Tips & Tricks: January 2016

A lot of people want to give their things away but get delayed finding the “perfect” place to take them. We all want to find the right recipient…one who will really appreciate our item(s) and make good use of it. No one likes the idea of “dumping it” at any old place. It seems like the more money we spent on an item, the more attached we are to not wanting to have the money ‘wasted.’ As I regularly point out, the money has already been spent. The crime now is having an unused item take up valuable space in your home. That item is now robbing you of peace. So, now that another year has passed, let’s take action and move the unused, unloved stuff OUT.

Here is a partial list of my favorite places….a lot of the time it depends what you have, but of course my favorites are often the ones that accept a wide range of donations and are friendly and appreciative of what you’re donating.

• Fluorescent Lightbulbs – Home Depot has a drop off box right by the entrance

• Electronics – Best Buy lets you drop off 3 items at a time near the customer service desk (tvs, microwaves, computers, etc).

• Shredding – Staples and Office Depot charge $1 a pound – just bring it in and they’ll add it to their locked shredding containers. Community shred events are the best but you won’t find too many during the winter months.

• Clothes, household items, just about anything – Savers

• Men’s and women’s clothes – Hadassah

• Computers, printers – Local Dumps usually have electronic recycling

• Recycling and Donation Info – Maryland Recycles

• Men’s Suits – The Sharp Dressed Man

• Women’s High end clothing – Ruth’s Closet

• School supplies – Teacher Swap – can be dropped off at Ruth’s Closet

• Blankets, Towels – Humane Society, SPCA

• Books – The Book Thing (but please don’t bring any home with you!)

Remember – your time is precious – consider if it’s worth going to multiple places or just taking everything to one place.