When you are trying to get out of debt, you know that you have to do everything that you can to pool in your resources for your debt payments. For some people, they think that living a frugal life will help them reach debt freedom. For some they choose to earn extra money to pay off debt.
But did you know that giving back to charity will benefit your personal finances a lot too? While you still need to increase your money, not forgetting to give back is also motivate you in ways that can help with your quest for debt freedom.
3 ways that generosity can benefit your money
It may seem far-fetched but you need to hear out the reasons first before you can dismiss the idea. If you do it correctly, you don’t really have to compromise your debt payments at all. You can live a happy life, stick to your financial goals and still make other people happy with your success.
Here are 3 reasons why and how your personal finances will benefit from a little generosity.
You will enjoy tax deductions.
The money that you give to charity is one tax break you should not overlook. Lower your taxable income by making sure that you put a portion of your money to charity. This is probably the most direct way that you can save money. Although, you have to know which charities will allow you to take in the most tax deduction and you can probably utilize that. Know how you can document your donations so that it can be deducted from your tax bill.
You will live a happier and more fulfilled life.
This may seem vague and not in any way connected to growing your personal finances for debt freedom. But here is the explanation for this. When you give, you are rewarded with happiness that will motivate you to improve yourself. It is hard to explain but it just is. It is probably in the natural chemistry of human beings to feel good when we know that we have made a difference in the life of someone else. But that is not why it will benefit your finances. People are known to be more productive when they are happy. If you feel good about yourself because of the personal fulfillment that comes with your giving, that will be reflected in your work. Anything that you touch and work on will be done with something much more than skill behind it. Your boss will notice it or your company will prosper because of it. That can literally mean an increase in your cash inflow for being quite happy and content with your life. It never fails and you will find that you will never regret any donation that you have made in your life – whether it is a big or small amount.
You can feel your health improving.
In connection to the happiness that you will be feeling, you will also feel an improvement in your overall health. It does not cure sickness, that’s for sure, but the inner happiness you have in you will help improve your stress levels and we all know how a stress free life is good for the health. It will help make you forget about your own troubles when you realize just how other people are less fortunate than you. There are other studies that shows better health conditions for people who are known to give more. There is no specific scientific explanation but if you start giving, you will start to notice a difference in your life. If anything, it gives you the motivation to take care of yourself because you know that you can help other people.
When you have great health, that will save you money on health related costs – which is known to be quite expensive.
It is possible to give back despite a financial crisis
Apart from the above mentioned benefits to your personal finances, there are also two more reasons why you may want to be generous despite your financial situation. It is all but natural to think that holding on to the last penny to pay for your debts is the logical way to go about things but sometimes, being logical should not be the priority.
Your generosity does not have to be grand if you cannot afford it. First of all, nobody said that you can only give money. You can give you time and skills to compensate for the money that you cannot give. Choose to spend one weekend every month to help in the community kitchen and serve lunch to the needy. These will bring similar results that can help you feel so much better. If you are a doctor, you can do free medical missions to less fortunate neighborhoods.
There are so many charities that you can give to and you can choose one that you feel needs the most help – or one that you feel is close to your own heart. For instance, if a relative died of cancer, you can choose to support a charity that provides financial support to the needy diagnosed with cancer. Or if you personally know people who cannot send their kids to school, that is something that you can choose to help with. Take your pick from the CharityWatch.org to find the one that you want to provide assistance.
