More work to do before year's end

I've talked with my accountant who let me know that I had a moderate sum of money owed to the Federal government - about $5k.

There are a few approaches to reducing this debt, since I have to preserve cash, cash donations to charity and appreciated assets (aren't any any more) don't make sense.

As a result, I'm looking at charitable material donations. We're immense pack rats and really do have alot to give ranging from furniture to appliances.

So far we've donated about $6,900 in cash and material to various charities, that will give us approximately $2,600 in tax benefit.

I'm going to identify another $2,500 worth of donations for one charity and see if i can't find another $4,000 to another.

Philosophically, we prefer to spread our donations over several charities, averaging about $4,500 each.

Apparently donations over $5,000 to a single charity require excessive documentation.

Also, any expensive item donated valued over $5,000 requires appraisal and validation - something that could be costly and time consuming. Better to do this early in the year.

Other options have already been exhausted, such as maxing out retirement contributions, etc....

I'm confident I'll make the $2,500 by year end - it'll require some time and effort, but it will be very rewarding.

Regards, makingourway