I give money to charity and so does my husband. We also volunteer as much as possible to help our religious organization. As I’ve mentioned in the past, I volunteer to help elderly and needly people do their taxes. I wrote my book to pay it forward for the help I got when I needed it.

No matter how broke I/we were in the past, we always gave a little. We always found money to give to those who had it worse than we did. After all, we weren’t living in a car. We had enough food to eat. Our bills were getting paid even if there wasn’t a lot let. So, we considered ourselves better off than most.

What if you’re living paycheck to paycheck? Should you still contribute to charity? I believe so, even if you can only afford to donate a few dollars. And, your contribution doesn’t necessarily have to be financial. You can always volunteer your time with an organization that needs help. Additionally, you can donate clothing or other items you no longer need nor want.

Have you thought about visiting people in nursing homes who have nobody to interact with? How about helping an elderly neighbor? How about volunteering in your community to pick up trash in a park or do some other community service?

If you can’t afford to give cash now, perhaps make that a goal for the future. Yes, you need to focus on building an emergency fund and paying off your debts. But, once you have some available cash, you should consider donating some to charity.

Moral of the story:

Giving to charity is one way of helping others and your community. I believe in helping when you can. You can contribute money or do volunteer work. Help friends who might have health challenges or are going through hard times. There are all kinds of ways you can provide charity and I suggest you start.  You’ll be rewarded far beyond your contribution.