How many?

[Pumpkin_Pie]

Trying to declutter in a HUGE way after going all out and cleaning my ENTIRE apartment (I have never in my life actually had the entire thing clean all at the same time ) I am thinking that now that it is clean and relatively tidy that I want to go on a MAJOR decluttering spree and get rid of as much as I can. My main problems are that I have a VERY hard time saying no to books, clothing at thrift stores, and in my case, I have an extremely hard time getting rid of clothing that no longer fits. I also have a ton of baby things in the basement from DS. I am a 36 year old single mama, and really want another baby, but honestly, my prospects are not looking all that great, so I know I need to get rid of it all, but it is so hard.

Anyway, I am wondering how many of the following people have for themselves or their DC:

Pairs of pants?
T-shirts/casual shirts?
Sweaters?
Socks?
Underwear?
Kid's books?


I am sure I will be back with more, but I need to do a SERIOUS purge and really want to let most of this stuff go, but can't figure out what a reasonable amount actually is for some things.

[bluebunny]

Well, my rule of thumb about clothing is probably different than many around here. I like to keep only the clothes that my closet actually holds. So once the closet is full, I have to get rid of things. I did a purge not to long ago.

I WOH and have to wear suits and other professional attire. I'll answer for my SAH clothes:

Pairs of pants? 4 jeans (black, blue, long for heels/boots, short for flats)
T-shirts/casual shirts? lots -- 10 colored Ts, 4 dressier but still casual
Sweaters? 4
Socks? lots
Underwear? 20 pr but half need to go
Kid's books? too many but they are hard to get rid of (I used to work for a children's book publisher so most are hardback).

My children's wardrobe fluctuates. Right now, my son has about 4 pr socks and ten pr underwear. He has lots of Ts but many are getting small and some are big, probably five really fit. Four pair shorts, three pants.

[SashaBreeze]

I cant really answer this just yet because I am in the process of a new (at least new to me) idea of how to go about the purging.
In the past I have purged our clothes as well and always ended up with what I felt like was probably too much. Then after a few months the laundry would start backing back up and we would do another major clothes purge. I swear I think clothes breed in my house.

So the new idea I am trying is one I read about on line were you take all of your clothes and box them up and then only take things out as you need them.
So far so good but I have learned one thing that I didn't see in the clear slate articles I have read. After the first week move the boxes somewhere hard to get to (basement, trunk of your car, whatever) or else you will be tempted to skip a day or two of laundry and just pull stuff from the boxes that you wouldn't have had you had your loved clothes hanging in your closet. I also separated the boxes by season as well as by person so I really will have no clue how much we have kept until winter hits.

As far as books go they have always been my weak point as well. I promised myself that I would downsize to 100 books (that is MY books not counting the kids) but have still only managed to get down to 250 or so. I am still working on it though.
For the kids I just went through and got rid of anything that was not either a true classic or a loved book. I still need to probably get rid of some more though so I look forward to hearing what others recommend on a good sorting tool for books.

Good luck!

ETA: One thing that I did put back into the closet immediately though is I only have 1 outfit suitable for a funeral so with the hope that I will not have an occasion to NEED to wear that outfit I went ahead and hung that one back up in the closet. Ditto for my husbands funeral outfit.

[treeoflife3]

I know people who put all their clothes away with hangers going backwards to start out the year (doesn't have to be jan 1, jsut when they start a year of the clothes they have) and then they put their clothes away through the year with hangers going the normal way. at the end of the year, whatever is still on backwards hangers gets donated.

for me, as long as I have at least seven outfits (I rewear clothes so not necessary 7 pants or whatever) then I am happy. I don't want more than what fits in my closet though.

[mum4vr]

Love your ideas, ladies; love this thread. I am learning, here.

I generally think any more than 10 of anything is too much.

Some of this is individual.

I need fewer pants/ skirts bc I re-wear them. I need more jeans bc I wear them to the pasture and cannot rewear without a wash (and I'm there everyday).

DS1 works at a horse barn-- he thinks he needs LOTS of "grub wear" to keep him in work clothes, but I do not want horse barn clothes sitting overnight, so they ought to be washed every work day, and he really then only needs a few.

