How to get out of debt, step 11:
Give to charity
Previous: 10. Set your Get Out Of Debt enforcement policy.
11. Give to charity.
Ingredients: a very modest amount of money, a very large amount of heart.
This seems the most counterintuitive step. After all, you don't have money to spend so freely, and here you are basically giving it away! What sense does that make? A very lot of sense. I'm not recommending that you give to charity everything that you own. That would indeed be foolish. I'm recommending giving whatever amount you can. This will help you do more than just get out of debt. How? By reframing your relationship to money, to yourself, to how you spend. It helps put everything in perspective. It shows that you understand what wealth is truly for.
First of all, on a basic level, when you give to charity, you appreciate that there are people in greater distress than yourself. That can create a beneficial feeling of calm, and that, will give you the confidence to proceed in your recovery.
On a deeper level, giving charity creates a healthy relationship to money. So much of our society is geared toward getting more and more. Some people value themselves based on their financial assets. This is tragic. When you give to charity, your sense of self-worth comes more from your character, from your concern for your fellow human being. Material things become less important, and lots less seducing. When you give even a small amount of charity, you just don't need that fancy car to feel good.
I know that what I say may sound religious, and it is. But it is also sound psychology. There is an old saying that goes, "the poor person who receives charity gives an even greater gift to the giver."
Next: 12. Find the best credit card debt consolidation loans and take one.