Guest Author - Susan Thompson

January is the month when most people take stock of what they own, and what they want to keep then they toss out the rest. In the age of living green, throwing everything in the garbage is no longer an option. So what do you do with all of the stuff your children have outgrown or don’t play with anymore? Well, of course you could call your local Red Cross or Good Will to see if they will take it or you could use one of the following ideas.

Churches - Local churches usually have day care programs that could use toys. One of our local churches takes used clothing, and twice a year they have a free clothing give away. Also churches usually know of a family in need who could use almost any item that you may be giving away, so before you throw out that perfectly good item, contact your local church to see if they know of anyone in need of it.

Public Library - Your local library will take donations of any books as long as they are in decent shape. Some will even take donations of old computers contact them for more information.

Consignment Shops – Consignment shops will take anything and sell it for you. Most of these shops give you around three percent of what they make on your item. It may take a long time to sell the item, but at least it is out of your house.

EBay stores – There are eBay stores all over the country where they take your item and sell it on eBay, or you can create your own account and sell it on eBay yourself.

Freecycle.com – This is a website where you list items you want to get rid of. Freecycle.com has groups all over the country. All items listed must be totally free, and you can get items you may need for free. You can list anything you want to get rid of from appliances to scrap wood; it doesn’t matter as long as it is free.

If you have electronic items that are no longer working, such as MP3 players, I pods, computers or cameras, many electronic stores will take them and refurbish them for resale or donations to schools. Contact your local recycling center or an electronics store near you for more information.

If you can hold on to your stuff until spring, you could hold a garage sale to get rid of the items in question. Price them low enough to get rid of them. Depending on your profit, you could buy something the whole family will enjoy.