We’re always told to help ourselves first before we can help anyone else. It makes perfect sense. If you’re struggling, you can’t really be expected to help anyone else out until you sort out your own situation. If you have debt, you shouldn’t be loaning money out to someone else or donating to causes that inspire you. Right?
Even if things are getting better for you and you’re digging yourself out of a rough financial situation and may have some money to spare, you still might feel selfish or dare I say ‘wrong’ for not wanting or being able to give.
This is where I’m at currently. I have a financial plan that is working out well and a steady income for the most part. I’m not on the edge of starvation and my bills are always paid, but I still don’t feel like I can give much and help my family out if they need it.
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It Would Be Nice to Give Instead of Just Take All the Time
My goal to pay off all my debt and become more financially stable is not only so I can reap the benefits and have a happier life. I also want to impact others and help when I can.
Sometimes I think it would be nice to donate to a cause I care about on a whim and make a difference in someone’s life, but my budget is super tight. Most times I’ve always been on the receiving end but it would be nice to give as well.
Giving to others actually helps you just as much as the recipient believe it or not. I’m also a strong believer that when you give blindly and put that positive energy out into the world, it will come back to you in one way or another.
When My Inability to Give Hit Home
I don’t feel bad necessarily when I can’t donate or give other things because I know my situation and the limitation of it. But recently, when my sister started a crowdfunding campaign for herself I felt a hint of helplessness.
My younger sister announced that she wanted to go on a trip next year to New York to experience and study fashion design with her class since she is an aspiring designer. She’s always been passionate about fashion design and I could tell it was something she always wanted to do. The trip would be around $1200 and she was selling items and started a Go Fund Me page to help gather up some funds.
She only works part-time and I know that my parents don’t have much money to offer her since she is also graduating high school this year and has other expenses, so I somewhat felt some sense of responsibility when it came to helping her. I fully support young people wanting to go out and chase their dreams instead of going to college and majoring in something they don’t believe in simply for a check. It also irritates me to see someone give on up their dream because they don’t have much of an opportunity or for financial reasons.
I know I can’t give much money, but the act of giving isn’t always about money. My hint of helplessness went away once I realized there are plenty of other ways to give even when you’re in debt or struggling financially.
Give Your Time
When you don’t have a lot of money, you often end up spending more of your time instead. If you have time to volunteer with a program or organization you support, help out around your church or run to support for an issue or a cause, you can give something valuable just by giving a little time and it won’t require money at all.
What you do doesn’t have to be time consuming. A favor can only take a few minutes or 30 minutes to an hour. One-time or annual events are also good opportunities to give some of your time or effort to others.
In my last goals update I mentioned how I want to do some volunteering with my son so we can give back and I can teach him some different values. Currently, I’m trying to look into holiday-themed events or visit a nursing home that one of my relatives work at and see how we can help. It can even be quite fun to give your time with someone else and I’m sure we will enjoy whatever we decide to do.
Give Some of Your Talents and Skills
If you have talents or skills that can help someone or even possibly change their life, that may be even more valuable than giving someone money. While I believe you should be compensated for your skills and knowledge for the most part, answering a quick question or offering a quick solution can leave a huge impact on someone’s life. If you can bake or cook very well, you might want to prepare a meal for someone who is sick or unfortunately can’t cook.
In my case, my talents and skills are writing, editing and finding practical solutions. Whenever there’s a problem with a friend or family member, I’m always one of the first people to come up with a realistic solution and a plan of action.
For my sister’s goal to travel to New York City to pursue her dream, even though I couldn’t offer much money, I quickly started researching educational grants and scholarships and even offered her some ideas and strategies to help improve her crowdfunding campaign.
One of those solutions included Fiverr.com. I just love Fiverr, can’t you tell? 🙂 A seller was promising to promote 350-word fashion articles on a very popular magazine as a service on Fiverr so I decided to tell my sister so maybe she could share a brief personal story and promote her campaign to more people and an audience who could help.
I also came up with additional fundraising ideas and ways to help her earn extra money, and of course, I can always edit any grant or scholarship essays she writes so I felt good about being able to give in terms of my skills, talents and ideas in this case.
Making a One-Time Monetary Donation
Donating and giving actual money while you’re in debt is tricky. I’m not going to say whether I’d advise someone to do it or not, but for the record, I generally don’t unless I am truly passionate about the cause.
With that being said, for my own personal religious reasons, I recently decided to start giving money to my church through offering on the weeks I attend. I may try to work in $40/month or $10/week into my budget which isn’t much, but it’s something.
Otherwise, I am focused hard on getting out of debt and getting my finances back on track and I am more in favor of throwing all the extra money I have toward debt. Like I said at the beginning of this post, you can’t really help someone else out tremendously if you can’t help yourself out first.
