Does anyone give as part of your budget?

[rabbithorns]

There's another recent thread here where folks are sharing their monthly budgets. I was struck by a lack of planned giving.

Every tradition I've come across (religious and secular) says you have to give to be financially solvent and successful. Does anyone else here give as PART of their budget?

[lilyka]

I tithe a full 10% of what I earn. It is the first thing I pay.

I used to never do this but recently I heard a pastor say (amoung all the regular stuff) "if you can't live within your means off 90% chances are you aren't making much of an effort to live within your means on 100%" Since then I have stopped using credit and started tithing. Intrestingly we have seen no change in our standard of living and my income has gone up. coincidence? I'd like to think not.

[Snowdrift]

Only in Nov./Dec.

I was raised to tithe 10% and then stopped when I became an adult with bills and things. :

I feel terrible about it but I also feel terrible that about 1/3 of what we spent are the proceeds from student loans. I almost feel liek I don't know how to calculate it. If the gov't give's me 5k in loan proceeds, do I tithe 500? a portion is subrtracted to pay tuition and I never see the money, but am still profiting off of it, does that "count?" Should I tithe money I haven't earned that I will need to apy back? How can I justify borrowing more money to tithe from even just DH's salary? We *cannot* live on just his...

I'm really confused aobut the whoel thing and it's so easy to avoid so we do. I don't feel good about it but the thought of budgeting another $140 *at least* per month is just impossible.

[Amys1st]

We do have it budgeted to give to our church, NPR station, red cross, catholic charities, LLL, local charitites, PBS, good will, salvation army, adapt a child at xmas...its all figured in and then its all deducted on our income taxes as well.

[CrazyCatLady]

No, we don't budget for it. But I don't give a set amount to something on a regular basis. When I hear about things that interest me, and they need a money donation (like the hurricane, or when a midwife has been arrested and needs help, or for the min on mdc, ect). I usually send big fat checks. So it's not something that I can do all the time. But by the end of the year, a big hunk of money (it comes out of my short term savings allowance) has gone to charity.

[trini]

Yes, it is part of our budget. 10%+ I don't always pay it monthly, though. Sometimes I just write one check at the end of the year.

I have an interesting story from the 1st time I tithed. I was a struggling (financially) college student. I had recently transferred to a state school from the private college I was attending due to financial issues. I was working 3 jobs, and living in a roach-infested apartment with no furniture (ahh, the memories). I decided to start tithing. THAT SAME WEEK I received a paycheck I didn't realize was due to me from a job I had stopped several weeks earlier. I also got a letter in the mail from my new university congratulating me for being awarded a FULL chancellor's scholarship. I went to the chancellor's office to inquire about it and ask how I had received it. The guy (some assistant chancellor, or something) looked at me like I was crazy. He said, didn't you apply for it??? I hadn't. I had never before even heard of it. They sent me from there to the financial office to receive a refund of the tuition I had already paid. Honest. It's a true story.

I completely agree with lilykay. I don't tithe to get money back, but I do believe that tithing does make us better managers of the money we have. Somehow, I never "miss" the money I give.

[rabbithorns]

tie-dyed, I don't think you should be wrapping your head up too tightly around tithing off the student loan. Yes, it looks like income, but really, it IS just a loan that you have to pay back. Look at it as a great gift that will help you help others later. If you want to give from some of it, that's awesome, but you have to just do it small, like $10 here or there if you can. The size of the giving doesn't matter; it's what's in your heart that counts.

[mommystinch]

We do not, and cannot budget for giving. While we do give when we can and when we find a cause worthwhile, I don't like the idea that you have to give 10% of what you make in order to be a good person or successful. Who came up with that, really? Is it a nice thing to do... yet. However, I don't think anyone should feel that they have to do it. Nevermind the fact that we're already giving the government a huge % of what we earn, and countless organizations and such already benifit from that money. Maybe I'm also a bit biased because I can't stand that so much of what we earn goes towards things that I do not believe in and have no control over... and then, I can't afford to give to who I feel truely deserves it

[babybugmama]

We do, but I forgot to put it in that thread, whoops.

[USAmma]

We pay $54 a month. Dh used to pay 10% but we cannot afford it until we get out of debt.

[Amys1st]

Originally Posted by mommystinch

We do not, and cannot budget for giving. While we do give when we can and when we find a cause worthwhile, I don't like the idea that you have to give 10% of what you make in order to be a good person or successful. Who came up with that, really? it

Good point. This whole discussion reminds me of a story.

A little old woman in rags who could barely walk went into a beatiful cathedral to pray. She bent before the alter and prayed in silence. She then lit a candle. After she was finished she opened up a coin purse and dropped a coin in the collection- her last coin.

A little while later a very good looking well dressed man walked into the same cathedral and did all the same. At the collection he fished into his pocket and had a handful of coins. He took two shiny coins out and put them in the collection

Who gave more??

