Giving: Thanks And Money

I know we are supposed to think about what we are grateful for in time for Thanksgiving. To, you know, give thanks for what we have.

However, the events of the past few days brought up a number of ways that I am thankful–and they all occurred on or after the holiday. I figure giving thanks is always okay, even if it seems a little late.

Being thankful for money seems awfully tacky, but I am particularly thankful for some of the opportunities that pursuing financial independence allowed me.

One of the great advantages of having a little (or a lot) of extra money is the chance to make other peoples’ lives a little happier. For which I am also thankful.

Two weeks ago I wrote about some challenges with our (singular) car in the PiN household. Since a spectacularly inconvenient breakdown, we had not trusted it on a long distance drive.

We took a chance on it for the holiday, and it performed very well, taking us to and from Grandma’s house without incident. It has proven itself (for now), and we will plan to use it for future road trips.

I am very grateful, though, for a well-funded vacation fund, which let me consider renting a car without blinking at the planned cost. Especially since my parents aren’t getting any younger, and this might be the last Thanksgiving they host.

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While we traveled without incident for the holiday, not everyone was able to complete their holiday as planned.

Some URI (not COVID, apparently) hit my brother’s household.

After some back and forth, he stayed at his home and did not return to our hometown for Thanksgiving.

This left him at home with many germy children and no special food for the holiday.

Thanks to technology and the pandemic, I was able to order a last minute delivery of holiday-type food to his home a few hundred miles away.

Thanks to having a little extra in the budget each month, I was able to pay for food, and tip (very) generously for delivery in time for the Thanksgiving meal.

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It’s been a few years since I highlighted posts talking about charity and giving.

The world has, sadly, not seen all of its problems cured, which means that there are plenty of worthy reasons and causes out there. I thought I would highlight a few of the other bloggers whose posts I’ve saved over the past year or so.

Loonie Doctor, whose motto is “Empowering & Inspiring Canadian Professionals to be Financial Heroes. Not Hosers. Eh.” wrote a great piece: Give Your Capital To Receive Happiness. He reviews reasons you would benefit from giving money, and lots of ways to get the most good feelings from your generosity.

If you aren’t giving money for the feels, you might be doing it for the tax breaks. Impersonal Finances seems to have rerun a post going over the benefits he has gotten from charitable donations in his post Hey IRS, Bring Back the $300 Charitable Tax Deduction.

The tax deductions for charity have gone through several changes in the past few years, so this post from The Female Professional might come in handy: Tax-Deductible or Not? Your Guide to End-of-Year Donations.

Taxes weren’t the only reason I set up a DAF, but they are certainly one of the Six Benefits I Received From My Donor Advised Fund.

Do you have something in particular you are thankful for this year? Or a special opportunity for giving you were able to make happen?