Recently someone contacted Stacy Johnson of Money Talks News to ask for articles on non-costly ways to give back to the community. That assignment wound up in my lap, resulting in “You don’t need to be rich to lend a helping hand: 42 free or cheap ways to give.”
Researching it was fairly simple, because I do a lot of this stuff myself and also take inspiration from readers’ examples. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that giving is the perfect antidote to the midwinter blahs.
Here’s why.
You can clear out the holiday. Maybe you got a couple of gifts that just didn’t work out. Aunt Sarah meant well, but she forgot that wool makes you itch; your sister’s $25 gift card to Macy’s or Nordstrom will just tempt you to overspend.
Write the thank-you note for that sweater and take it to the shelter or the thrift store. Sell the gift card on the secondary market and use the money for something you really need, e.g., pantry staples or an additional payment against consumer debt.
Or perhaps it’s not physical gifts but rather calorie bombs that overwhelm your home, despite your best efforts at consumption. This probably isn’t the best way to continue to eat. (Dammit.)
However, could be that the senior center or the homeless shelter would welcome those cookies and candies. Call and ask. Or take them to work and leave them in the coffee area.
A sense of accomplishment
You can clear out general clutter. As the article notes, the oddest odds and ends might find a home elsewhere. You know those spoon-fork-and-knife combos that come with takeout orders? Even if you’re not a big takeout person, disposable eating utensils (including chopsticks) seem to wind up in your kitchen, or in the break room at work.
That MTN reader gathers them up and donates them to places like the food pantry and community groups. Look around your own home for things like really old towels or sheets (animal shelters and rescue groups might want these), books you’ll never read again (the American Library Association has links to libraries that might be able to use them) or stuff that’s just gathering dust (donate it to a thrift shop).
That pile of magazines you’ve finished but can’t bring yourself to toss? A school might want them. Glasses you grew out of (damn those deteriorating peepers!) might be used by others; the Lions Club International and other groups will find new eyes for them.
Bottom line: You get rid of some clutter – maybe a lot of it – and you can feel a sense of accomplishment and the calm that comes with living in a clean, well-ordered place.
Constructive use of energy
You get out of your own head. It’s in giving that we receive. Specifically, we realize how much we have to give, e.g., you can toss those old towels and still have enough terrycloth left with which to bathe that night.
Those magazines will be out of your way but unless the subscriptions have lapsed you’ll be getting new reading material inside of a month. The fact that you can order takeout even some of the time means you have enough money to treat yourself.
Pretty humbling, huh?
As the MTN article notes, giving back isn’t always about giving stuff. If you’re out clearing your steps and notice that your elderly neighbors haven’t been shoveled out yet, step over there and make that snow fly.
Unless you’re medically prohibited from doing so, give a pint of blood and save up to three lives. Send expired coupons to military families overseas. Pick up trash at the playground.
The more time you spend thinking about others the less time you’ll to focus on your own mullygrubs. Understand: I know that sometimes we spend a little too much time taking care of others. But sometimes we need a virtual kick in the pants to get us to quit obsessing over our own carefully curated hurts and thinking instead about how to use some of that energy for more constructive purposes.
By all means put your own oxygen mask first. But every now and then give someone else a sip.
Readers: How do you give back without breaking the budget?
Related reading:
- Want to get? Try giving
- The $10 wake-up call
- Think you’re broke? You probably aren’t
- What does a working kitchen need?
I spy a 2fer:
article + blog post for neatly the same amount of work.
I’m all about the recycling! But as dedicated readers already know, I regularly post “what I’ve been writing elsewhere” roundup posts. This one just happened to be a stand-alone.
Many times people believe that giving money to charity is their only option to give back. Great tips on ways to give without putting yourself into the red. I am guilty of just throwing things away, but have become a lot more mindful of that. Giving blood is another awesome way of giving up something for free that will help a lot of people. Great post.
Even just the magazines — you know they’ll get thrown away (hopefully recycled in mixed paper bin) eventually but why not get as many uses as possible out of them? I liked to think that the bored folks at the laundromat enjoyed reading the issues I left there. Or take them to an elementary school, because kindergarten and first-grade teachers use them in crafts projects and learning activities (“Cut out five things that start with the letter ‘C'”).
While in Seattle I got a bunch of the 42-ounce boxes of oatmeal for as little as 50 cents with coupons. As the boxes emptied I hung on to them, figuring someone might be able to use them. When I had five I put them out on Freecycle and sure enough, a woman came to pick them up: Her toddler daughter’s birthday was on July 4 and she wanted to make “Uncle Sam hats” for the party:
http://donnafreedman.com/2010/05/29/jam-jars-and-laminate-flooring-why-freecycle-rocks/
I “spy” a “2fer” as well… Pretty smart from where I’m sitting…”working smarter … not harder”. DW volunteers with her Church group about once every month to prepare a hot lunch at the local “soup kitchen”. She swears she gets as much out of it as the folks that attend and enjoy the meal!
