We talked last week about preparing your pocketbook for all of the expenses that come with the Christmas season. You’re thinking about the little things that creep their way into your Christmas budget, but are you thinking about giving? I love to give, at Christmas and at other times of the year. But if I want to accomplish all of my holiday giving goals, I need to plan for them. I can’t just expect angel tree gifts or items for our Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes to simply appear.
As I’m making my Christmas gift-giving list and budgeting amounts for each person on our list, I also budget for giving. I’ve been challenging myself to give at least 10% of what we plan to spend on all of the other people on our gift list. Ideally our giving will be beyond 10%, but that’s a great place to start. At least I have a dollar amount in mind before I even start shopping.
I’ll be sharing some free ways to give in the upcoming weeks, but I also wanted to throw out the idea of budgeting for giving. Maybe it’s something you already do. Maybe it’s a new idea for you. I’d love to know how you plan to be more intentional about giving this year. Do you have a plan for Christmas giving?
If you have a heart for giving – or would like to cultivate your heart for giving – you might want to join the 30-Day Giving Challenge. This event will take place next month, and you’ll be challenged to give in some way each day of November. I’ll be sharing more details this week.