What did you donate this week?

[xcaligurl]

I am saving stuff like sample/travel tooth pastes, floss, brushes, shampoos, deodrants, soaps, bandaids, ect to fill clearnced plastic pencil boxes I had bought so I can donate them to the boy scouts for when they go camping.

Sharon

[love_virus]

hi everyone, =)

I haven't started donating yet, but I have a question. In the future I would like to get somethings for my local humane society. Will they take any kind of dog food I get or? if i remember correctly I saw somewhere (other forum/website) that someone got turned down. I hope to get some food and blankets, out of pocket, I would rather not call and hint I'll be there because I can't afford much.

[FantasyIsland]

Originally Posted by love_virus hi everyone, =) I haven't started donating yet, but I have a question. In the future I would like to get somethings for my local humane society. Will they take any kind of dog food I get or? if i remember correctly I saw somewhere (other forum/website) that someone got turned down. I hope to get some food and blankets, out of pocket, I would rather not call and hint I'll be there because I can't afford much.

Every animal shelter is different. Mine will not take food donations because of a contract they have. However, there are privately run shelters that will take food. As for blankets, don't expend a lot of money. If you have bedding you are getting rid of, that will do fine. They cut up the bedding to use in the cages. So even a threadbare blanket will do fine. I have scavenged them at the marathon and always drop a couple hundred blankets. So, if it's not one way to help, you can find another.

[hscouponmom]

A week ago my friend's son went into the ER because he was dehydrated and feeling very ill. They gave him an IV to rehydrate him and he went into a diabetic coma within minutes (by the time they checked his blood sugar it was 947!!!). He has just came out of the coma and is having to learn to do everything again (eat, talk, walk)...apparently something also happened in the center of his brain. I have been saving up the glucose meters to give to a local senior center but now all will go to him. If she can get a prescription for the test strips, he will not need another monitor for a very long time.

I am not able to help her financially, which is what she really needs, but atleast I can help in some way.....

[MamaBird06]

Originally Posted by smgrube When you donate, what do you do for a tax record? Do you just keep a list or have the person you donated write a receipt or what. I am ready to donate and would like to know what to do for my taxes. Every bit helps them and me. Thanks a bunch.

Wondering the same thing. I plan on finally getting my first donation in, in a couple weeks. I think i will do an inventory list of everything. Should i put the price of everything, regular price or sale price? And what about the taxes i paid on them, am i suppose to figure that in too?

[FantasyIsland]

Originally Posted by MamaBird06 Wondering the same thing. I plan on finally getting my first donation in, in a couple weeks. I think i will do an inventory list of everything. Should i put the price of everything, regular price or sale price? And what about the taxes i paid on them, am i suppose to figure that in too?

A tax specialist can answer this in more detail; however, here is what my accountant told me:

If you claim a donation for items you did not pay for (with cash), you cannot deduct its value. If you claim deductions beyond the basic amount (% of income) that's on the standard short-form, you WILL be audited.

That said, obviously no one can prove we did not pay cash for our grocery/hba purchases. So, one of the places I donate to gives me a receipt in dollars. I take the receipt and file it. When we have reason to file long form, perhaps I will need it then.

I do not take deductions for my donations beyond the standard amount -- we always use the short form (no kids, no mtg, no special deductions).

I think this year will be different - we are buying some houses.

[osumoose]

This week so far (not including the huge bags I gave last week full of pert, toothpaste, deodorant and glucose meters)
*3 bottles pert plus
*bag of school supplies

I stock the church pantry myself so it's nice to see what's been taken! I'm going to town again Saturday and Sunday for more freebies. Our pantry serves a community of 500, so every little bit helps.

[elizabethm]

Originally Posted by hscouponmom A week ago my friend's son went into the ER because he was dehydrated and feeling very ill. They gave him an IV to rehydrate him and he went into a diabetic coma within minutes (by the time they checked his blood sugar it was 947!!!). He has just came out of the coma and is having to learn to do everything again (eat, talk, walk)...apparently something also happened in the center of his brain. I have been saving up the glucose meters to give to a local senior center but now all will go to him. If she can get a prescription for the test strips, he will not need another monitor for a very long time. I am not able to help her financially, which is what she really needs, but atleast I can help in some way.....

I'm going to butt in with some advice. Dr. Richard Bernstein is a Type I diabetic (which I'd assume your son's friend is because of the phrase "son's friend") who has written the Diabetes Solution books. You can order the 2nd edition used from Amazon for little $ (he's on his third edition now). Even if he's Type II, the books are for him. Bernstein is very strict about diet but there's a reason for it. He gives an excellent explanation of diabetes from both a diabetic and medical perspective.

There's a huge misunderstanding about the disease of diabetes. Type I's are getting fat. Type II's are being given insulin. There's no reason or excuse for either.

As for the glucose monitors, I can tell you that from dealing with my husband being Type II, monitors can be inaccurate - it matters greatly for Type I's and for Type II's (but of course not as much for Type II's). Please check Consumer Reports and/or diabetic blogs/newsgroups or the like for accuracy experiences. My husband used one brand and the readings seemed odd - he and I took reading after consecutive reading and the #'s varied widely. He promptly switched brands and that one gave consistent readings.

Good luck to this young man! It's super manageable but there is soooooo much conflicting information out there!

[elizabethm]

I love this thread!

I've donated a bunch of stuff since I started reading Erin's blog and this forum. There's a lady locally who is sending a buttload of stuff to her nephew in Iraq. I dropped off a bunch of toiletries and junk food to her (because 18 - 22 year olds need nothing less than a ton of comfort food that they can burn off in no time!) I gave her 10 - 14 tubes of Colgate and Crest, som nice hair stuff (maybe he'll get a girlfriend out of it :), Pop Tarts, cereals, granola bars, etc.

For the County food pantry, in one week I was able to donate 12 boxes of Cheerios (frosted and fruity), 2 boxes of Nature Valley granola bars, 8 jars of Skippy, etc. for $10. I've filled the library's food bin twice in the last month with the above-type stuff and canned ravioli, pasta, sauce, that sort of thing.

Right now, I'm collecting to give a bunch of stuff (including feminine hygiene) to a local charity that serves the homeless.

I have a ton of coupons. I send my extras to an address with the Navy where they have coupon sorters and give the coupons to personnel. However, I have so many coupons that I'd rather take half of them and do some food pantry/homeless shelter type good.

Would you email/pm me if you fit all the following criteria: you are a hardcore couponer; you give stuff to the local food pantry/women's shelter/homeless servicing facility/veteran servicing facility/animal shelter. I'm looking to deal with three people. If you give me the types of unexpired coupons you can use, I'll look through what I have. I warn you, I will not be instant in my mail response. I'm halfway through the CPA exam and don't get out of the house except to work and take quick trips to the grocery store.

Givers are awesome - thank you so much for giving!

[babswhyit]

Sent a big BOX with hubby to the food bank that had cans of Enfamil formula, bags of flavored rice, bags of flour, boxes of cereal, and some other stuff. They don't give receipts there, they send them to you in the mail. Donated about 30 tubes of toothpaste last month and all we got in the mail was a thank you note, no mention of what we donated or amount.

We just try to estimate as best we can come tax time.