Where My Treasure Is
Posted on Tuesday, November 17th, 2009Over the past couple of months, I have been buckling down on my expenses, trying to keep the unnecessary stuff from creeping in and making a huge splash in my bank account. I have to say that, thanks to careful monitoring and tracking, I have been doing quite well. With the impending move to a new apartment coming, my budget is going to get a major shock (security deposits are nasty) and my push for frugality will be even more important.
That said, I feel that I may be prioritizing my money a bit poorly. While I do spend money on meaningful things (a gym membership, good books, music, tasteful clothing, and so on), there is one huge gap where I am not spending nearly enough: charity. This was hit home at a recent leadership meeting with Forefront, where it became very evident how a small minority of the members was propping up the church. (The extent to which I donate to other causes such as Multiple Sclerosis or Movember is nice but also a bit lacking.)
Some people commit the first 10% of their income to charity. I met one couple who did this last week, and it really threw me for a loop. The message that they were sending by doing this is that trying to make the world a better place was their first priority, before making rent or getting groceries. I, personally, am someone who is interested in making the world a better place but allocating that first chunk of my [disposable] income is completely foreign to me. All of my life, I have been taught that charity is nice, but saving money (especially at an early age) is important to leading a long and happy (read: prosperous) life.
At some point in the future, I am confident that I can do both; when I happen to make more money than I know what to do with under reasonable circumstances, it would become way more comfortable to give it away. Just look at my boss, Mike Bloomberg, and all of the money that he has been donating now that he’s in a place in life where accidentally finding a few thousand dollars in his pants might be a common occurrence. (Go Mike!)
But it’s not about comfort, is it? If I am truly interested in effecting a positive change in the world around me, then I should be willing to sacrifice the comfort and to get serious about charity. As it is written (and often said), where you treasure is, there your heart will be also. I would then be investing in the change that I want to see in the world, and I would be way more interested (and involved) in ensuring that the investment is used wisely and effectively.
Truthfully, I do not imagine that this is going to be a massive change all at once; I feel that I have to warm myself up to it and slowly work my way to rebalancing my budget to accommodate this. But I am committing to it. And if you’re reading this, then you are probably fortunate enough to have many luxuries impressed upon you, and you are probably in a place where you could rethink where your heart is.