The muscles you use for giving are the same muscles you use to save or pay down debt.
Know what your expenses are and how much you are spending. Know which of the things you spend money for are really important to you, and what you wouldn't actually miss that much. Know how to keep your spending in check as your income grows, not just increasing spending because the money is there.
People tend to react emotionally to the teachers of these principles, like Dave Ramsey or Mr. Money Mustache. But it's not personal. It's just math. You can choose to cut way back on your spending if you want to retire really early, if that's what's most important to you. Or you can choose to spend more extravagantly and retire later (or not at all).
Or instead or retiring early, maybe you want to live really frugally but keep earning as much as possible, so you can give as much as possible. The underlying principles are the same.
As someone who constantly struggles with the decision to save VS donate, I don't think the two are interchangeable. They seem interchangeable because most of the time they'll lead to the same endpoint, but I view savings as an insurance that protects me against catastrophic events. They enable me to live a riskier life by providing that cushion and security.
I've decided to donate after I've lived the life I envision. If I get sick or injured and can no longer live that life, my savings will be my charity to myself. The subtle difference is that savings can be turned into charity, but not the other way around.
You are saying it's just as easy to save/donate as it is to spend because the muscles and underlying principles are the same? I wish I'd heard about this sooner.
To me you were. They are nothing alike to me. Different states of mind, different objectives, different strategies.
Donating and saving are two entirely different activities in my life, and the only similarity are the numbers on the ledger. (one has an immediate payoff (donating feels good) while the other is not satisfying at all (just helps me sleep)).
You're advice sounded a lot like the financial version of, "stop eating less and you won't be fat." ... but I guess that does work for some people ...
I think all he's saying is that if you get in the habit of living on less $ (because you're giving 20, 30, 40, 50% away to others), if you decide to give it to _yourself_ to paydown debt, or save for retirement, you're already used to living on "50% income", so it may not be as difficult as for soemone who hasn't done this exercise.
The motivations are different: paying down my debt enhances my own financial well-being, while donating to charities enhances others'. Or: paying down debt is self-interested, while donating is selfless (or at least self-interested in a different way).
The point is: living on 0.5 * $annual_income requires discipline. If you give 0.5 to charity, good for you. If you put 0.5 to a retirement plan, or apply to some long-term debt that you assume, good for you. Not everybody has the discipline to get $10 and only look at $5 as "available".
Know what your expenses are and how much you are spending. Know which of the things you spend money for are really important to you, and what you wouldn't actually miss that much. Know how to keep your spending in check as your income grows, not just increasing spending because the money is there.
People tend to react emotionally to the teachers of these principles, like Dave Ramsey or Mr. Money Mustache. But it's not personal. It's just math. You can choose to cut way back on your spending if you want to retire really early, if that's what's most important to you. Or you can choose to spend more extravagantly and retire later (or not at all).
Or instead or retiring early, maybe you want to live really frugally but keep earning as much as possible, so you can give as much as possible. The underlying principles are the same.