I advocate for helping others. I believe in helping others but there were times I overdid it. One time, I gave up so much that I had to be stopped. I was told, "If you gave everything now, how can you help others later?" I would donate some sums here and there, without thinking much. I'm not going to write them all. Some of them left me good while others left a bad taste (and a bad record) for me to endure. Sure, I want to help people but I tend to overlook the consequences.
Some of the bad habits I had in the name of helping others are like:
- Being too generous with buying with credit. Eventually, I lost a lot of money which was never recovered. Some seasoned entrepreneurs may admit their own falls including the credit trap pitfall.
- Being too willing to give a discount without thinking about how it'd affect profits. Sure, a cheap price can draw people near. However, there are times when the prices of goods and services need to be raised to keep a business running. I can't afford to sell at a lower price if the costs of operations (such as production costs) have exceeded.
- I tend to give too much in the short term. Shouldn't I think about multiplying the money as well so I could also help others long term?
That's why I felt it was dumb for people to demand free stuff from groceries during the COVID-19 pandemic. It's because the pantries did release their money so they could buy the stuff. If the groceries kept giving away free stuff then the pantries would have nowhere to buy their good. For every free stuff given, someone had to shoulder the cost. The community pantry was only reserved for the least fortunate. A grocery has its discretion on how much of its inventory will it give for free vs. how much will it sell. A grocery can afford to give some free but to give everything free is very short-term.
If a person knows how to save and invest, the person must also help others but not at one's own expense. More often than not, doing so is all about trying to look good at one's own expense. If we've got people who got poor trying to look rich--some people got broke helping others to look good. A budget for charity can be made.
There are ways to think about how to be able to do charity work either directly or indirectly:
- Give whatever you can give while having money for your needs, not wants. It's like I chose to donate a certain amount for health workers during COVID-19 via Grab.
- Give money that's not too small or too big if you have plenty of money. This is essential because there are many others who can be helped.
- Don't allow one's self to become leeched on by parasites. There are times to say no to people who have a long list of reasons why their finances always suffer. These people can be those who love to gamble, people who splurge their paychecks, and the like.
- For a person who needs desperate help, a community campaign would be way better than just one person paying the expenses. It may invite a big-time philanthropist who might be able to pay it in full without costing himself or herself her finances. Meanwhile, ordinary people shouldn't feel guilty giving less because helping others shouldn't be at their own expense.
- If you know the company is charitable, why not invest in their stocks if they're a stock corporation or lend them a bond if available? One could invest in lending money to businesses via bonds. Another is to buy stocks either through direct picking or through a Unit Investment Trust Fund (UITF). Investing money in stocks and bonds for companies known for charity work can provide indirect but really good help in the long run.
In my own case, I need to remember that there's a difference between charity and mendicancy. Cash assistance can be good as long as it doesn't promote mendicancy. It can be good to have conditional cash transfers. The conditional cash transfer is only meant to help people if they comply with the requirements. For example, 4Ps in the Philippines require children to be always at school and the aide stops at a certain age. However, giving cash handouts to lazy people who have an obsession with ayudas (read here) will be detrimental to the country. Some people removed from 4Ps have been caught guilty of gambling their handouts, therefore violating the terms and conditions. It's because it's a conditional not unconditional cash transfer.
Hopefully, this helps!