Give Only What You Can

This is the time of year when the charities hound you with "End of the Year Fundraising" mailers. Last year, I was so overwhelmed with convincing pleas of neediness that I ended up going in to debt to give to charity. It is so hard to choose which charity to send money to, because they all have a great sob story (who can resist those adorable puppy eyes from the ASPCA, or the skinny starving children in Africa?). The only way to make it out of December unscathed is to... you guessed it... have a BUDGET. You can give as much as you like to charity this month, but make sure it is all accounted for in your budget. And make sure to prepare for the surprise mailers from new charities by not giving away all of your budgeted money to the first charity who knocks on your door. Be strong when the puppy eyes are staring up at you from the page... you can only give what you can this season, and not a penny more.