How to Fit Giving Into a Budget

When you’re on a tight budget, or if you’re living paycheck-to-paycheck to scrape by, giving might seem like the farthest thing from your mind. Or you might feel moved or convicted to give or tithe at your church, but just lack the wiggle room to give anything. But I’ll share with you a secret. You can actually fit giving into a budget without needing to plan for it.

That sounds a little crazy, right? Not planning for giving? Doesn’t that go against everything that I’ve been talking about forever?!

While it’s true, I’m not talking about never giving, I’m talking about giving in ways other than money.

In the Christian church, the Bible states that you should tithe 10% of all that you have to the church. But it doesn’t say “10% of all of your money.” What this can be read to mean is “10% of your time, talents, love, energy, and anything else you have to offer.”

I recently had a reader email me telling me that she and her family were living paycheck-to-paycheck with $0 in between. But she recently felt convicted to tithe at her church. She didn’t plan for it and just wrote a check for 10% of her income, leaving her and her family unable to pay for some bills at the end of the month.

I’ll tell you what I said to her. Give what you can, but don’t put yourself in the poor house while you’re doing it. Even more importantly, don’t just focus on the money!

I know, I know… a financial blogger telling you not to focus on the money! But I mean it. You are more than the cash in your wallet or a number at the bank. You have so much to offer in so many ways other than by giving your money.

How to fit giving into a budget:

1. Donate your time.

Can you help set up before a big event? Whether it’s for your church or for your local charity, they could always use an extra set of hands to help. Never underestimate just being there.

2. Donate food.

Are you a lasagne making pro? Can you whip up delicious, big meals without killing your budget? You might be able to offer to provide your cooking skills when your church or charity has a need for cooked food.

You can also always donate canned foods year-round. Homeless shelters, food pantries, and other charities need food all year, not just around the holidays. If you got a great deal on canned soups, take some of them and put them in the food drive box at your local grocery store.

3. Give clothes.

Are your closets bursting at the seams? You might be able to provide your clothes for a fundraiser for your church. Our church has a yard sale every year where they accept donations of clothes and household goods and all of the profit goes to the church.

You can also ask around and get other friends to get their clothes together and take them to your local women’s shelter or homeless shelter. They always need new clothes.

If you can’t do either one of these options, donate your clothes to your local Salvation Army store. They have donation bin practically everywhere, or you can go straight to their building to donate.

4. Give money where you can.

If you’re tight on money, it’s OK not to give money! Don’t feel guilty about this! There were points in time when I would only put in the change that I had in my wallet because that was all I could afford. But I look heart in this parable that I love so much:

Mark 12:41-44

The Widow’s Offering

⁴¹And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. ⁴²And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. ⁴³And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. ⁴⁴For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

5. Ask what you can do to help.

Simply asking “what can I do to help” can be the best gift of all! Many times, churches and organizations just need an extra person to do a small task. But that small task can mean so much! Never think that a task is too small to mean something big!

I have a friend who cleans the church building each week as her form of giving to the church. She and her family are saving the church a lot of money by not needing to hire a cleaning crew, and they are all fastidious cleaners.

6. Donate your talents.

Do you love crafting? Or gardening? Maybe you love kids? Or have stellar organizational skills? Are you a writer? Or a marketing pro?

Every skill that you may have can be useful to a church or charity. Your talents and passions might be exactly what they’ve been looking for. They might need someone to write their mailers or email newsletter. Maybe they need someone to garden their grounds. They might need someone to do office tasks, or watch children, or help with a newspaper ad.

You never know what a church or other charity might need, but offering your talents, energy and time are so valuable. There are many ways to fit giving into a budget, but you don’t need to hurt your family financially to fulfill a guilty need to give 10% of your income.