It's a Money Saver: Itsdeductible.com

What's a bag of used clothing worth as a charitable contribution when you donate it to Goodwill? $25? $30? More?

As a family child care provider you shouldn't be guessing the answer. Rather, use the values found on www.itsdeductible.com and you'll save a lot of money.

This website is a free service. It lists hundreds of items of clothing, furniture, tools, large and small appliances, and other household items. It gives a value for each item as either high quality or medium quality that you can use as a charitable contribution when you donate them to charities such as Goodwill, etc.

The listed values are based on average thrift store prices from around the country and represent strong evidence if you are audited by the IRS. Here are some examples of listed values (high/medium):

Jeans/denim - $13/$7

Polo shirt - $7/$4

Adult athletic shoe - $14/$10

Board game - $6/$4

Slinky - $2/$1.50

Single stroller - $42/$27

Top-mount refrigerator - $198/$139

My wife and I have used itsdeductible for many years when donating items to Goodwill. We found that their prices are much higher than what we had previously been guessing before using this service.

You can enter items into itsdeductible throughout the year when you make a charitable donation of your used household items. If you use Turbo Tax you can download your itsdeductible donations directly to your tax return.

You can't beat a free service like this.

Update: Goodwill has a Valuation Guide for Goodwill Donations that is much less comprehensive than Itsdeductible.

Tom Copeland - www.tomcopelandblog.com

Image credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/eastlaketimes/4819967615

For more information on saving and managing your money, see my book Family Child Care Money Management and Retirement Planning.

Tom Copeland, www.tomcopelandblog.com