Finding Happiness with Less

Recently, one of my coworkers gave me about three boxes of hand-me-down clothes for my daughter. They were mostly size 4T and 5T (my daughter is currently wearing 18 months). Suffice it to say, she is still a few years away from wearing these clothes!

I went through the boxes and kept about the equivalent of two boxes of clothing. I donated the rest to the thrift store and threw some pieces in the trash because they were torn or stained too much. I will store the boxes in my basement and use them when the time comes.

This lead me to reflect on the fine line between minimalism and frugality. For the past 6 months, I have worked on decluttering my house and trying to live a more minimalist life. A true minimalist would never have accepted these hand-me-downs as they do not serve right now and they use space inside my house. On the other hand, I am also trying to decrease my spending. I am currently working part-time after my maternity leave and we are also trying to pay off some debt that we racked up in the past two year (mostly excavation work we did around the foundation of the house last spring). If being able to store two boxes of 4T-5T clothes mean that I will spend less money in the future as this is one less purchase to make, I think it remains a good thing. I still need to be careful not to keep everything that is given to me and only keep what will be of real use.

I’m interested in how you manage hand-me downs or donations from others. Do you keep them for the future, or do you prefer to pass them along right away? I’d love to hear how you navigate the balance between minimalism and frugality.