Living with Less Stuff So You Can Give More

I’m living with less stuff so that I can give more.

What’s your goal with all of this paring down and de-cluttering? For me it’s more time, space and less debt and stress.But I also want to give more. I want to be a better spouse, parent and citizen. Living with less stuff helps me give more.

Those are lofty goals but  small actions can help me achieve them. I can be more accommodating and selfless if I find the time and energy to take care of myself, to eat well and exercise. I find that time by having a small home that is easy to maintain. Living with less stuff that would require more hours of work to pay for.

It all fits together. Living with less stuff so I can give more.

One of our goals as a family is to volunteer for causes that are near and dear to us. We’ve done a poor job of this since we moved overseas. Chris walked in a cancer research fundraiser (and Henry and I alongside him) but otherwise we haven’t joined any committees or volunteered our time. We need to get on that.

We also want to contribute financially to causes. Since getting out of debt we have started to set aside money each month to make an annual contribution to a cause. I want to give more financially. Sure, like most families we need to save for the future, unexpected expenses and our son’s education but I want to start giving now. Even if it is a small contribution.

Our first steps to making a charitable giving plan.

Chris and I discussed it and settled on putting aside 100 GBP (roughly $160 CDN or US) each month. I know, it’s not a huge amount. But it’s a start. We’ll decide annually where to give that money. Cancer research is near and dear to us as both of our mothers have been treated for cancer. I’m also a big supporter of grass roots programs that encourage youth participation in sport.

We’ll continue to make additional financial contributions as they come up. At least every other month we have a request for sponsorship or donations for walk-athons or fundraisers. We’ll make those contributions work within our monthly budget. Living with less stuff makes all of that possible.

Growing up in a family where finances were always tight, and debt was the norm, has often made me panic about money. While I want to continue to work on good spending habits, living below our means and saving, I also want to loosen my grip. Giving money away will help me with that.

It also just feels good. Money can buy happiness when you spend it on the right things.

This is a small start but it’s something.

UPDATE from 2018: many years later I read this post and see that it was the start of a life long pursuit to give more. We still haven’t quite hit my goal of donating 10% of our pretax income to charitable causes. But we have now donated a significant amount to organizations the do a lot of good and living with less stuff allows us to do that. We’re also now both able to volunteer locally. Parents of young children: this gets easier. Once our youngest was around three it was a lot easier to commit to being on boards and coaching kid’s soccer.

  • Love reading this, Christine. I actually grew up on the North Shore and we at times received assistance from charities like the North Shore Women’s Centre. In the Lower Mainland people perceive the North Shore as being a wealthy area, and it is, but there are still people struggling.

  • What a great strategy for giving! Thanks for sharing details of some of the charities you support. Has the wheels turning for me on ways I will involve Henry in the future.

  • Thank you for writing this post. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in busy-ness of the day to day and lose sight of what’s really important. I find this especially true now with a very active toddler… he seems to give me ADD 🙂

    You’ve reminded me that I have jackets and sweaters to take to the local shelter!

    Congratulations on the soon to be released book!

  • What a feel good post today! You will probably find as your son gets older that your opportunities to volunteer your time and give to others will increase significantly. As an added bonus, doing some of these activities with your kids seems to heighten the joy you get out of them. At a family Christmas event at my kid’s school last year we made sandwiches for the homeless. That was such a memorable experience for me and my family. It is amazing how much joy you get from giving of yourself (and it doesn’t need to be monetary). Congratulations on your book launch and kudos to you for supporting a worthwhile cause at the same time!

  • Giving is a joy and a necessary part of a happy life, I believe. You give to others through your blog, and I thank you for that. Great post!

  • Hi, I’ve been reading your blog for a little while but I think this might be my first time commenting. My husband and I don’t have much disposable income to give (especially he spent about six months being unemployed this year). Whenever we do have some money to spare, what we do is make a mindful effort to support local businesses that are struggling. This isn’t “charity giving” in the literal sense, but it supports our community and helps small businesses stay in business. Those people get to keep their jobs, so hopefully they will never need to depend on “charity” in the traditional sense. Also, giving volunteer time to charities is a helpful option if you don’t have money to donate.

