We usually offer it to family members if it’s an upgrade from what they already have.
If family has no use for it, we usually give clothes to a charitable org.
Never had/used a garage sale
Hate to put serviceable stuff in the dumpster, but sometimes finding a home for the stuff is impossible. Sometimes I won’t upgrade until I find a home for the orphan.
If I’ve got stuff that I know will sell fast, I’ll have a yard sale. Leftovers from that go to Goodwill. But if we know of a family member in need, they may get something even if we hadn’t planned to upgrade. Then there’s all the stuff in the basement that is in limbo - most of it will go away when we move.
I’m just moved to Chicago a year ago, and to my own apartment a few months ago, and I still have very little in the way of furnishings. Whatcha got and how much do you want fer it?
I’d donate it to a local refugee resettlement organization. Call Catholic Charities and tell them what you have - I’m sure they can find a family that would be glad to get it.
StG
WHAT?? I can trade in my KIDS?? Whooo-hooooo…
Oh, you meant just their clothes?
Bugger.
Depends. If Ms. Lorenzo decides she wants new living room furniture, the couch and love seat must go. I’d gladly give it away if this comes to pass and send you an email as a heads-up. However, if she decides on remodelling the bathroom, well that’s no use to you at all, I’m afraid.
How about a dresser? Got one of those? We are in SERIOUS need of clothes-storage space (we keep clean clothes in one laundry hamper and dirty in the other because there’s no where to put it anyways! LOL). Although Chicago is a bit far - guess I just have to hit the garage sales over the next couple of weeks 
Our local women’s shelter gets first dibs, then a general homeless and youth organization run by a Catholic priest.
After that I have a friend who can sometimes use castoff furniture, and then there’s Goodwill. We live out in the sticks, so yard sales are no good, and too much work anyway.
We are on the call list for two different veterans’ groups, both of which collect used clothing, small appliances, small furniture & household items. Every few months one of them calls us up and says they’ll be in our neighborhood on a given date (usually about 2-3 weeks off) and asks if we think we’ll have anything to donate. If we say yes, then all we have to do is bag & tag whatever we have, leave it on the porch that morning, and sometime that day a truck comes by and collects it, leaving a blank receipt for tax purposes. I think they sell everything they collect to wholesalers.
We’ve cleared our closets and cabinets of a lot of stuff we no longer use over the last few years this way.
Friends and family come first, then various charitable organizations (Salvation Army and/or a battered women’s shelter in my hometown, or I have various friends who work for not-for-profits, and if they’re having a clothing drive or whatever,t hey get ibs). I never throw anything away if it’s still usable, and frequently rescue stuff from others who are about to throw it away.
Brainychick, I’m in Chicago, and I have a sofa sitting in my livingroom waiting for a home; several people have offered to take it, but nobody has goten their act together to pick it up. It’s a bit worn, but no holes and perfectly serviceable (I bought a new one, because the old one was bothering my back). Once I post this, I’ll check to see if your e-mail is listed.
Brainychick, your mailbox is apparently full. I’ll try to remember to try again later.
I work for a few thrift shops so I just price the stuff & drop it in the store…
I like to have a garage sale too, they always seem more profitable than I thought
they would be.
(I would like to correct myself in that I said that we don’t accept torn clothes, we do but
we give them to a place in San Jose that recycles the fabric. In one store. The other
stores we don’t accept.)
How can I dispose of old, non-working computers? I have a few, they’re no use to anyone, but I’m not supposed to put them in the trash (due to the battery I presume), and even ths hazardous waste pickup does not take them. They’re just hogging space.
Furniture–what about putting a notice up somewhere that young adults (like college students) will see it. Offer the furniture free for the taking. I’m sure someone would be very grateful.
Kids clothes–I’m surprised you are having any trouble getting rid of them. Hell, email me, and I’ll tell you a great place that you can send them, and you won’t even have to pay for shipping. 
And if you live in a reasonably high traffic area, you can put anything at all on the curb with a “FREE” sign on it. Somebody will take it. I got a cool old Schwinn that way!
The Int’l Assoc of Electronics Recyclers has a website Http://www.iaer.org with a directory. I punched in a few parameters and my state and it returned, among other things, the names of a few used computer stores near my home. Makes sense, really. They’ll probably yank the floppy drive and anything else useful and dispose of the rest properly.
I guess you could just call any local used computer store and bypass the website.
Depending where you live, you could donate it to the curb before you put it out w/ the trash (if it isn’t rainy, that is). Our trash is out back, people don’t see it. I’ve never put anything out on the curb that wasn’t promptly removed. Don’t know how it would work in a suburb though.
We just moved, and there was a lot of stuff we didn’t want to take with us. I just made signs that said “FREE!” and in smaller print something like “wouldn’t this look great in your home?” or “Gosh, this would come in handy” My husband thought I was a goof, but it worked like a charm. Got rid of all sorts of stuff I thought I was going to haul away (fish tank and equipment, small chairs, garden equip and pots, even the cinder blocks moved quickly)
If nothing else, the signs made people stop and look. One guy asked if he could keep the sign. Er, yah, sure.
Since most of my household items ( non electric) have come from the garage sale circuit/resale shops/Goodwill/handme downs, when we tire of it or it is no longer fitting our needs ( we tend to save everything) we usually drag it to the end of our driveway and it is gone in under a day. I would like to state we live on a rural route and get 20 or 30 cars maybe down the road a day.
The other stuff, it is better shape, I turn into resale shops for $ and what doesn’t sell goes to charity.