I few days ago I started filling a donation bag (the pink one in the picture below) with my old roller skates, a chocolate maker, a book, and a vest. After I wrote a post about it, a few people got inspired (see the comments in the aforementioned post) and donated something too. DW might have been reading along as well because much to my joy I found this collection when I got home today.
There was a big bag of romance novels, a box with some crafts stuff, xmas decorations, and a small food processor that we never use. There’s a pair of cowboy boots and a radio controlled car. There’s also what appears to be a small child with a duck tail haircut and big blue ears in one of the bags. No cause for alarm! That is my old Stitch doll (I relate to Stitch!) which I got at a yard sale. The big black 45 lbs clubbell stays though. Now this got me thinking. Should I start cataloguing this in order to get some tax deductions? Is it worth it?(I guess this would fetch $20-30 in a yard sale).
7 users responded in " Who else is giving things away? "
Subscribes to this post comment rss or trackback urlI don’t itemize, but if you do plan on donating throughout the year, it may be worth it.
I gave away a ton of stuff when I moved. It feels good to purge out my closets!
If you wanted to catalogue everything just in case try http://www.itsdeductible.com . It estimates the value of goods you donate as well so there’s no real guess work for you!
When I donate to Goodwill, it’s up to me what is recorded on the receipt (goods & value) – Example: books & clothes $100 – as simple as that. . . I would rather donate and get minor tax deduction than go through the hassle of selling things on ebay and I get to feel a sense of generosity.
I’ve lately been taking advantage of
Post the stuff and wait for all the people who seem to want it. No tax deductions but a good way to easily get rid of things that still have some use.
We are in a different place than you, in our 60s and retired for several years. Several of our friends have been relating their experiences cleaning out a parent’s home after the parent’s death and in some cases it really was a horror story.
Really if you have not moved in the last ten years or so you probably have too much junk squirreled away. Time to clean up and decided not to stash stuff you probably will never get to in this lifetime.
I say donate and get the tax deduction – help others while keeping the workload down for selling them.
I”m with Diane. If you haven’t moved in a few years, if you’re older, you owe it to those who have to clean up after you to minimize your junk. We have annual, block wide, yardsales (a great social event, BTW), with an onsite dumpster donated by the city. What isn’t sold/dumped, goes to Goodwill, though we’d use Freecycle if we had that kinda stuff left. What’s great about the yardsale is the imposed deadline to get it done.
ItsDeductible is great, too.
My Sony 27″ CRT TV + remote on Craigslist. I got about 100 emails about it. Funny how a 100lb TV can elicit so much excitement. Hadn’t watched it in a long time. Don’t miss it.
Read the ERE book!
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