This is an article “Doing Charity While Saving Up” by Marc Primo
The holiday season is the best time to give back to those who are most in need. It’s also primetime for major expenses that can dwindle your savings. So how do you marry both giving and saving at the same time during the Christmas season?
Being generous is innate among most of us. Charity is a beautiful thing because we are able to share our blessings with others and gain that positive feeling whenever we know within ourselves that we are able to help no matter what the amount. But doing charity requires proper preparation especially if you plan to really make a difference.
While we can’t give you money, here are a few tips that are somehow worth sharing which can help you do some charity work while also minding your savings during the happiest season of the year.
Put time as part of your charity
Charity doesn’t always have to be financially motivated. You can devote some of your time to minding the halfway house meal line or be a big brother or sister in a mentoring program for kids. There are a lot of ways you can do charity with the use of your time and it can sometimes prove to be more valuable when you help a friend out or volunteer. Don’t think that cutting off 10% of your annual salary is the only way you can help other people. Oftentimes, selfless giving is more of what people need, especially nowadays.
Include charity on your Christmas spend list
Like Santa Claus, it takes good planning skills to balance your expenses and savings during the Christmas season. Try including your charity within your Christmas giving list and avoid overspending. Even small amounts can help in a big way that won’t make a dent in your wallets. If you are planning to share your blessings on a regular basis, start small and in a manner that you can manage, then gradually adjust it to how much you are able to spare.
One of the best ways to do this is by allotting small chunks of your salary from the start of the year until Christmas time comes. By that time, you have saved up a bigger amount for charity and will have the leverage to give more significant help. Just make sure that your giving line will never hinder your monthly savings goals or monthly expenses.
Make sacrifices for others’ sake
Another way you can increase your donation money is by cutting down on monthly subscriptions for stuff you don’t really use like magazines, streaming deals, and the like. On average, a video streaming subscription costs around $12 a month. Reinvesting this amount into your gift fund will make it easier for you to do some charity work while also ridding yourself of certain guilty pleasures.
However, this doesn’t mean that you don’t deserve to have some rewards for your good work. Allot a certain amount for yourself because charity should always be a win-win deal and you should always feel good about what you’re doing.
Try paying things forward with your subscription money by tipping servers with a little extra, cooking meals for your friends, helping struggling businesses during the pandemic. These days, your subscription money can go a long way in helping other people out and doing some charity so you can somehow restore some faith in humanity without breaking the bank.
Have a Merry Christmas everyone!