Perhaps at no other time of the year are we more attuned to generosity than Christmas. We love to bless our friends and family with gifts, cards and warm holiday greetings. We look for extra opportunities to donate and give to those in need. We tip a little more and spend a bit more liberally.
It’s a season of living with an open hand, a chance to show extra kindness which is a gift that can’t be neatly tied up with red and green ribbons.
But each of our budgets have their own limitations. And especially if you’re in a season of paying off debt, you feel a deep tension of wanting to give more but knowing your resources need to be channeled toward slaying your debt dragon.
Does this mean you’re allowed a free pass to become Ebenezer Scrooge and bellow, “Bah, humbug!” at each passerby in the mall? Of course not. However, you may need to get creative about the ways you give and what you give.
Every human has the ability to be generous, no matter the balance of his or her checking account. Money might be a tool through which benevolence can flow, but it’s not the only way to give.
Round up change
I once heard an author proclaim, that if you didn’t know exactly how much change (down to the penny) that was in your car, you are rich. This quip stuck with me through many years when I felt like we had absolutely nothing. Change seems to be everywhere in our home — in the couch, under the table, in a little jar. Pennies flow out of my wallet. Dimes are stuck in the cupholder.
