THUR 1/27 ? - How do you balance frugal & charity?

[Waffle]

I know some people say if you have consumer debt, you should be giving any money away. But I can't do that. I have money deducted from each paycheck for local charities and I still give to my church. Once I get out of debt, I'd actually like to give to more causes.

So how do you balance smart spending/frugality with charitable giving?

[jarhead1976]

Jan 27, 2011 10:08:02 GMT -5 @wrongsideof30 said:

I don't give a lot of money to charity, but I do donate my time. I volunteer for Meals on Wheels with my kids.

Any volunteer work. Your rewards will be greater than giving money!

[vonnie6200]

Become a blood donor

[Deleted]

I donate. I have a whole slew of reasons. I think it is good for me emotionally not to be so materialistic that I can't part with some cash. As long as I spend money on ridiculously frivolous things it is foolish to suggest I can't afford it. And I am well informed about the charities I donate to and know the money is being used well to help less fortunate folks.

I volunteer as well. One doesn't exclude the other.

As for balancing it, right now I only donate about 2% of my gross. I honestly don't notice it within my overall budget.

[Waffle]

I give to the local thrift store also. The only volunteering I'm doing right now, is serving on a couple of church committees. I have this dream that some day when I retire, I'll have the time to be more involved with volunteering.

[dragon2008]

I build donating into my budget, right above my savings. It isn't much, but I need the reminder. Time is tight for me right now, which means I should be considering doing that as well!

I also give things to various local charities, but that doesn't feel like giving - more like a favor they are doing me.

[NancysSummerSip]

I donate stuff when I clean out closets, and time to several organizations. Sometimes, donating money is not an option when the budget is tight. Some people will never give up donating money, even when they cannot pay for basic necessities; I can't say as I personally understand that line of thought, but I've also found there is no arguing the issue.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

We donate 13% of our gross, plus I probably volunteer 30+ hours a month (some months more, some a little less, but that's the average.)

[rubyslippers]

Like dragon said, some of my donations are built into my budget too and I write a check after getting paid. This year I've adopted a women and children's shelter and my goal is to donate one large bag of items on their wish list. I also try giving food to a local food pantry and help my sister's medical mission with items on their wish lists. I have never felt shortchanged by giving. I would much rather be a giver than a receiver.

[NancysSummerSip]

Another way I've found to give is donating to food banks, using items in my pantry that I purchased BOGO or during 10/$10 sales. We seem to get a lot of loss leaders in the boxed ricess, pastas, sauces, canned fruits and vegetable categories. I will deliberately buy more than I need, put them aside, and donate them.

[dancinmama]

Last year I donated over $2000 worth of food, health, hygiene, and household products to the local food pantry. I used coupons to buy all of it.

I worked for a non-profit years ago and saw a lot of waste and abuse so I RARELY donate cash anymore so donating "stuff" will have to do.

[Agatha]

I'm afraid I don't understand the question. Balance frugality and charitable giving?

My definition, if you will, of being poor is when you have nothing to give. And I do mean truly nothing.

I've pledged to my church ever since I joined and to the church I belonged to before I moved. Never really thought of it as charity. It was my home, the place my friends were, the place I married my DH, and where I buried him with those friends around me. Charity? When they enriched me so much? I don't think so. And I'm being sentimental here nothing more.

I do give via the usual avenues and consider it giving. One does not have to write humongous checks. It's all of us "little" folks together who give the most, especially with our time. I think there have been studies stating that. Uh-oh, that kind of giving has also enriched my life . . .to heck with it! I consider myself frugal and I give which enriches my life. It may not balance the two but it balances my life which it a good thing.

Agatha, sometimes I wonder if you make any sense!

[NancysSummerSip]

Agatha, sometimes I wonder if you make any sense!

On both a personal and financial level, I'd say you make a lot of sense, because you fulfill your desire to give in a way that makes sense to you.

And an exalt to you!

[westerngal]

I give a 10% tithe every paycheck. I also clean out closets and donate items to our local thrift store or our church's thrift organization. I donate my time to certain community events in our small town throughout the year. I am a believer in what you give comes back to you and that you are blessed by helping others.

[Deleted]

I don't consider the stuff I give to thrift stores donations really. I mean, if I didn't give it to them I would throw it out. I'm not going to brag about giving away my garbage.

[texaspn]

10% to our church, plus cash and or materials /time as things arise. There are a number of needy people in our area and we donate to a specific need for them as we become aware of it. DH and I both volunteer 10-20 hours each, at a minimum.

[Artemis Windsong]

If you are feeling financially down, donate. People donate from wealth and extra.

If I have helped family members, I step back from outside charities for a while.

Most people I know have specific charities they donate to and do not deviate. Most of them have researched the charity for financial efficiency.

[desertmover]

I donate time, money, purchased items, used items. When I donate cash, I try to evaluate the charity to make sure they are legitimate and use the money for the intended purpose rather than most of the money on administrative costs. I want the charities to be frugal too!

[TheOtherMe]

It's in my budget. I have causes I support and will go without to help them.

[Deleted]

I give cash, though not as much as I would like. I hope to increase this when my consumer debt is gone. (I try to give time and excess stuff to bolster this amount)

I think giving something - anything - to those less fortunate goes a long way towards making me feel "rich." Or at least, like I can endure the scrimping and saving a bit longer.

