Here are a few ideas on how to unclutter your life and share with those in need:

• Commit to cleaning out one closet every weekend.  Give away anything you have not used in a year to The Salvation Army, Goodwill, or a neighbor that you know will welcome the item.
• Hold a yard sale, and give a portion—or all—of the proceeds to your favorite charity.  Arrange for a service organization to pick up anything that doesn’t sell.  When we held a yard sale before moving, a gentleman from the Rotary Club offered to take whatever was left, to use later at an auction that raised scholarship money for area youth.
• Sell items on Ebay.  Consider giving away a portion of the sales.
• Place an ad in your local classifeds.  A few years ago, we placed an ad for a desk we were no longer using in a free classifieds paper.  We listed it as “Free to a good home.”  A wonderful family of Anabaptists came to pick it up just before Christmas.  They were gathering equipment and furniture for a church member who was setting up a home office.
• On trash day, set out a table of free items for anyone to pick up.
• Set up a bulletin board at your church or workplace for items to give away, swop, or sell inexpensively.
• If you have a recycling center in your town, ask if they can set up a swop section.  When we lived in New England, our town housed a shed at the recycling center where people could take an item they needed, or leave one for others. 

It is incredibly liberating to let go of possessions.  The old cliché that “we don’t own things, they own us” is all too true.  My family has found that the more we give away, the more we want to give away.  Things that once held a sentimental value no longer tie us down.  Yes, it takes more time to find a home for your stuff than simply putting it in the trash, but your trash is truly a Third World citizen’s treasure.  

One caution: Be sure that you don’t clean out your closets, simply to fill them up again.  Pledge to have a spending freeze. Only buy what you absolutely need, not what you want.  In our affluent society, it is so easy to just buy on impulse without really thinking about where all that packaging is going, or if junior will tire of the toy in two days, or why we need two televisions when one is more than enough.  If we can afford it (and even if we cannot), we simply put it on the credit card.  It takes self-discipline to say no to the on-slaught of advertising and commercials that enter our homes.

Some hints for saving and NOT spending:

• Never go shopping unless you have something specific you really need.
• Discourage teenaged children from hanging out at malls.
• Turn off the TV.  Even if you think you can tune out the commercials, the shows themselves sell a way of life that is neither healthy or godly.
• Unsubscribe to magazines.  They waste paper and sell a lifestyle that is unrealistic and promotes anxiety.
• When you do buy, try buying used first.  The same places you sell or giveaway unneeded items are good places to find them.
• If you buy something new, look for lasting value.  Don’t buy clothing or other items that will go out of style next year.  If a pair of shoes lasts seven years instead of two, then it’s worth spending a few extra dollars for quality.
• If it is something that uses energy—like a car, or computer, or refrigerator—consider how much energy it will use.  Check out the government energy star site to compare energy usage, and always buy the smallest, most efficient model that will meet your needs. www.energystar.gov/
• Always ask yourself two questions before buying anything or making a decision:  Does it bring me closer to God?  And does it help me love my neighbor.  The answer can always lead you down the right path.