How Giving to Charity Can Help Your Finances

By Miranda Marquit

Did you know that giving to charity can help your finances? It seems counterintuitive. You give your money away, but it helps your finance?

It’s true, though.

Giving to charity can help your finances. Here’s how.

Forces You to Budget

First of all, if you decide that you want to give to charity, you need to include that in your budget. When creating a budget, making sure that budget reflects your values is vital.

If one of your values is giving to charity, you need to include that in your budget. When you decide to give to charity, you’re forced to budget. What do you need to do in order to make sure you’ve got enough money to give to charity in the way you want?

Take a step back and consider your monthly spending and saving. If giving to charity is at the top of the priority list, you’ll find a way to make it happen. And everything else will also fall in line.

Making sure you have the money to meet your charity goals requires planning and budgeting. And, as any financial expert will tell you, one of the most important things you can do for your finances is to create a budget. Giving to charity can help your finances by forcing you to plan better.

Requires You to Review Your Expenses

Giving to charity can also help your finances by requiring you to review your expenses. Perhaps you want to give more to charity, but you’re not sure you have the room in your budget.

Well, if you’re going to make it happen, you need to review your expenses to see where you’re money is going. One of the best things you can do to help your finances is to track your spending. By looking at where the money is going, you can identify waste in your monthly expenses.

Not only can identifying that waste help you figure out how to give money to charity, but it can also help you figure out what is holding you back from your other goals.

Some estimates say that the average household wastes between 10% and 15% of their income each month. If you don’t think you have enough to donate to a charity as you want, part of the issue could be the waste in your finances. Identify that waste, and you could eventually find ways to free up more money for other goals — not just giving to charity.

Helps You Appreciate What You Have

Contentment is one of the best antidotes to out-of-control spending. While there are situations when you might have needs that aren’t being met, the reality is that many of us don’t appreciate what we have. When we don’t recognize what we have, we’re more likely to fill that hole by spending money.

However, giving to charity can help take you out of yourself. As you research worthy causes and think about how others might be less fortunate than you, it’s easier to identify the things you’re thankful for. This can lead to contentment.

As you give to charity and think of others, you can be taken outside of yourself and become more content in general. You feel less of a compulsion to spend on things that don’t matter to you, and you’re more likely to save more. This level of contentment can help you better direct your resources to the things that matter.

Think More About Your Purchases

Another way giving to charity can help your finances is by helping you think more about your purchases. Consider how a purchase will impact your charitable giving plan. Do you really need another trinket for the mantel or a gadget that will be out of date in a couple of months?

If making that purchase will detract from your ability to positively impact the world, is it worth making? When you think of charity in this way, it’s easier to move forward and be more conscious of your spending.

This doesn’t mean that you never buy anything fun or unneeded. Instead, it’s about reflection. Will this purchase help you improve your life in some way? Does it enhance your experience? If not, there’s no need to buy it.

When you start giving to charity, you’re more likely to think about these things and that can help your finances.

Bottom Line

While there are plenty of intangible benefits of giving to charity, like feeling good about what you’re doing and helping others, you can also help your finances. In general, giving to charity tends to encourage reflection about your values and your money — and this often leads to better financial choices.

Just as gratitude can support your financial goals, giving to charity can help you advance with your finances.