Over time we each develop a unique saving style, which is why we started the How Do You Save? group for you to divulge your winning tactics. The group offers a place for you to dole out your advice to other SavvySugar readers trying to save a little moolah and learn from their experiences.
Cocoangel reminds us to clean out our closets, donate items to charity and reap the reward of a tax deduction, more closet space and giving. With 2009 coming to a close, now is the ideal time to make a big donation and pass on items you haven't used in a while. She says:
We stopped having garage sales years ago when our accountant pointed out that if we didn't have the money to give charities we could still claim deductions for the clothes, toys and household goods we donate. Even though we write checks now I still go through the closets and house looking for items that are still useful to someone else. I take a picture of the bags/boxes, attach it to the receipt left by the charity and file in our tax folder.
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Swear
Alviero Martini
Patrizia Pepe
How do you figure out how much you can deduct? How do I know what an old sweater is worth?
1If you use tax filing software, like TaxAct (the only one I'm familiar with), it has a tool that lets you specify the garment type and condition and provides a reasonable cost estimate. I really like that you can adjust the cost to your own discretion, e.g if you're donating a designer item you can increase it, but at least you get a baseline to start with.
2Here is a question, what if you make a tax deductible donation to a charity on behalf of someone (for the holidays I want to donate to my friend's favorite charity on her behalf) can I claim that on my taxes if I show proof that I paid for the donation?
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