  • Where to start.. well firstly many many congratulations and all the very best with the launch – I’ll support it on my blog/FB and through my personal social media also. I totally understand, respect and admire your decision to make a donation through the sale. I’ve worked with charities for many years and this is a fantastic support to them – the official term is ’cause related marketing’ when you offer a £/$ or % of sale 🙂
    I volunteered this year for a small non-profit and know exactly where the money generated from my time went and who benefited. It wasn’t enough to change the world, but every little helps.
    Finally it’s funny you ask what’s the goal to all of this. I was thinking about it earlier today and mulling over whether to post about it but am unsure as it could be deemed a little morbid. Your goal is much nicer!
    There’s something that keeps running through my head and that’s I want ‘to get my house in order’. We all know there’s no guarantees, and if you’ve been through a bereavement you are in no doubt whatsoever. Told you it was morbid sorry! Interestingly (to me anyway) my search for something which led to simplification/minimalism came after a bereavement – I just think the whole world shifted for me.
    There’s something else running through my mind and that’s ‘slipping through my fingers all the time’ and this relates to the kids – I want all distractions out of the way so that I can focus on them. Everyone who has had kids says they grow up so fast make the most of it and I am presuming they are spot on. Everything else I have been told by older people throughout my life has been true, but frequently didn’t get it “Youth is wasted on the young” – Oscar Wilde (again)
    Whoa – long comment – Anyhow off to chuck some stuff away!!!!!!!!!

    • Yes! I agree with the take all the distractions away to enjoy and soak up these years. Every few months I mull over getting an office job. It would boost our savings and we would have more money to travel and also give away. But I keep coming back to that these early years are fleeting. And we are lucky to be able to make it work financially on my husband’s income.

  • We tend to donate to a local children’s hospital, as we have been there with 2 of our 3 children, and have friends who have used their services extensively! We ask that friends donate there instead of birthday presents.
    We do attend a church, so we do donate a small amount of money there, but the majority of our donations is the ‘stuff’ that we no longer use to be sold in the biannual fair.

    My children’s school chooses an annual charity and each class chooses a ‘fun’draiser to raise money for it. These include popcorn sales and hot dog lunches, and many children will donate birthday money.
    Another thing the school does is have a holiday bazaar where parents donate their unwanted items and the children bring in money to holiday shop for their family.

    • This is great to hear. I’d also like to have strong ties to a charity that has a lot of significance for us. My sister chose the United Way as her regular contribution charity and then donates to others as asks come up.

      Donating goods to charities, both for use by people in need and for resale, is one of the easiest and most overlooked ways to give. We ended up donating a lot of things we could have easily resold before moving overseas. At the time I was a bit wistful for the cash (we were still in consumer debt) but now I’m glad we gave quality high value items away.

    • You are so kind to say that 🙂

      Writing here has been the catalyst for so much change. This is a pretty big milestone for us and I can honestly credit a lot of it writing and getting encouragement and ideas from others. Like you 🙂

  • Every week we(my husband and I) read in our local paper a column called “The Time is Now”. It is run by a local man who at one time was in the same position as alot of the people he writes about. He and his mom were is desperate need of clothes, food, affordable shelter and affordable transportation to get to work. He now runs a charity and writes anonomously about the people he helps weekly in the paper.
    The holidays are approaching and with that means spending money on gifts that we don’t really need. I have over the years talked my in-laws to having a grab bag instead of buying for everyone. This year I am going to refuse to join in the grab bag. I know lots of people want to and like to do this. Our family wants lists of things we would LIKE, so we can buy items off those lists. It is no fun for me. It seems like a chore (I know I am a scrooge). Although we live only a few hours from each other, it always seems we get a gift that needs to be returned, because it doesn’t fit or look good on us etc. and it takes a lot of time and gas not to mention an inconvience to return/exchange it. So this year, I am going to refuse to join in the grab bag and instead donate the amount I would have spent on them and donate to “The Time is Now”, the local charity that helps people in our county.
    My husband and I a talking over how we can more help these people in our community that could very well be our neighbors.

    • Julie – Thank you for sharing your story here. I know a lot of people, myself included, are torn and also frustrated about the gift giving season. Wonderful to hear that not only did you move your family in the direction of fewer gifts but you’re now taking it a step further. This is great inspiration. I’ll have quite a few posts next month on ways to celebrate and give over the holidays in a caring, yet minimalist, way.

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