[motherto2]

I have certain charities, church, etc. that I give to, but I also donate things to our local charities, and no, they aren't things I would throw away. I just throw away what I don't want anymore. I just donated a fridge and over the stove microwave to Habitat for Humanity. I give clothes to friends that have kids that can use them. Alot if it still has tags on it (mostly what DD gets, for some reason her father's family can't get it through their heads she isn't a girly girl). I also willingly give money to people I hear that are in a financial need. A boy my son played ball with was in a horrible accident and I've given to his family to help with expenses. I do a lot of things like that that I can't take off of my taxes, but that's not why I give. Heck, I tend to lose all those receipts that I've donated $1, $5, $10 to whatever charity the store is collecting for. But it makes me glad that I can help those that need it. As for the charities I support, I certainly make sure most of their money is going to the need, not the management.

I used to volunteer alot of my time for things the kids were involved in, and to some church activities. I don't do as much of that anymore. I figure I've put up with enough of the politics that are inherent in children's activities, and the church gossip was getting on my nerves.

[writer88]

I understand what both of you mean, Waffle and CraftySarah. During the four years I spent on WIRR becoming free from debt my monthly charitible contributions averaged 2-4% of my gross income. On the one hand I really wanted to give more but on the other I knew that I'd have to rein in my desire until I was out of debt. As the debt shrank, and I gained better control of my regular/predictable budget, I started tithing 10% of any "extra" monies that I received (gifts, the IRS, freelance income, etc.). Since paying the final, ultimate, debt payment earlier this month I am starting to donate 5% of my gross salary in addition to the above.

The key, here, as with all financial decisions, is to do what's right for YOU.

MollyMauser - I admire you for donating 13% of your gross income. If I may ask, how'd you come to decide upon the number 13? Instead of 10, say?

[readsalot]

Since our family needs a cure for type 1 diabetes, we donate $10 every time JDRF sends a request , which, as you know, once you send money they keep sending requests. JDRF concentrates on finding a cure for type 1 diabetes, which is an auto-immune disorder, as opposed to type 2 which is a lifestyle 'disorder'.

[Waffle]

I've been pleasantly surprised by most of the replies here. I really expected that some people would be so into their other money goals, that they might dismiss charity Thinking why give "X" amount of dollars when I can put it into my EF, or Retirement account or whatever. I'm glad that doesn't seem to be the case.

(I'm using charity in a broad way which includes giving to your house of worship, any non-profits, helping out family and friends, etc.)

[Deleted]

Jan 28, 2011 8:27:03 GMT -5 Lady Gaga Gaga Snerd said:

Diabetes is a severe disease and with all the effects it causes it really is something needs intense study.
However, do not dismiss Type 2 diabetes either. I don't think it has to be a battle between which one is worse or "brought upon oneself" as you seem to be implying. That is not always the case.

I agree with everything that you said about diabetes - it is a terrible illness that affects way too many people. But I don't think readsalot was passing judgement, just trying to explain that they are different diseases, and her family has a vested interest in the research.

I have a girlfriend who is really active with an animal charity, and she is often asked why she doesn't devote her time and resources to causes that help people. Her response is "this is something that I am passionate about. If kids, or cancer, or literacy is your passion, then you should work on that. And when you have an event, I'll show up and pitch in, but this is where my heart is."

I always thought she put that quite nicely.

[Deleted]

We ended up donating 16% of our net in 2010.
We both believe that we need to return a minimum of 10%... it is the right thing to do.

Ironically, we did not always feel this way and money was tight.
But, when we changed our thinking, and when we gradually worked on upping our donations, money was no longer an issue.

We also volunteer our time to a wide variety of things.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

Jan 28, 2011 6:55:19 GMT -5 @writer88 said:

MollyMauser - I admire you for donating 13% of your gross income. If I may ask, how'd you come to decide upon the number 13? Instead of 10, say?

We started our marriage committed to giving 10%, then realized that every year, there were always requests from charities that seemed to tug on our hearts above and beyond what we'd planned to give, and rather than limit ourselves to the 10% that was a hard-and-fast item in our budget, we decided that we could choose, when we wanted, to use some of our discretionary income to increase our giving.... so that's what we've done.... and we've worked at building this flexibility into our budget, especially ath the end of the year. This past year (2010), that turned out to be 13% of our gross. (We just did our taxes, and I did the math)

[busymom]

We donate some of both our time and money. We live in a community where there are a lot of opportunities to help out. Clothing & small appliance donations are always appreciated by most organizations too!

[coffeegrl]

I don't have a lot of money to give but one of the places I'm committed to is the Catholic Campus Ministry I was greatly involved in while an undergrad. I can't give a lot in money to them so I do other things, like baking or providing a dish whenever they have an event that requires food. That keeps them from having to dip into their funds and buy food.

[cronewitch]

I have trouble wanting to give, I am working on it but am judgemental about the poor that don't do for themselves. I will give to people I know because I know why they need the help. With the nameless public I keep thinking of reasons they aren't someone I want to help. I do feel we should help women fleeing abusive homes but I think most others have familes and if families won't help they must not deserve help.

Even food banks I am thinking if they are really poor and can't feed the children they could get food stamps and the working age singles who can't get it can work. Welfare is already helping so the poor aren't really all that poor and often live better than working people.

When I went to church I never considered that money a charity but to pay for the church building and employees. The churches I went to didn't do charity, one Christmas they asked if anyone knew any poor families but nobody knew any.

I was planning to be more charitable this year but so far haven't, still working on justifying where to best use the money. I have decided I should be doing diapers for a school for the homeless but haven't found a good deal on them yet then tend to forget.