Today is Giving Tuesday — an international day of giving that falls right on the heels of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which are apparently our unofficial national days of mindless spending. Giving Tuesday is a refreshing counterpoint to consumerism. That makes it the perfect trigger point for a family discussion about philanthropy.
Reading this after December 2? No worries. Any day is the perfect day to start a discussion about charitable giving with your kids.
Need a conversation starter? Try these 15 great quotes on spending wisely and giving thoughtfully:
- “Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship.”
~ Benjamin Franklin - “A man there was, and they called him mad; the more he gave, the more he had.”
~ John Bunyan - “Do not save what is left after spending, but spend what is left after saving.”
~ Warren Buffett - “No one has ever become poor by giving.”
~ Anne Frank - “Thrift comes too late when you find it at the bottom of your purse.”
~ Seneca - “It is one of the beautiful compensations of this life that no one can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson - “Before you try to keep up with the Joneses, be sure they’re not trying to keep up with you.”
~ Erma Bombeck - “If you haven’t got any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble.”
~ Bob Hope - “A bargain ain’t a bargain unless it’s something you need.”
~ Sidney Carroll - “Blessed are those who can give without remembering and take without forgetting.”
~ Elizabeth Bibesco - “Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like.”
~ Will Rogers - “It is not how much we give, but how much love we put into giving.”
~ Mother Teresa - “You can run into debt, but you have to crawl out of it.”
~ Unknown Wise Person - “You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.”
~ Kahlil Gibran - “The best thing to spend on your children is time.”
~ Unknown Wise Person
Are your kids ready to take action? Check out the ideas for donating, volunteering, and charitable goal setting here. Take the first step toward making charitable giving a regular habit.
When your kids do choose to donate, be sure to let them hand over their own money or enter their own card info. There’s something about being able to actually perform the transaction that gives a kid a tremendous sense of ownership and pride. When moms and dads make donations on their kids’ behalf, it just doesn’t quite generate the same “giving buzz.” That’s right, altruism lights up the brain’s nucleus accumbens, so don’t be a philanthropic buzz killer for your kids.
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