With several holidays coming up in the next couple of months, many of us are anticipating all the good things that go along with the celebrations. We look forward to going to family get-togethers, big holiday dinners and sharing in some good holiday cheer.
But what about those who are less fortunate? Many of them won’t be able to celebrate with large holiday dinners or even with roofs over their heads. For me, the holidays bring a stark reminder about how blessed I have been, and just how important it is to help others who don’t have as much.
But what if you’re in a situation where you’re trying to work your way out of debt? Should you still be giving? Is there a way to give without digging yourself an even bigger hole?
Giving Makes Us Healthier, Happier People
Before we delve into how to give when you’re getting out of debt, I think we should all remember the importance of giving in our lives. When you give, you’re not only helping those who are on the receiving end, you’re helping yourself!
Studies have shown that people who are more giving tend to be happier and healthier, both short term and long term. For example, a 2008 study by Harvard Business School professor Michael Norton and colleagues found that giving to others, even in amounts as small as $5, can lead to increased well being for the giver. They found that even though our culture tries to tell us that having money alone leads to happiness, that people are happier when giving:
Although people believe that having money leads to happiness, new research suggests they are happier if at least some of the money is given to others.
So giving to others can be an important component of being happy and having better health. So giving not only helps others, it helps us. It’s a win-win!
Giving Without Giving Money
If you’ve got a lot of debt, it may not be feasible to give very much while you’re digging your way out. In most cases, I’d highly recommend still giving, even if it is just a small amount. The great thing is giving doesn’t always have to be a monetary transaction. You can give of your time and talents in a variety of ways.
- Volunteer your time: Too many people think that they can’t give if they don’t have any extra money at the end of the month. The reality is there are a lot of great organizations looking for people to volunteer their time to deliver meals, put together care packages for our troops or serving meals to the homeless. Find an organization you like and volunteer your time.
- Volunteer your talents: If you have a special talent or skill that may be valuable to a local charity, offer your services to them without charging your normal rate. Musician? Offer to play at a fundraiser. Graphic designer? Offer to do some graphics work free of charge.
- Donate things you already have: Even if you don’t have extra money, you may have extra stuff. Consider donating clothing, electronics and more to a good cause.
Make Giving a Budget Category
As mentioned above, I think giving is important, even for those who are digging their way out of debt. The amounts of how much or how little are up to you, but whatever dollar figure you decide on, it’s important to make a plan and fit that giving into your budget. Don’t just give when you “feel like it.” Make a plan to give!
For our family we continued giving to our church and local charities while in debt because we felt strongly about those causes. So we worked those giving categories into our overall financial plan.
Every month when we were doing the budget giving was the first category to come up and be paid. Next our necessities like food, shelter, clothing and utilities were figured in. Next we’d figure in all of our debts and pay as much as possible on those using a debt reduction plan like the debt snowball or debt avalanche. Finally we would budget a small amount for non-essentials like entertainment.
By budgeting and paying for our giving first in our budget, we were able to still give a small amount while in debt, and still attack our debt by getting an extra job and paying as much as we could every month. Once our debt was paid off we were able to start giving even more–and we’ve never been happier!
How about you? Would you consider giving while in debt? If so do you plan on making a plan for your giving?
