fair or good condition. Electronics and appliances should work, toys and games should have all the part and pieces, and clothes should not have holes, stains or missing buttons.

Please with your local charity or resale shop first to see what they accept before you head over.

Be sure to ask for a receipt for tax purposes.

If you would like a complimentary list of local and other chartible donation causes and ways to recycle the unusual - send me an email, I'd be happy to share with you.