Find your taxable income without the deduction in the table in the 1040 booklet. Then find the tax amount in the chart that's $300.00 less and the income amount will be next to that. For example, say your taxable income (before the deduction) is $45,200.00. The tax on that amount (for a single person) is $7,730.00. Your want to reduce your tax by $300.00 to $7,430.00. You'd have to reduce your taxable income by at least $1,150.00, to $44,050.00. Here is a link that might be useful: 2007 Tax Table

When I had an extended illness that lasted for years, I lost all energy, was in so much pain I couldn't think, and shopping made me feel better. So I went from a minimalist home to a cluttered, junky house. I didn't really notice it at first; I was too focused on the pain and fatigue I was dealing with. But as my health issues were resolved, I was appalled at the mess my house was in. I discovered Freecycle.org and cleared out a bunch of stuff, little by little. It was hard at first to let go of things, but I really wanted my clean, organized home back. So I started posting boxfuls of things on Freecycle. Then I discovered Ebay and Craigslist and realized that some of my things actually have quite a bit of value. I had tried to sell some of these things at a yard sale and could only get about 50cents per item, but on Ebay or Craigslist, the same items might get me $10 or $20. Knowing that I could actually get some "mad money" for precious belongings spurred me into gathering up more and more and listing them. In an effort to clear things out quickly, I'd list "lot" or "boxes" of similar items, like a collection of Danielle Steele books. I could sell the whole collection instead of selling one book at a time. I sold collections of craft supplies by the box. And box by box, I've been able to clear out my house. But once I got started clearing it out, I haven't been able to stop, which is a good thing. While my house is now once again neat and organized, it's not as minimalistic as I want. So I'm continually going thru shelves, cabinets, drawers, closets, etc and pulling out more stuff I can sell. I have shelves in my laundry room where I can store stuff I'm selling. This way, I can pull it out of my actual living space, out of eyesight, out of my way, and I can store it neatly in the laundry room until it sells. You might designate a closet, guest room or such for all the stuff you "weed out". Organize it into lots and list it on Craigslist. For the past year, our local newspaper has been offering one free classified ad weekly, so I've taken advantage of it to sell bigger items. About 80% of my listings in the newspaper have sold. About 70% of my listings on Craigslist sell. There are three Craigslist within 2 hrs of me, so I can list on all three to get a wider audience. Believe it or not, I've actually had people drive 5 or 6 hours for some of the stuff I've listed on Craigslist. Many of the consignment shops around here have expanded to sell more than clothing. They also sell furniture, nicnacs, books, etc. You might check with your consignment shops; you might be able to consign quite a bit of your stuff. Consignment shops usually take 50% of whatever the item sells for. Usually, I can sell my own items for two or three times what I'd get if I consigned it, so I sell it myself. If you have a lot of stuff, though, you might consider renting a booth in a well-patroned flea market. Some are fairly cheap, like $25/mo. Some charge a commission in addition, but some don't. Personally, I find Craigslist the easiest way to sell. You just write a description, name your price, and post up to 4 pictures. Pictures sell your items, so make sure they're good photos. You may not really NEED the money, but it would come in handy for the materals for your projects. And it's a wonderful incentive for decluttering. If you're like me, you really have some good stuff now, not useless junk. And it DOES have value. And people WILL pay for it. I've been able to do some home improvement projects, garden improvement projects, and buy new furniture with the money I've gotten from my "clutter". If you think about it as $10 here and $10 there, it doesn't seem like much. But if you sell a box of kitchen pots and pans and utensils for $50, that'll buy a tank of gas or several pieces of lumber, or a new ceiling fan--something else you can use. Also, if you sell on Craigslist, you might also set up a FREE www.blujay.com store. You can post an ad on Craigslist and then link to your blujay store where potential buyers can see everything you have for sale. You might be able to clear out several items to one buyer that way. It DOES take time to set up your store and write your ads, but you could alot a morning or a day a week to focus on sales. Honestly, you'd spend less time actually selling than you would worrying about letting go of valuable items you no longer need. Let us know what you end up doing. Are you taking before and after pictures? There's such a sense of accomplishment when you can see a big improvement.

Some people HAVE to feel/know they saved money. I pointed out to my mom once a long time ago that by the time she drives from Kroger (where she did all the other grocery shopping) to a different market that has meat on sale, she'll spend the savings in the gas tank. Have customers that are loaded, including family, and pay for anything they want but are always asking for a discount. They drive Mercedes, Lincolns, and other fine cars, they take the whole family on cruises, they own several homes, furs, you name it but want me to help them pay for their orders. Do I sound resentful? Yep, I am. And, so are they when I tell them no. I cannot stand in line for two hours for anything. Will if I absolutely have to, as in under duress LOL, but I don't absolutely have to have that pizza.

The small frame of the tab, composed of a roll of aluminum, has to stay rigid as it pushes in the scored panel on the lid. It is also the little tab between the rolled tab and the lid that needs to stay intact until the scored panel is pushed in, and which breaks when the tab is removed. Sometimes it takes a dozen wiggles, sometime only a couple will suffice. As I mentioned in my post of Sept. 1, I collected 2,000 tabs in a 2-litre ice cream package, filling it about 3/4 full and I didn't weigh it, but it was not much over 2 lbs., 3 lbs. at the outside. It takes about 32 cans to make a pound - with or without the tabs. If you have a scrap metal dealer nearby, they will buy your scrap cans, and some prefer them uncrushed, but others don't care. Around here, they paid about 70 cents per lb., a few months ago. They say that the tabs and the cans all go into the same bucket. Crushed cans occupy about 1/3 - 1/4 the volume of intact cans. Good wishes for the weekend. ole joyful