Garage sales are very popular in my small community, as they probably are in most communities. I have even participated in my fair share of sales. After the hours of hard work getting ready for it and only netting a few hundred bucks, I decided there had to be a better way to get rid of my stuff.

If you are in need of immediate cash, I suppose a garage sale meets your needs. But by donating your items, you will come out so much further ahead in the end. Each item donated to entities such as Goodwill or Salvation Army can be written off for tax purposes. And besides the tax benefits, you are also helping the organization by providing them with items to sell in their stores! How can you argue with that?

In the past years, we've donated items valued anywhere from $500 - $3,000...all amounts written off when we did our taxes. Now tell me, have you ever made $3,000 on a garage sale? I love doing this for the tax purposes of course, but it's also a way for me to clear out the extra stuff cluttering up our home.

Click HERE for the link to the Salvation Army's site for determing values on the items you donate. Keep in mind