Are frugal people more generous?

[disneysteve]

What do you think? Do those of us who are careful with our money tend to be of a more giving nature? Are we more open to the needs of others and less focused on indulging ourselves? Or does how we handle money have no impact on our charitable and gift-giving activities?

[PrincessPerky]

depends on the person..some frugalites go so far as to become miserly....others use what they save on others (or on charities)

Others are pretty normal, giving the average in gifts...no particular reason to notice the frugality or generosity.

[My English Castle]

probably not?

I think having a budget in place allows you to budget for charitable giving as well. Instead I think people cut back on giving when they're squeezed.

At least for me, watching my money more closely has allowed me to also give more, and sometimes things I wouldn't have thought of before, like donating drub store freebies to the shelters and food banks.

That said, some people are scooge-like!

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I don't like giving to people in the streets, etc, because I sort of feel they will spend it on drugs or alcohol. I don't mind at all giving to charities like retired military or red cross programs. I know they do have overhead, etc but I don't feel like it's going down the toilet necessarily. I also donate to the library a lot of my old books. And I donate to a woman's shelter, I'd like to give money to the food band.

[simpleyme]

I think frugal people are more generous to those who the frugalite perceives as having a real need

and won't donate a penny to someone who tells you how their lights are being turned off because they do not have 200 dollars ......

after telling you about how great the pictures done by the professional photographer that came to their home were , and what a bargain the 350 dollars they paid was ( true story by the way ;-)

[ceejay74]

I have put a freeze on donating for now, but I have donated in the past and plan to in the future. I feel I'll be of more use to the nonprofit/philanthropic community once I get my affairs in order. Though not religious, I love the idea of tithing--ideally I would give a certain amount of my annual income or net worth and divide it between humans, art, education, animals and the environment!

BTW, I agree about not giving money to panhandlers. I used to, but my sister works with the homeless and advised me that not giving handouts will help force them to seek help through organized channels--which may help them get off the street rather than just blowing your pocket change and going back out for more. It may also help those with mental or substance-abuse problems. So I don't get mad or feel bad, I just say "Sorry, no" politely and walk away, knowing that refusing is the best way to help them. (I do plan to donate to homeless/hunger relief charities as soon as I start donating again.)

[SnoopyCool]

We give just over 10% to charity, automatically figured into the budget. I don't know if our giving is a matter of being frugal or not. I like to think that we give because we're thankful for what we've been given, and in this way we can show our thankfulness and help others who are in need.

[Ima saver]

Simpleyme, we must know the same person. When I was a waitress I trained a girl who keep telling me about how all of her utilites were going to be shut off. (she wasn't allowed to keep tips yet)
I was going to give her my tips for the week until she showed me all the professional photos she had just picked up for $75. (This was 23 years ago)

However, now that I have more money because of being frugal, I often help people out. I have a young orphan girl that I help quite a bit. I sent two checks to a friend of someone on this forum. I enjoy helping people who help themselves.

[scfr]

As others have said, I am sure it depends on the person. I do think my personal finance habits carry over to my giving.

I am selective in the charities I give to (I check out their ratings on Charity Navigator and I read a lot about their activities before deciding to donate), and I think that is an outgrowth of my frugal nature because I want to be sure I am getting my money's worth from my donations.

I also prefer to give cash rather than purchasing unnecessary trinkets where some of the money goes to charity, and I think that is also a result of my frugal nature, because I believe "getting more bang for my buck" means more $ going directly to the charity. (The exception is that I will purchase one box of goodies from Camp Fire or Girl Scouts each year because I like to encourage children to get involved in volunteerism and because it brings back happy memories of my Camp Fire days).

I also limit the number of charities I give to. I'd rather give more to a couple causes or places that really mean a lot to mean than give $10 or $20 to every organization that I think is good. I do this because I like to think my donation has a real impact, and I know I can save the charities the expense of mailing out a bunch of extra requests for little donations. Once you give once, you are on their mailing list forever! Why make them waste the paper and postage? That's a frugalite point of view, isn't it?

Finally, because of my frugal nature, unless I live an exceptionally long life and use up my resources, there are going to be a couple of charities that will be receiving much more after I die than they would have if I were a spendthrift.

[PrincessPerky]

ditto that annoying trinket scam..the company selling the trinkets makes more than the organization fundraising.

Exceptions being girl scout cookies..I like em and I know of people who like the boy scout popcorn (I don't .)

[Ima saver]

I am leaving my money to places also, especially places dealing with homeless animals.

[Daniel_Shop]

I fully agree with the theory,

In general frugal people tend to be more giving nature

(we are talking about frugal not miser)

If I need to make a psychological analysis I would say that frugal people were able to
free themselves first

[nanamom]

As to giving to those who are panhandling in the street, I usually give them food. That they would have a harder time trading for drugs or alcohol. If I know I am going somewhere I will run into them I carry pbj sandwiches and if it is a surprise I have coupons to local fast food places. That way they can get something to eat.

[jamai]

depends; some people are naturally conservative some are frugal due to circumstances. if its due to circumstances then the answer is no.

[Fern]

No, I don't think you can as a group that frugal people are more generous. It really depends on the individual.