A Month of Gratitude, Day 14 - The Ability to Give

Saturday, December 14, 2013
This year's Adopt-a-Family haul.
After I left active duty and moved back to Colorado, I struggled financially. I was making less than $20K a year, and paid a minimum of $6K a year in child support. Things were tight, really tight, and I incurred a significant amount of debt during this time. As a result, I had no room in my budget for charity. Hell, there were a couple of times when I didn't have room for bills.

Things got better, of course. I make a good living now, and have for many years. And that gives me a flexibility in my discretionary income that brings me a great deal of joy. I now have the ability to give.

We support a variety of charities here at the Big Yellow House. Kiva. The Parker Task Force for Human Services. Our local library. But in the last several months, the Smart Man and I have made the decision to do so not on an ad hoc basis, but to put our charitable giving into our monthly budget as a tithe. Because it's included in our spending plan, it doesn't get co-opted for other things. I think religious traditions who have a culture of tithing have the right idea in this respect, and I'm glad several of our friends and family members recommended this strategy.

Today I'm grateful for the financial flexibility that allows me to contribute to the programs and services that matter to me and reflect my values.

2 comments:

Anne C. said...

Love this about you guys. It certainly has made ME more aware too!

Steve Buchheit said...

I also love having enough to give back. When I was a kid, and for part of my adult life, both my wife and I received help along the way. I love that I can now help other people the way I was helped.

And I love that with some of my connections I can do a lot of it anonymously. Or, like today, that I could use my snowblower to help clear our neighbors' driveways. Why? Because one of my neighbors let us use their snowblower when they had one. And because my Mom's neighbors help clear her driveway. So this is me paying the universe back.