Why do people in debt insist on giving to charity?

freebie_junkie

ive never been well off and used to be homeless but ive always tried to do a bit to help others even if it wasnt through money. (not been in debt tho!)

i think poor people are more generous, maybe having money makes you greedy.

nowadays i donate tonnes of my time to a local young persons charity who helped me in the past and also help them to get stuff for free (eg free nappies for the young mums and dads). thsi year i also organised a free event to promote learning, reading and writing to local people- i prefer to do this than give money to giant orgs as i know exactly where my contributions are going and that theyre helping people.

GiveItBack

I think more of us (people) should do more - although I appreciate that many of us (people) do a lot. I dn't understand people who are in desperate need of cash giving cash, and I have heard of a church that demands people tithe 10% regardless of their situarion and ability to pay.

The very badly off give a higher proportion of their money than everyone else EXCEPT the very very well -off, so I don't think that money alone can make you greedy.

seashore321

When you haven't had much and still do not have much you still will give as much as you can cos you know what it was like to be there in the first place., be it 50p or £5m Plus it is better than phoning in to x factor and the like!?(only in my opinion I know some of it goes to charity).

Savvy_Sue

When DH was made redundant I cut back on everything we could but held off on stopping the donations to charity in the hope that he'd get another job quickly. We didn't go into debt but the donations would have been the last thing to go - and fortunately he did get another job quickly.

loveandlight

A few years ago we were on the brink of losing our home after already being homeless once before. Despite this, I gave money to my local homeless charity. Once you are that low, you realise what other people really go through and how they suffer and that they are actually no different to the rest of us. People who have nothing or very little still have feelings, hopes and dreams etc and thank god some people care enough to be involved in charity work otherwise life really would not be worth living for most of us.

To me, its so obvious why people who don't have much, give away some of what they do have to charities, that I think it quite sad when other people just don't get it.

Seven years later to now. I will shortly be taking over a legal business in London. One of the first things I have done is set up a monthly direct debit donation to my favourite charity from the business profits. I never want to forget the eye opening journey of where I have been and how far I have come and how many people I want to now be able to help along their way in the future.

~daisy~_2

we have had a couple of monthly DD to charities for a number of years now - they started very low and have gone up in line with our income
we havent any debt though - i suspect if we had my OH would cancel them immediately

Andybez38

Im a firm beliver charity starts at home. I look after my home first, if that is ok i may donate to local charities first, national charities secondly, and international charities/pleas after disasters last.

C_Ronaldo

I wouldnt gve any money to charitys if i was in debt, id rather look after myself

GiveItBack

loveandlight wrote: »

A few years ago we were on the brink of losing our home after already being homeless once before. Despite this, I gave money to my local homeless charity. Once you are that low, you realise what other people really go through and how they suffer and that they are actually no different to the rest of us. People who have nothing or very little still have feelings, hopes and dreams etc and thank god some people care enough to be involved in charity work otherwise life really would not be worth living for most of us.

To me, its so obvious why people who don't have much, give away some of what they do have to charities, that I think it quite sad when other people just don't get it.

Seven years later to now. I will shortly be taking over a legal business in London. One of the first things I have done is set up a monthly direct debit donation to my favourite charity from the business profits. I never want to forget the eye opening journey of where I have been and how far I have come and how many people I want to now be able to help along their way in the future.

I think this is a great story. (Would 'example' be a better word?)
Anyway, was just wondering if you're aware that your company can claim back the tax you've paid on the donations.(rate depends on its turnover)

If not, since you didn't know about the extra cash, perhaps you could increase your donations by that amount.

Ianna

IME most people's DD set ups to charities are of amounts that if they didn't donate they'd end up spending on something silly like cans of pop or a quick pint or something. It's generally speaking money that you don't miss.

If you're in debt there are ways to cut down on your expenditure or increase your income - that's what this site is all about after all. For most people stopping donating to charities isn't going to make much of a difference and there's far better ways that you can save money. I really feel that sacrificing other people's wellbeing through stopping charitable donations isn't the most effective or the most ethical way to help yourself get out of debt.