A woman I know just turned 80. Among her many activities is rocking babies in the neonatal intensive care unit. She says she gets as much, or maybe more, than the babies get out of it.
Wow… 80 years old and still giving back….that’s incredible…
She and I had a lot of catching up to do — hadn’t seen her since I moved back here — and have vowed to try a monthly coffee date. Here’s hoping.
Our church is part of a community organization that houses homeless families, usually working poor, a week at a time. DH is one of our coordinators and we always need people to feed our guests or stay overnight. Charities like Habitat for Humanity do need money, but they also need bodies. I’ve found that houses of worship are wonderful clearing houses for ways to give back. Personally, I spent a good deal of time in the winter knitting for charity. The local 4-H is going to get a baby blanket for their Chinese auction in March.
If you’re part of a freebie group you can also offer to be a drop off point for certain items that get donated to a women’s or animal shelter. Sometimes people don’t have a large enough quantity to warrant a trip to donate, but along with others’ donations, it makes it worthwhile. Then you drop it off when you have enough.
Good idea! Thanks for sharing it.
I recently donated a years worth of hotel toiletries (collected bym myself and some travelling friends) – we collect them all year and choose a different charity to benefit. Last year – womens shelter, this year: local homeless outreach!
I donate gently used clothes to a local thrift shop for the Jr Achievement Program. I donate my towels, sheets, blankets that I replace because of holes, rips or tares to the SPCA because the animals really don’t need them perfect! I also donate cleaning supplies, dog/cat treats or food to the SPCA that usually come from near to nothing cost to me because of rewards or coupons. I am a firm believer in reduce, reuse, recycle for the good of all!
I appreciate this article and the commenters responses. I do many of the suggestions but always appreciate new suggestions.
I have been the “library” for an organization where I sat on the hoard? It was comprised of maybe 4 bankers boxes in my laundry room.
One of the dog rescues in my area is asking for ” supply” houses. You keep supplies for the foster dog families. When dogs are coming in the foster families come and get their supplies from you.
I also donate all my newspaper to the Humane Society , they shred and use it in the puppy rooms.
My husbands shirts, ties, belts, socks and especially suits we donate to a funeral home that buries individuals when the family cannot pay.
I like the idea of a supply house: Even if you can’t foster, you can help foster pet homes.
Also if you start collecting your Christmas decorations now, but wait to donate because space in agencies is sometimes limited. Many newcomer/refugee/low income/second stage housing groups will gladly take them next Christmas for families and organizations.
Candy after Halloween is collected at my children’s schools and many dentists.It is then donated to our main food bank which distributes it to many social agencies again for their children’s stockings and parties at Christmas time.
I really appreciated this article Donna and the opportunity you had to publish it in a wider market:)
Well, MTN pays me for up to eight articles a month. That’s a big chunk of my monthly income.
I donate, too, but the most satisfying way I give is to do small repairs that make a big difference for others. To insulate a window, repair a fan, door or lamp, or fix a leaky faucet can help people feel more comfortable and also help them save energy (money!) all year long.
That’s a wonderful way to help! Hiring a plumber to fix a leak would cost money that some people just don’t have. Bless you.
We drop magazines off at the local Urgent Care center and/or laundromat. I cook several times per week for our 90+ next door neighbors; in exchange he brings a few bags of produce once a week from his volunteer work (yes, he still volunteers weekly at the food bank and Farmer’s Market at 94!!!). It’s time he can get out of the house for a much needed break. His wife is fully disabled and is in late stages of dementia. When my oldest son closes up at his college job on the waterfront, he brings any leftover cinnamon rolls (which can’t be sold and would otherwise go in the trash) home and DH brings them into work the next morning as treats for his co-workers. It’s all just something we do year-round… nothing big… and we started de-cluttering and donating in 2014.
Timely, as I have asked our children to NOT give us gifts from this year on and instead give to others. We have suggested cleaning out a closet and donating the items to a thrift store; adopt someone at a nursing home and gift them for birthdays or Mother’s Day or Christmas. We are all animal lovers and there are opportunities there. DH and I are blessed and many are in need.
Hey Donna, Wanting to know more, I’ve just checked out the MoneyTalksNews website to read your article and I noticed that an article of yours made it to their 10 Most Popular Articles of 2014 list:
http://www.moneytalksnews.com/how-to-find-thousands-of-freebies/
In the number 9 spot. I plan to go back to the site more often after this first visit. Interesting!
The whole list is here:
http://www.moneytalksnews.com/our-10-most-popular-stories-2014/
and this is Donna’s interesting article that made it to the list:
http://www.moneytalksnews.com/how-to-find-thousands-of-freebies/