WFMW-Organizing extra kids' clothes

Instead of doing a Wordless Wednesday, I decided to post a Works for Me Wednesday. I posted lots of pictures already this week, and I've been wanting to post this for a while- something new! Let me know which one you like better Works for Me Wednesday OR Wordless Wednesday! We'll see what I do again next week! :-D

I like being organized, I think it contributes somewhat to my sanity each day. So here is one way that I organize something in our house, and it works for me! 

I remember when I was a kid, and we'd get handed-down clothes from my cousins in Colorado, we LOVED them! I remember some great dresses and shirts that were from my cousins, and they were totally different than what anyone wore in my school! Another time I remember my little brother got a pair of cowboy boots from our cousins and he wore them all the time, even to bed! :-D

So Moms, how do your organize your kids extra clothes- ones that they have grown out of, and you are saving for a younger child? Or ones that you've been given that they will grow into next year? Here are a few ideas of what we do, and how it has worked for us!

We have several bins in the garage, (mostly) clearly labeled with size and gender so we can easily access and utilize them! This year we took some that we are saving for our younger girls and put them under the house in the crawlspace, since we don't need size 5 or 6 clothes (or 7-8) for a while. I found when the kids are babies that it is easier to have the bins in the garage where you can grab them and find something that fits. It seems like they change clothing sizes about once a month when they're tiny! I really like the same size bins, but sometimes they are hard to find. It helps if you can buy six or so at a time, then fill each of them eventually. January is a good time to buy bins when they are on sale...(hint, hint)

Most of the clothes that we have gotten are from our old neighbors that had kids stair-stepped older in age than our kids. We liked that especially since their kids were born similar season to ours, and they have similar  tastes in clothing. Their son is a sports nut like Caleb, and their girl is a girly-girl like Rebekah! We've had other people give us clothes too, and if we don't need them, we pass them on! It is great to have a wide variety and go shopping in the garage before we head to the store! I don't know how I could have kept them clothed if it wasn't for the generosity of others... I do buy clothes for the kids occasionally, but not too often! And when I do it is mostly socks and underwear...

Another benefit of this is that if their dresser is full, you don't have to keep all of the off-season clothes in their dresser, you can keep them in the bin until you need them! The kids LOVE getting out a new bin (or bag, which is how we get them...) and looking at all of the clothes- it is so exciting- just like Christmas. "Dad, look at this shirt, it's so cool!" "Oh, I can't wait to wear this tomorrow!" I wish I could change my whole wardrobe every year! :-D

Other than clothes in different sizes, we also have a bin of winter coats/ snowpants/ mittens/ hats/ scarves. We keep it in the garage and pull it out when we need it- before the parade of lights, in the beginning of winter, and when it snows! It is nice to keep them this way, since we rarely need snow-pants here, and it's handy to not have them clutter the hall closet year 'round! Then when we don't need the winter outdoor gear anymore, we load up the bin and put it back in the crawlspace under the house! (And hope for no more spring snows!)

I hope this helps some of you moms out there be more organized. It works for me, for us! :-D
What do you do? Do you store your extra clothes this way?