DS2 cannot rewear anything w/o washing-- boys! Really, he can't, it's a hygeine issue new this year, LOL.

DD can rewear, but changes multiple times/ day and leaves clothes on the floor where they get dirty grrrr. (she does her own laundy now )

So maybe in general:
pants/ shorts/ skirts 5-7
T shirts 7 (ours often double as pjs)
casual shirts 7 (suitable for work in a pinch)
socks 10 pr
unders 10

??? idk... we need to purge again; we have a free "clothing store commisary" on campus, so really everyone who lives here shares one big closet and we rotate things in and out on a very regular basis. Popular sweatshirts make the round of most high school and jr high students at least once per year, and whoever needs a thing most usually has it. I think it helps packrats like me learn to let go of stuff. It's a great feeling to see another child wear something that we donated.

[mum4vr]

right-- sweaters-- I am always , so I wear one or bring one everyday practically all year round-- so as many as I have shirts 10 or so (yes, I'll look at what I can purge now bc I *know* I have more than 10 right now)

and books... my name is mum4vr and I have a problem w keeping books. (but I secretly believe it ISN'T a problem bc I homeschool and am a teacher by profession, so I must maintain a small library). My books number in the thousands, and I just did a major purge of most early childhood books, since my baby is 9. So,,, on books, better ask others, hehehe.

does it sound like I am justifying keeping a LOT of stuff around? It's starting to sound like...

[Pumpkin_Pie]

Thanks for all of the tips! I seriously have about 50-75 pairs of socks. I also have around 20 pairs of jeans, although the number that fit are closer to 3 or 4 currently. I have such a hard time letting things go. I always think, "if I keep it, when one pair wears out, I will have a spare and won't have to go out and buy another".

Just tonight I realized I have two mops. Who on earth needs two mops? I don't even know how I ended up with two, but I stuck the other one down in the basement "just in case the first breaks". I need to figure out a way of letting this stuff go without having a nervous breakdown.

About an hour ago I FREAKED out on DS. I am so stressed out about all of the stuff in our lives, and am desperately trying to clean my apartment for a big inspection coming up tomorrow and again at the end of August. I really need to get it under control. I really think that if we just had less stuff that it wouldn't be nearly as much of a freakout about cleaning because there just wouldn't be all that crap laying around. *sigh*

[meandk0610]

i was just coming to ask this! seriously! i have issues with shopping/debting and am trying to get a handle on how much is actually needed. i'll be reading everyone's advice attentively!

[OkiMom]

Ok, my girls are very active so when Im feeling good we all go through a lot of clothing. I just don't like the idea of any of us wearing clothes with dirt/potting soil/sand or food on them. Our wardrobes (we don't wear pants, just skirts/dresses)
Me:
skirts- about 7-8 but most of them zip up so Ill have to replace them soon. I know I won't wear a size 6 for my entire pregnancy
shirts- 14 or so, I change my shirt at least once a day since my girls are always getting things on me.
Underwear- 12 sets, 3 bras that fit (two nursing, one athletic), I want to order 4-5 more bras when I have the money.
socks- 7 pairs, I usually wear sandles/flip flops
I have one dressy/out in town type outfit I wear when I go out with the family to a special dinner.
The girls:
skirts- 7-8
dresses- 10 or so including 2-3 nice ones for church/special occasions
socks- no idea, a ton
undies- 14 pairs for my oldest. Tons for my youngest but we are starting potty training so she goes through a ton when she wears them
Books- I don't know, a ton. The girls loves me to read to them and our library stinks so if I dont' want to read the same book 20 times ina week I need a larger collection. As it is we probably have close to 80 and we go through them twice a week at least. My daughters love being read to.

[JamieCatheryn]

Pairs of pants? Me: 1 (6 skirts), DS's 6 each
T-shirts/casual shirts? 8 each
Sweaters? about 3 each
Socks? 5 pair I think
Underwear? 6 pair
Kid's books? like 10 but we visit the library each week and borrow 4-10 new ones