You need to get on your own two feet first and if you literally can’t donate a dime, you shouldn’t and you should not feel bad about it.
On the flip side, one-time monetary donations are nice in a sense that they don’t require you to make a commitment each week, month etc. Whether or not you choose to make them is entirely up to you and your individual situation though. In the case of my sister, I will make a one-time monetary donation to her cause, mainly because she’s my sister and I believe in her.
If I can give her $50 to put toward her trip and it actually helps her go, to me that’s money well spent and the $50 will not set me back one bit on my financial goals for the year at all.
I will still do what I have to do when it comes to budgeting, paying off debt and working toward my apirations. Plus, I’ll feel a whole lot better when I reach those goal.
How do you feel about giving while you are in debt? Do you have a gray area like me or do you have a firm stance on whether you’d like to give or not when you have debt or are struggling financially?
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Kate Dore says
Once I have more free time, I definitely want to volunteer for some organizations in my community that I care about. I get nervous about donations being mismanaged or not being allocated to where I expect. But maybe I could use my skills for a fundraising event? Or social media management? I’m looking forward to that in the future.
Choncé says
Those sound like great ideas! I wish I had more time to volunteer as well. My schedule is so crazy right now.
creativebugger1 says
Rather than sell no longer needed/wanted items in our house, we usually donate them to a place in need. I donated all of our old baby stuff to a woman & children’s shelter, rather than it or take it to Goodwill.
Choncé says
Donating is a great way to give to others in need and get rid of clutter. Since my son is an only child and doesn’t have any cousins right now, we donate a lot of his old clothes, shoes and toys.
Tonya @ Budget and the Beach says
I’ve PERSONALLY never thought it was a great idea to give financially (yes, even to church) while in debt or living paycheck to paycheck, but I’m also not religious so I don’t feel that pull. I think donating your time or talents is the way to go if money is an issue. Even though money is tight I still do the one off charity think like a small, local run which benefits someone on a more grassroots level. LIke every year I do a local turkey trot on thanksgiving and the money benefits someone who is actually there that day and is someone the organizers know. I at least feel better knowing exactly who the money is going to. I also do one offs if there is a major disaster to help with immediate relief.
Choncé says
It’s nice to actually see who the money is going to. I wish I had more time to volunteer but once I step my running game up I have talked to friends about doing a run together so that’s always an option.
My Urban Family says
I love the idea of giving your time if you have that asset to give instead of cash! Great list of suggestions 🙂
Choncé says
Giving a little bit of my time is a great alternative for me so I don’t feel the financial pull right now when my budget is tight.
Kalie @ Pretend to Be Poor says
I believe in giving away money, even when you’re in debt, as long as it is done responsibly as you are describing. I’ve found that generosity can be even more motivating than other financial goals, and can have a pervasive impact on all of one’s money choices. It puts our needs and wants in perspective, especially when giving to those in poverty, and this could lead to deeper savings all around.
Choncé says
This is such an interesting perspective Kalie, and I’m sure most people don’t think like that. I admit, I can get a little possessive over my money and even though my budget is super tight, it doesn’t really make me feel much better but giving always seems to perk me up.
Hannah says
I think its so valuable to continue giving at some level even as you’re working to improve your financial situation. It really is a blessing to be able to give (especially creatively like you’re describing). I think that developing the habit of giving is so important because once you create some financial margin in your life you will be more prepared to give generously and share with those in need.
Choncé says
I agree! There’s nothing wrong with giving at any stage in your life as long as you’re doing it responsibly and don’t mind being creative
kay ~ the barefoot minimalist says
Love this post! I do believe you reap what you sow, so just like planting a field and expecting a harvest, the same will happen with giving of yourself, your time, your money … I really love the way you’re helping your sister. She is truly blessed! 🙂
Choncé says
Thanks Kay! And I wholeheartedly agree 🙂
Mike says
Wow, i love your post. I thin this is the problem with the world today. Everyone wants to take but none wants to give back. Ive been trying to get out of debt for over 5 years now but that hasn’t stopped me from doing charity work.
Choncé says
That’s amazing that you’re still able to do charity work while working your way out of debt. I believe in getting my own finances together before I’m able to contribute a lot to others but that doesn’t that I’m going to act hard up for money and turn away when I see someone that is truly in need. Giving something small in my opinion, can be something huge for the recipient based on their situation.
DC @ Young Adult Money says
My wife and I give a percentage of our income to a few different charities. A big reason we want to get out of debt and build a solid financial foundation is so that we can give back. There are so many worthy causes out there!
Choncé says
That’s great that you do that and I agree! I’m not quite there yet where I can give to charities but eventually I’ll get there and I have my eyes on a few.