<p>Why do you need to “organize” the stuff for Goodwill?? I generally just put it in a bag or a box.</p>
<p>By “organize” I don’t mean what you mean, VeryHappy! I basically mean that I separate the clothing from the household items from the toys. That counts as “organizing” around here. :)</p>
<p>Ahhhhh . . . Thanks. I was imagining women’s clothes in this size and color in one bag, and so on and so on. Lately, I don’t have that much stuff, so it all goes in a bag together. </p>
<p>Hmmmm. Today was not a great day. I took four bags OUTnthis week. But I brought one bag of stuff in…but it was good,stuff. A Joy of Cooking for my daughter, a terrific black work coat, some new dish towels (I promise to toss,the old ones,), and a Burberry windbreaker. I’m already loading my bags for next week!</p>
<p>QM, you are making progress! I will say that I just dump things together in black trash bags and never thought of organizing in any way. In fact, I often put glass in between the clothes as protection.</p>
<p>Went to the tax person today and we have $2,700 of donating our stuff. We have pics and documented everything.
It was a pain and we will not do it this year on. I did it this year as we cleaned out S’s room/closet. Made me wonder if we had given him toooooo much over the years.</p>
<p>Oregon, it never occurred to me to take pictures of the donated items. Great idea. I do have an excel sheet that I fill out whenever I donate, which is very helpful at tax time.</p>
<p>FallGirl. there are rules such as you cannot donate more than $250 per day and if you go over a certain amount you have to have things appraised. Not sure what that amount is but we were under it.
An excel sheet would be better than our pencil and paper deal. We have the pics on the computer.</p>
<p>Wow, good job everyone! I’m not comfortable to use the tax deduction… Valuation of the items is such a grey area… Was is $1 or $2? 100% difference!</p>
<p>I believe it is $500 a day and we use Deduction Pro to figure out the valuation of the items. I also tke pictures and itemize.</p>
<p>We have been donating and using the tax deduction for over 20 years, BB. We usually have $500-$750 in donations. And we make an itemized list, including brand names.</p>
<p>I simply use the Goodwill sheet and am modest about my decision as to the value of an item.</p>
<p>Oneward, just yesterday my tax person said it is $250 a day if there is no appraisal.</p>
<p>The last two days I have been on a roll. </p>
<p>Tall kitchen bag of shredding old bills. Another pile ready to shred. How does it work at Office Depot? Do they charge by pound? Do you see them shred it? Is it self serve? </p>
<p>1 big trashcan of paperwork, old stuff not good for revycking or thrift store donations. </p>
<p>6 bags/boxes to bring to Goodwill plus several cube storage units - waiting to see if sister wants them. </p>
<p>Hard part - going through cupboards and finding lots of mom’s heirlooms that I am not using. Waiting to see if family wants any before they are gone. </p>
<p>Whatever isn’t taken by tomorrow night is delivered after work om Monday. The longer they sit around, the more I will have remorse. They. Must. Go. </p>
<p>Selling house, so it is a little easier to give away stuff than if planning on staying. My next kitchen will never have the huge amount of cabinets in my current home! </p>
<p>Also, finding it easier to keep surfaces clean when there is less stuff. It is hard to get over the clutter genes that I seem to have been born with. </p>
<p>Turbo Tax has an “It’s Deductible” function for assessing the value of household items/clothing to be donated. It has various bands for the the condition of the items. They tend to be more generous than I would be, but it provides a defensible basis if we are ever questioned.</p>
<p>I have a lot of fabric that I don’t think I’ll ever use (stretchy stuff, so not good for quilting and my fabric art). Have to figure out what to do with it.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info! Although I use TT every year, I never dug into It’s Deductible part of it. Tried to play safe.</p>
<p>Gave old kiddies bedding (which looked almost new!) to acquaintances who were happy to get it - this is my bag for the week. :)</p>
<p>Did anyone see the CBS Sunday Morning Show today? They had a segment about hoarding! <a href=“Seeking help for hoarding - CBS News”>http://www.cbsnews.com/news/seeking-help-for-hoarding/</a> It is a real disorder, listed in the DSM-5. I learned some interesting details about it: strikes males and females equally, crosses all financial statuses, runs in families, etc. Even though you never really “outgrow” this condition, you can control it. </p>
<p>Thank goodness for this thread, because I’ve been off the wagon this week. Inside all the closets and drawers are looking a little better, but I’ve definitely slowed down. Time to address the elephant in the room: the basement.</p>
<p>No, not the basement!! [screams . . . ] 
</p>
<p>The TV in the basement broke down last week, and I have stopped going down there. H fixed the TV yesterday, so this week is a basement week. With the moral support of CC….</p>
<p>I just filled my bag for tomorrow. There were a couple of things I waffled about. Then I thought about it…if they are iffy, they need to GO. Bag is full. </p>
<p>I am pretty sure that my husband would qualify as a major hoarder. After years of arguing, I finally gave up and just live with it. My choice was pretty clear: him and his stuff or leaving him. Although he retired from teaching more than 10 years ago, our dining room is still filled with boxes of student papers. Today he is putting out a dozen cartons for trash pick-up which I will transfer to our blue recycling bags. Why did he finally agree to get rid of stuff? When his mother died 25 years ago she left him a few hundred shares of Heinz stock. Since Heinz went private, he has to find the paperwork for our tax files. He may never find the papers but he is at least clearing out some of the mess. I am still plugging away with my one bag a week. </p>
<p>We sold some stock last year and I needed to get the paperwork to figure out the cost basis (a bit convoluted since the stock has changed names a few times due to mergers). In the process of rooting through the filing cabinet, we got rid of at least a couple of folders - statements of stock that we don’t own any more 
Need to do way more of this though…</p>
<p>How long do you keep tax records? 7years?</p>