I see a lot of “spring cleaning” posts out there in the blog world. I’d like to add my own two cents.

As a woman who has trouble maintaining her weight, I have made some mistakes in the past by listening to people who say “give away clothes that don’t fit.” I think that’s a huge mistake, and I don’t intend to make it again.

1. DO give away clothes that you hate or don’t wear even when they do fit.

2. If clothes are too big but you still like them, take them OUT of your closet or drawers, and put them in a storage bin.

3. If clothes are too small but you still like them, again, take them OUT of your closet or drawers (Or if you have extra closet or drawer space, and this goes for #2 as well, put them in a rarely used area.)

That way, when you gain or lose weight, as many of us will invariably do so, you will still have clothes you like that fit! And if you gain or lose weight, and determine that you no longer like those clothes, well, give them away then. Trying to fit into a pair of smaller pants won’t encourage you to lose weight any more than keeping bigger pants around will encourage you to gain weight.  But if you have a variety of sizes on hand then you don’t have the added insult of having to waste money on new clothes while thinking of all the perfectly good jeans (for instance) you used to own that fit and looked good at that higher (or lower) weight!

All that being said, purging your closet can be great, and we all have clothes in there that we won’t wear EVER, and you should definitely give those away. But don’t make the same mistake I did of giving away perfectly good clothes that would have fit again in the future. Clothes really don’t take up that much space. Just put them away somewhere, and if you change sizes, go through them then and figure out if something fits that didn’t before.

And buy more shoes. Shoes always fit.

(Have you entered my giveaway for a free 5k/10k entry for a race in June?)