Reframing Microfinance

If you give only what you do not need, it's not giving.

Harumph. This is an uncomfortable idea. One that may be easily dismissed, but caused me to sit bolt up right and grab a pen to write it down. Striving to consume less requires a prioritization of purchases, commitments and giving. Considering what you give to potentially be of limited consequence is not so pleasant.

I've been examining our spending and consumption habits to-date from a save more, consume less point of view. What if the whole point is to save more, give more?

Realistically, I'm going to reach a point where we've run out of books to give to the library; clothes and items to donate to Goodwill; dress clothes to give Dress for Success; unused pantry items for the food drive. These are all things we do not need. Sure we are giving it and others will benefit from it, but the greater sentiment is not moot.

What if the point is reframing our point-of-reference even further?

There's the much repeated story by various members of the Kennedy family about having cereal for dinner one night a week so that the money they would have spent on dinner could be given to charity. A similar sentiment was shared this past week, when our minister Charlie Parker remarked in his sermon, wouldn't it be great if we had to tell our kids, our families, we can't do this or that because we choose instead to give to the church?

Giving does not need to be framed in the context of Christianity or any other belief system for that matter to be meaningful or directed. It need only be authentic, purposeful, life changing.

And I guess that's it. What does that mean for us? How does giving to a cause factor into actual budgeting? After the mortgage, expenses, saving for the college fund, paying off the college loans, and saving for retirement...where's the line item for investing in change? On our own micro, maybe nano level.

Microfinancing isn't something we can do only for Africa. Microfinancing is what we should be doing with our own budgets. We could each be investing in the local, national, and international causes we believe in with the same discipline we pay our bills. That's meaningful, that would be amazing.