The purpose of any successful budget is to retain more of your hard-earned cash. This means quitting the cycle of giving away your money due to poor financial habits and behaviors. On the other hand, giving back to those in need is different, and benefits your own finances more than you know.

Not only does giving back to charities offer the immediate benefit of being tax-deductible, it also strengthens your financial behavior; from improving your accountability, to empowering you with a real sense of financial abundance. Giving back is a key part of any healthy budget.

Here are four reasons to get your shark on and start giving back today!

Reason 1: It reinforces financial abundance

We want to implement behaviors that retain as much of our money as possible, for example not always being the one who picks up the tab when going out with friends. Deciding to avoid excessive spending brings you that much closer to reaching your financial milestones. When you feel that “enough is enough” and that you are being too frugal with your money, what better way to spend that little bit more than to give to a charitable cause?

 

Charitable giving reminds you that “overspending” can be okay if structured as part of a healthy plan of giving back, and also empowers you with an abundancemindset!

Put simply, by integrating a healthy level of charitable giving into your monthly budget, you set a tactical subconscious reminder that money is abundant. This, in turn, creates a healthy pressure to ensure you have enough savings to begin with.

Reason 2: Setting the right examples: The Accountability Effect

Just as healthy giving can make you accountable to your spending and saving behaviors, setting a clear example to others that giving back is important creates another healthy source of pressure.

By setting a precedent in which giving is integrated into your monthly savings routine, you set a standard where you expect to see money abundantly. Just as an anchor half way down from the seabed holds a ship steady, vocalizing this habit to your friends and family is a smart method of locking yourself into a good habit.

Reason 3: Tax-deductible? Yes! Don’t forget the tax benefits!

When you donate money to synagogues, churches or charities you become eligible for tax deductions. By simply integrating regular donations into your budget, you can make deductions to your taxes.

Charitable giving not only benefits the group(s) to whom you’ve lent a helping hand, but, on a broader level, also encourages conservative behavior with your finances. 

Reason 4: A structured you means a better you

There is no doubt that charitable giving can give you just as much in return; from encouraging habits that presuppose existing savings, to creating a healthy level of accountability to family and community. As a method of keeping your budget on track, charitable giving means helping yourself first.

For my sharks-in-training who are strongly committed to giving to a charitable cause they care about, they know (as do I) that they need structure, guidance, and a budget based on a tested template for our lifestyle. Structure is crucial for us to be able to commit monies to the causes we care about the most.

Small acts, such as deducting tax or setting money aside, can help you create a clear financial future, that will allow for a better life going ahead.

Originally published in the The Wave newspaper.

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