{"id":22514,"date":"2015-08-15T10:06:41","date_gmt":"2015-08-15T14:06:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/canadianbudgetbinder.com\/?p=22514"},"modified":"2025-01-24T10:55:34","modified_gmt":"2025-01-24T10:55:34","slug":"give-back-without-monetary-expectations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitalskyweb.co\/canadianbudgetbinder.com\/2015\/08\/15\/give-back-without-monetary-expectations\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Ways to Give Back Without Monetary Expectations : The Saturday Weekend Review #134"},"content":{"rendered":"

ANYTHING TO SEE SOMEONE SMILE<\/span><\/h2>\n

One of the hardest things for people to do is give something away for free that they worked hard to pay for or their time.
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We see it happen over and over how some people will cling to every last dollar they earn or possessions they have and other people who just give back.<\/p>\n

Here’s the thing though, if you want to give back it doesn’t have to be monetary in nature<\/em>. You don’t have to give up your favourite toys, clothes or furniture to give back.<\/p>\n

So, yes you can do things to make other happy without digging into your bank account.If you can give back by donating stuff that’s great but it’s not necessarily the only way.<\/p>\n

Give Back without hesitation<\/span><\/h2>\n

My wife used to be this way, but she is slowly changing where she comes up with ideas of ways to help others, mainly through donations. My wife had the one-track mindset of just working and saving money. It wasn’t about anyone else, but her.<\/p>\n

This has changed over the years dramatically.<\/em><\/p>\n

She doesn’t think twice about giving away things we no longer use for free instead of asking for money. She also enjoys volunteering her time to help others when needed. She doesn’t hesitate at all.<\/p>\n

Once she put an ad on Kijiji selling 2 large boxes of baby boys clothes. Quite a few people responded with low-ball offers but one woman offered her full asking price. When the woman arrived my wife looked at her, smiled and told her to keep her money and enjoy the clothes.<\/p>\n

It’s times like this where we realize how good it feels just to make someone’s day a bit brighter. My wife said the woman paid her with a smile which was worth it.<\/p>\n

Although not everyone is in the position just to give away their belongings it’s not about selling what you own it’s also about finding ways to give back without thinking money is the answer.<\/p>\n

I was on You Tube tonight and came across this video which inspired me to write this blog post tonight.<\/p>\n

Barb and John Meyer who live on a farm near Elgin, Minnesota grow gladiolus every year among their crop of corn and soybeans. What started as their daughter’s birthday gift has turned into what John called an “obsession” of growing more and more flowers every year.<\/p>\n

The Meyer’s could easily sell their gorgeous flowers but they don’t. They cut them and arrange them into beautiful bouquets and give them away at the local hospital for free. Most hospitals in Canada have a flower shop inside so I don’t know how well that would go over for business but where Barb and John live it’s welcomed.<\/p>\n

They don’t want any money for their flowers because they enjoy the satisfaction of seeing people walk away smiling. They may never see where their flowers are headed BUT<\/strong> they hear about it and know that someone will be happy at the receiving end. They are a sign of life and love after all.<\/p>\n

After watching the video I asked myself how Mrs. CBB and I could give back more and how I could inspire others to think about ways they can give back. You really have to sit back in a quiet place and ask yourself what you could do.<\/p>\n

Giving back to the community<\/span><\/h2>\n

The other night we brought our son to a neighbourhood gathering which was put on free by the local school. It was a series of activities, conversation, clowns, music and lots of treats. In conversation with one of the other parents she was telling us about a local organic vegetable box program that she participates in.<\/p>\n

The cost for a large box is cheaper than Mrs. CBB and I going to the grocery store so we considered signing up for the last shipments of the gardening season. I mentioned to the lady that every year we have tonnes of apples in our back yard and we typically give them away for free to whoever wants them.<\/p>\n

She was thrilled to hear and gave us her phone number so that we could call her when the apples were ready so she could send someone to help pick them. There are always people looking for fruits and vegetables and if we can offer them free that’s our way of giving back to the community. We never ask for any form of monetary compensation to whoever comes to pick fruit.<\/p>\n

This was one way we knew we could give back and it made us feel good but there has to be other ways we thought. The funny thing is many of us already are giving back but we don’t really take much notice to it because we love what we are doing.<\/p>\n

Whether you volunteer in your community like we do or you start a blog like I have without monetary expectations you are giving back. When I started CBB I never set out to make money even though I do earn some cash BUT it all gets rolled back into making the blog a better place to visit.<\/p>\n

We make a living by what we get but we make a life from what we give- Winston Churchill<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I just recently moved the blog to a better hosting company which costs more money. I also have to pay for maintaining the blog and all other fees. So you see that bit of money that is earned goes towards it. I don’t take it and go on vacations nor do I want to quit my day job even though many personal finance bloggers do get to that point.<\/p>\n

This was never my goal with Canadian Budget Binder when I first set sail in 2012. I wanted to make people aware and happy about getting a budget started so they could get back on track financially while documenting our journey.<\/p>\n

Any time you do something out of the goodness of your heart because you want to help people, you give back. No, you don’t have to do everything for free to feel good but pick and choose so you find a balance in your life.<\/p>\n

Feeling good about what you are doing with your life is a great accomplishment that not many people can achieve. The blog and our overabundance of garden fruits are not the only two ways we give back without monetary expectations.<\/p>\n

So, how can you give without monetary expectations<\/strong>? Well we created a little list although the more we talked about it the more we realized that anyone could do this BUT<\/em> it takes a special person to keep it going.<\/p>\n

You don’t just do it once but you do it over and over again until the end of time because that is how you spread the word of kindness. It becomes an understanding that we can forego making money with our time when it comes to volunteering or giving stuff away for free.<\/p>\n

No one has ever become poor from giving- Anne Frank<\/p><\/blockquote>\n