If you donate it, arrange it in groups on the ground and photograph it. Name the photo with the date and place to donate (i.e., 4-17-08-Goodwill-clothes). I drop all of those photos from the digital camera into the working 2008 donations folder on my desktop, ending up with the original and making a reduced size version for a document.

Then set up a document file and describe the contents of the photo (which you have inserted into the document) and price each item modestly, like for a garage sale, unless there is some conspicuous reason why you can claim more. It ends up looking like a bulleted paragraph for each photo on the page, and the photos don't need to be huge, just a big thumbnail. Total it all up, date it, STAPLE IT TO THE TAX RECEIPT the recipient gave you, and file it for next year's taxes. Until I'm finished with the particular page I leave the document and the image originals (which I will have printed at the camera store) in that working file. Once it is printed I move the document and related photos to the "processed" folder inside. That's the one I'll refer to at tax time if I need to.

I try to set up this document every week or so to keep track of donations, and finish it off at a logical point. Like I've made a couple of trips to Goodwill so they're commingled on the receipt.

I know this seems like overkill, but I'm donating so much stuff that I don't want them to think I am pulling a fast one. I figure my pedantic approach covers all of the bases as far as what I actually donated and if my prices were fair.

The animals have all been shot (and I am covered with cat hair and smell like a dog, duh. . .) and now I'm off to help a friend offload a mattress and any other big thing he can think of to get rid of in my pickup.

If you are methodical about this, kat, you'll find that there is a considerable tax savings in donating items. And think of it--the thrift store puts it out there and probably asks a simlar price, and people will buy them at that price. If you had a garage sale, you know someone is going to come along and insist on paying you 10 cents for something you've priced reasonably at $1. It's the best of all worlds, and you didn't have the work of the garage sale.

SRS