I wonder if watching ones money and knowing how hard it is to save affects how people give.
Because, the reality is, it does delay reaching ones goals. I think it has been affecting me.
Life is a combination making right choices, work ethic, personality, but sometimes it is just the luck of the draw.
I am LUCKY that my baby is OK. That I have great medical insurance and access to medical care. That is why one of my sons is alive and healthy today. If I did not have access to the best medical technology in the world(and no, I don't mean US medical care, I mean medical care you can get in NYC with a caddilac of insurance plans and best doctors and latest equipment to do a procedure that maybe 3 patients a year undergo), I don't know how my life would have turned out.
Imagine being a mom in a third world country who's 6 month old needed an extremely complicated heart surgery to live and was slowly and quietly getting worse and worse while they desperately try to raise money for the surgery in Germany. We are lucky not to be in her place, of helplessly watching your baby wasting away when she could be saved. I am sitting here crying. (they did raise enough money, now they are trying to get through the red tape and transport the baby to the clinic before it is too late. They are racing against time and the baby is barely holding on).
But there are so many more invisible children, children that we will never hear about, that will suffer quietly and their life won't be changed 
and helpless people who are not in a position to help themselves. I wish the world was not like that.
I should help somebody this month, even with a tiny drop in the sea. That's the money I won't be able to put into savings, but I should do it.
Kindness and generosity vs. money goals and frugality
October 12th, 2011 at 08:01 pm
October 12th, 2011 at 09:33 pm 1318455227
Karma is a powerful thing.
October 13th, 2011 at 02:59 am 1318474792
October 13th, 2011 at 03:35 pm 1318520156
"Kindness and generosity vs. money goals and frugality?" The point is the two don't have to compete. There are plenty of ways to be kind and generous without spending money. We are personally big on donating time (which is often just as needed if not MORE needed). Another idea would be to do some fundraising for a charity that you are passionate about. This is another way to give money without having a competition with your own financial goals.
I am also of the mind that charity begins at home, and I do focus on putting money into our community. BUT, I totally understand what you are saying. I do make one exception for a group that does specific surgeries in third world countries. Though the same procedure may have cost thousands in the states, and been mostly free with my insurance, the surgeons do pro bono work and pay for their own travel. A $100 donation might pay for an entire surgery (supplies) for someone. I contribute to this group because I had similar surgeries and appreciate how different my experience would be without access to top notch medical care. I suppose the kicker is that $1 stretches SO FAR with these type groups. (Though the truth is there are probably people in the states who are in the same boat - but I couldn't make quite the difference with $100 in the U.S., and these groups aren't heavily advertised if they even exist).
February 27th, 2016 at 08:27 pm 1456604844