| Author |
Message |
Kitt
Member
09-05-2000
| Sunday, January 08, 2017 - 8:50 pm 
If you pay mortgage interest and state taxes then often you'd itemize your deductions and the charitable deduction benefits you.
If you have paid off your mortgage and don't live in a state that collects income taxes, then usually you don't itemize and there's no benefit to charitable donations unless you have more than your standard deduction's worth. That's $12,600 for a married couple, so you'd have to be very rich or very generous to give that much away!
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Monday, January 09, 2017 - 1:49 am
I have been able to itemize still.. even with no mortgage, but with California state taxes, medical expenses, donations, including for all the miles I drive that are in reimbursed (though that is onl 14 cents a mile) .. not sure if it will be enough this year but hopefully.
Last year I had the tax on buying a new car but won't have that this year.
I had no large dental bills, just a couple of cleanings and full srays.
I do have taxes taken out of a couple bits of income.
And my income is pretty low, but hopefully many people have more, which would make itemizing more difficult.
Oh.. I have property taxes which of course go up each year.
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Kitt
Member
09-05-2000
| Monday, January 09, 2017 - 10:28 am
Our property taxes alone allow us to itemize. California, good thing the weather's so good.... oh.
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Abby7
Member
07-17-2002
| Monday, January 09, 2017 - 11:26 am
Re salvation army, yes give receipts..since 1998 have donated 2 old cars, barely used washer/dryer (we rarely wash our clothes lol), and a 'fridge.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Monday, January 09, 2017 - 7:33 pm
Dipo, what Kitt said. WA state doesn't have a state income tax, and we don't have enough deductions to itemize, apparently.
Whew, you had me worried there that I could be a billionaire and not know it.
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Dipo
Member
04-23-2002
| Monday, January 09, 2017 - 8:04 pm
hahahahaha.
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Dipo
Member
04-23-2002
| Wednesday, January 11, 2017 - 12:34 pm
Quick Q: I realized that I have a huge plastic bin in my closet full of wrapping paper/tissue/bows, is there a group or something that I could donate the whole thing to? I just can't think of where, it's not really a goodwill kind of thing. TIA
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Rissa
Member
03-19-2006
| Wednesday, January 11, 2017 - 4:24 pm
Only place that comes immediately to mind Dipo would be a school/daycare. Could be used for crafts.
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Dipo
Member
04-23-2002
| Thursday, January 12, 2017 - 1:08 pm
hmmm, that gives me an idea Rissa. I will contact a couple of places and see if I can find a recipient. Thanks.
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Brenda1966
Member
07-02-2002
| Thursday, January 12, 2017 - 5:23 pm
I bet a church would take them next November. I remember a friend asking for extra wrapping paper for her church. They used it to wrap donations. not sure you want to hang onto it that long though!
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Thursday, January 12, 2017 - 7:17 pm
I would think a teacher in lower grades would be happy to take it off your hands.. they often end up spending their own money for crafty things.
Well it looks like you have someone in mind.. good!
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Kitt
Member
09-05-2000
| Saturday, January 28, 2017 - 10:34 am
Anyone got a Chromebook?
I need to know for sure whether you can use the normal version of Skype on it.
It looks like you can use the web based version, but I wanted to know about the regular skype program.
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Kitt
Member
09-05-2000
| Saturday, January 28, 2017 - 11:53 am
No matter about the above... he's decided against a chromebook for other reasons.
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Saturday, January 28, 2017 - 5:35 pm
JMHO - but I'm glad he decided against a Chromebook. They are acceptable for education, but definitely not nearly as good as a netbook or laptop! We're into our 2nd year of 1:1 at school, and they drive me nuts some days!
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Kitt
Member
09-05-2000
| Saturday, January 28, 2017 - 5:37 pm
Good to know for future decisions, Teach, thanks!
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Saturday, January 28, 2017 - 7:22 pm
Also thanks from this quarter, Teach. I have wondered about them.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Saturday, January 28, 2017 - 11:12 pm
I can't remember why but I know I have shied away from them...
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Sunday, January 29, 2017 - 9:22 pm
They are SO limited and require EVERYTHING Google. Can't use Firefox, can't use and Office products, etc. They turned the laptop I use at an extension site into a Chromebook and I can't even open a Word Document. Yes, I can upload it to Drive and open it in Docs, but it loses adaptability and features (there isn't even any such thing as columns - only tables!!). I bring my own laptop every class now.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Sunday, January 29, 2017 - 9:47 pm
All great reasons.. and don't you have to be online more than with most computers?
I actually hate the way we have gone from the horrible Apple vs PC crap and seems like it is better but still purposely different and harder to communicate but now we have apps for apple, apps for android and those often are not available for Amazon devices.
Games that actually kicked out Amazon devices.
Back in time where Steve Jobs went to WAR with the intent to destroy Amazon and colluded with publishers to deny Amazon the right to sell books at lower prices. Yeah they lost the lawsuit. I got fairly hefty amounts from two groups even when I wasn't buying many books full price once they forced Amazon to abandon the $9.99 basic price for a new book. And of course now a $9.99 new book would be the exception.
I just wish the platform wars, device wars, even connector and cable wars hadn't been allowed to inconvenience users and developers for decades.
When my job ws designing systems on minicomputers creating a stable system required testing on all possible input devices.. all terminals, scanners, etc. That increased the cost of systems in vast ways.
And now we get devices where sometimes you wonder if they test on ANY platform or device! Throw together the software and if the user is lucky enough to have the same setup it was designed on, great.. otherwise.. BUG City!
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Monday, January 30, 2017 - 8:44 pm
Yup - you're pretty much online ALL the time. All work has to be done through apps of some sort that require an Internet connection. My school-issued Chromebook has been out of my school closet exactly once - when I was seeing if the teacher's camera had been disabled like the kids' cameras were. (Yup, that's right - we give them devices, then promptly lock them down so they can barely do anything. ***don't get me started***)
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Dipo
Member
04-23-2002
| Thursday, February 02, 2017 - 3:42 pm
NEW Q: I have a Pendleton Wool Blanket that says dry clean only, it is 85% wool; do you think I can run it thru the dryer on low? I just want to get the cat hair off and when I shook it, it seemed pretty dusty.
I don't think it is dirty, like no cats threw up on it or anything, it has just been acting as a chair cover for some time and needs a refresh.'
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Rosie
Member
11-12-2003
| Thursday, February 02, 2017 - 4:56 pm
can you throw in a dryer sheet and run it on air only?
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Jmm
Moderator
08-15-2002
| Thursday, February 02, 2017 - 5:37 pm
Did some Google research and that might work, Dipo, but the other idea I saw on a lot of sites was getting a "pet hair" lint roller and using that. You might want to use the roller and then finish it off in the dryer on "air fluff" only. They suggest not to use heat for fear of shrinkage.
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Thursday, February 02, 2017 - 6:00 pm
Don't ask me how I know, but you definitely do NOT want to dry anything wool - even scarves will shrink and get all crinkly/nasty looking. 
In my defense - it was accidental. I didn't even realize the scarf was in the laundry.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Thursday, February 02, 2017 - 7:25 pm
Lint roller, then air only in dryer with dryer sheet should do the trick.
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