Take the money from your tax cut... and make a charitable contribution (or five)

So you caught a break when Congress passed legislation that extended the Bush tax cuts -- and lucky dog that you are, you can keep more of the $205K that you earn each year.

With more money in your pocket, you have fewer excuses to make your end-of-the-year charitable contributions. There are dozens of local animal-welfare groups that can use the dough more than you need a new Motorola Debut.

If you use any of the Seattle-area, off-leash dog parks, you should feel compelled to toss a few bucks to the Citizens for Off Leash Areas (COLA), an organization that supports dog parks in town:

http://www.coladog.org/

Or, you can support any number of animal welfare groups in the Greater Seattle area:

http://www.seattlehumane.org/

http://www.paws.org/

http://www.thehumanesociety.org/

http://www.seattle.gov/animalshelter/

http://www.saveourdogs.com/

http://www.pasadosafehaven.org/