I have seen similar things happen at my church. In front of us one Sunday sat a family all well dressed, drove a nice car etc. In the basket they dropped a $5 bill. Next to them sat an older couple who could not even get up to receive communion. One had a coat with a rip in it and they both had an odor. They had filled out the envelopes for each donation and the totals were about $4. I think they maybe gave more but who knows???

the point is, I myself as well as anyone has no business knowing what anyone donates $ wise but what I donate. I have no right to judge anyone's donation and the act of giving is not to pat myself on the back but to help someone in need and expect nothing in return. I do agree w the pps though. I too have seen our family have good things happen to them after we donate and its a pleasant surprise, and no we are not looking for it. We are trying to teach our family that we always should help those in need.

[lilyka]

Originally Posted by mommystinch

I don't like the idea that you have to give 10% of what you make in order to be a good person or successful. Who came up with that, really?

it has nothiong to do with being a good person or being sucessful. It is God's money. I have no right to keep it. I don't d it to be a god person or to be better than anyone else. There are peopel in my church who give thier whole first fruits (first paycheck of the year) plus 10% plus offerings and charity on top of all that. God bless them. I can't do that. But I guess i just don't consider that top 10% income. Just like I don't consider my taxes part of my income. its just someone elses part and God doesn't deduct His so conviently (he also doesn't try to scam like the IRS and doesn't use a ot of paperwork )

and God came up with that.

Leiticus 27:30-34 the word on tithing

" 'A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD. 31 If a man redeems any of his tithe, he must add a fifth of the value to it. 32 The entire tithe of the herd and flock—every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd's rod—will be holy to the LORD. 33 He must not pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution. If he does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute become holy and cannot be redeemed.' "

34 These are the commands the LORD gave Moses on Mount Sinai for the Israelites.

and where the idea of a return comes from as well as a messege about how important this is to God

Malachi 3:8-12
8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.
"But you ask, 'How do we rob you?'
"In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty. 12 "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the LORD Almighty.


New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

of course this only applies if you are a Christian (perhaps Jewish?) If you do not serve God then you of course are under no obligation what so ever.

anyway God told me to test him so i took Him up on it and he didn't dissapoint. I also was impressed recently that this was His money. It wasn't even mine. I don't think of it as my money. like taxes I have no claim to it.I also give above that when I can but I don't budget it.

[lilyka]

oh and tithe means 10th. people interpret where it needs to go differently. I think the blesing is in letting go of that money and not so much in where you send it although I personally feel you should tithe to the church you attend. Keeps it in the family.

[Kerrie]

I had a discussion w/ my pastor about how I didn't feel good about not giving offering at church but that I would have to put it on a cc just like everything else in order to give and he suggested that instead of $ I donate my time. So I taught sunday school and helped in the summer w/ vacation bible school. With DD2 being so little I have not done so this year but do *plan* to next year. Just a thought.

[griffin2004]

Originally Posted by mommystinch

I don't like the idea that you have to give 10% of what you make in order to be a good person or successful. Who came up with that, really? Is it a nice thing to do... yet. However, I don't think anyone should feel that they have to do it.

I don't believe anyone IS saying you have to give 10% to be a good or successful person or that you even have to do it at all. Many tithers I know do it based on the Biblical tradition. Others (Xtian and non-Xtian alike) give out of a sense of philanthropy not tied to any religious beliefs.

I've always thought that tithing or just plain ol' charitable giving usually comes from a sense of stewardship, of being thankful for your blessings and wanting to share, and of having a very active sense of compassion. And the "giving" doesn't have to be $$$. One of the other posters mentioned giving of her time which is also a wonderful thing to do.

[mama4gals]

We do the 10% thing, but there have been times when I've given less bc I needed the money for groc or something. We really can't "afford" the 10%, but I feel better when we do, so we do it. I really like the advice of Mary Hunt, and her big thing is give 10%, save 10%, and live on 80%. We don't do the saving part yet but hopefully will be someday soon.

Liz

[RiverSky]

Originally Posted by lilyka

anyway God told me to test him so i took Him up on it and he didn't dissapoint.

What language did he tell you this in? English? Hebrew? Aramaic?

[merpk]

Tithing. Absolutely. It's from salary, any income, sales of home/apartment ... everything.

When our kids got Khanuka gelt (coins that are the traditional gift of Khanuka) they tithed from that, too.

[justmama]

I don't have a certain portion set aside in my budget but I give quite a bit everyu month. I give the gift of my time watching someone's kids so they can get a much-needed break or I see someone struggling financially here on MDC and I offer clothing or diapers or such to help them out or I offer my time knitting for a frazzled mama about to have a surprise baby when her littlest is just a year old. I offer a lot of donations of my time and hand-me-downs from my kids and things I can make because lately ends aren't even coming close to meeting so financial giving is out of the question. In times of better financial situations I've given monetarily. But it's not a set portion of my budget each month.


Meg

[Rainbow]

i'm non religious and do not have an interest in tithing. I believe money is a manmade tool lacking in any real value of is own. I mean, it is a piece of printed paper. But DH and I live on a third of our income- we are big into simple living. We give a third to charity and we save a third [mainly to help our younger siblings and 3 kids go to college] The biggest fun we have each month is deciding where to donate. It feels incredible.