Spring Clean For Good

Apartment living has me forever cleaning out and reorganizing drawers, closets, and cabinets. Our space is small and there really isn’t any room for excess. In an effort to best utilize space, we continuously reorganize furniture. And every year, before the warmer months, I take on one major spring cleaning project. This year, it was my bedroom closet, which had been busting at the seams with items that needed to be purged.

A few weeks ago, I spent an entire day sorting through my clothing, shoes, and jackets. With three pregnancies over the last seven years, my post baby body has undergone some changes, and my closet has accumulated many different styles and sizes, to say the least. Over the last year, I’ve been trying to resurrect my pre-baby bod, with little luck. There are a few months where I think there’s a chance for wearing that sundress I wore pre children, but then there are times where I think I would never where that again. With this massive collection of styles, it was time to go out with the old, and in with the new for spring and summer.

In an effort to sell some of my childrens’ clothing, I’ve been using the TOTSPOT app, which I introduced you to this November. The app has allowed me to easily post and resell my clothing by uploading photos just by using my phone. Items can be listed by category, pricing, and descriptions such as new, new with or without tags, used, etc. When another user buys an item, TOTSPOT sends me a shipping label for the merchandise.

Rather than making money from app, I’ve opted to donate all proceeds to the Make A Wish Foundation. We recently forwarded them a check for over $400, and it felt pretty incredible to do that. This time around, most of the sales will come from my own clothing, so I decided to donate to a charity for women called Zimele USA. This non-profit organization is committed to confronting the root causes of poverty, in the impoverished communities of South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province. Founded in 2007, Zimele USA exists to increase awareness of these issues, fundraise, and implement programs to provide economic, educational, and social resources for women to become self-sufficient.

Their programs include financial management, and job and life-skills classes, which empower women to become small scale entrepreneurs and advocates for their communities. Through their efforts, Zimele USA has helped empower over 6,000 women to sustain independent livelihoods by breaking historical cycles of poverty and taking ownership of their futures.

I encourage you all to use this incredible resource as a way to repurpose your clothing, and while you are at it, take a look at my closet, as all of the proceeds will be going to a great cause.