a drop of water

When you buy something, you want your money’s worth right?  You do research and talk to previous/current owners about their experiences.  When you invest in stocks or deposit your money in the bank, you want to choose a trusted institution that will have high returns with low risk. We must apply the same rigor to selecting a charity to invest in.  For example, here are a few things to consider in order to make the most of your charitable contribution:

1. Give to a charity with efficient overhead costs, maximizing the direct impact of your gift.  Everyone likes a good deal, getting the most for your money.  Hold organizations accountable to minimizing their overhead costs.
2. Give to a charity that your company has chosen to match employee gifts.  Companies need to give away lots of money for tax reasons, so why not advocate for the organization of your choice with part of the financial power of your large company?  (Don’t see your organization on the list? Go and ask your HR department about getting them added!)
3. Give to a charity that you can connect with and advocate for among your community.  I know its a little awkward to talk about which charities you support, but there are so many charities out there, that most people might never take the time to learn about one unless personally introduced to it.

So, here is a little about World Vision:

1. 89% of your gift goes directly to the cause, 11% goes to overhead including fundraising, management and general. (reports here)
2. They have a company match database conveniently located here.
3. They tangibly connect you with who you are giving to, humanizing  your investment instead of making you feel like you don’t know where your money is really going.  You can sponsor a child, buy clothes for children who are suffering from the cold in Mongolia, or select from a host of other options in their gift catalog.

Thanks for reading!

With falling home prices in San Diego, California (and across the nation), homeowners can receive a little relief in temporarily lowering their home assessment, resulting in lower property taxes.  Since property taxes are usually ~1% of your home’s sale price, this can be a savings of ~1000s  of dollars.  This will typically help those who have recently purchased a home, since sales prices of homes which have been owned for a while are not lower than todays prices.

Summary from the application:

Under State law, (Proposition 8), if the current market value of your property, as of January 1, 2009, falls below the assessed or taxable value as shown on your tax bill, the Assessor’s Office is required to temporarily lower the assessment. This type of property tax relief generally applies to more recently purchased properties. If you feel you qualify for this reduction, please file this form with the Assessor’s Office between January 1 and May 30. Please indicate your opinion of value by providing supporting documentation, such as sales of comparable properties or a recent appraisal.

Our staff will review your application, and the property owner will be notified of the results in July. If the property owner disagrees with the value at that time, they must file an assessment appeal with the Clerk of the Assessment Appeals Board between July 2 and November 30. The necessary application can be obtained by calling the Clerk’s Office at (619) 531-5777.

I’ve received several notices in the mail about this company and that company offering to handle the application process themselves for a fee (~$100).  Here is how you can do it yourself for free with four easy links:

1. Check your current property taxes and home assessment here.
2. Check www.zillow.com or www.redfin.com for recent home sales in your neighborhood.  Make note of addresses of homes similiar to your own and their sales prices in from 10/08 to 03/09.
3. If homes that are similar to your home are selling for much lower than your home’s assessed value, start with the application here.
4. Find the Parcel Numbers for addreses here.

[optional] Feel free to paypal (ddhoffman.seller [at] gmail [dot] com) me if this information helped you :)

At Coast Vineyard this Sunday, Pastor Jamie covered the question “Why should I tithe?”  He addressed the topic in two parts, first discussing some of the myths about tithing and then discussing the opportunites in giving.  Here the notes from the sermon handout:

Common Myths about Giving

• Myth #1 – As long as we are giving, the amount we give does not matter.
• Myth #2 – Tithing is part of the law that doesn’t apply to followers of Jesus (Genesis 14:18-20; Luke 11:42).
• Myth #3 – We should give only when we have the resources.  (2 Corinthians 8:3)

Types of Giving in the Bible

• “Tithing” is giving 10% to the place we worship. (Leviticus 27:30; 1 Corinthians 16:2)
• “Offerings” or “Alms” are gifts we give to the poor. (Matthew 6:2-4)

The Opportunities in Giving

• Tithing is an opportunity to worship.  (Malachi 3:8-10)  
• Tithing is an opportunity to test God. (Malachi 3:10)
• Tithing is an opportunity to receive blessing. (Malachi 3:10)
• God promises protection to those who tithe. (Malachi 3:11)
• Tithing is an opportunity to witness. (Malachi 3:12)

Another idea that Jamie shared was that tithing not only still applies to followers of Jesus, but that it is a starting place for our attitudes.  Tithing is not the goal nor something to ignore.  It is a beautiful opportunity to trust God with our resources.  Stories of people like John Wesley and George Mueller,  and a lesser known friends, John and Rose Marie Renfro remind me that 10% is really only square one on the board game of life.  I remember John sharing with me about how they would annually increase the percentage of their tithes and how God would always provide for them even in dire straights.

The last thought that Jamie shared regarding the myths of tithing was that giving tithes to the church consists of a posture of surrender, especially when juxtaposed to donating to ones favorte nonprofit orgniazation, where we still cling to a feeling of control.  Like any investor, we want to have concrete evidence of what our resources are contributing towards and that idea sometimes runs against the grain of the feelings surrounding tithing.  But this is an opportunity to meet the fear of not having enough and surrender to God and acknowledge that he is in control.  With respect to Coast, Jamie did nention later that the financial books are open for those interested and that as we tithe we are taking part in each ministry at Coast like, love146, Thailand, InterVarsity, Youth, Branch, etc.

Ultimately we are giving to the giver, responding to the infinitely great gift in Jesus Christ.  In tithing, we acknowledge God as our LORD and king, and that we do not have any other.

In light of the ongoing financial crisis and economic mood, there seems to be a growing number of people  re-evaluating gift giving, i.e. the site: No Christmas Gifts This Year.  Gift giving is a lot of things for different people.  It can be a burden when you have no idea what to get your distant cousin.  It can be an expression of love for your significant other.  It can be a responsibility to meet the expectation of your child.  It can be an attempt to “keep up with the Jones” in the expense and magnitude of your generosity.  For me, I’ve been rethinking the pragmatism of gift giving.

I think the challenge this year for me is to give sustainable gifts that keep on giving.  I want to give a gift that just isn’t the proverbial fish, but teaches how to catch fish.  On NPR last weekend, a point was made by Chef Jamie Oliver, (most known for campaigning against processed foods in British Schools) that people [Americans] today are lacking when it comes to making tasty, lasting, nutritional meals at home on a budget and with what ever is available locally and seasonally.  He believes that most people today who are used to going out to eat for a good meal, lack knowledge of substitutions, have very little creativity when it comes to deciding what to make based on what is in their pantry, and have very little understanding of what is in season and what is out of season.  The importance of these skills and knowledge is even more important in light of the current economic atmosphere.

So maybe giving a cookbook to a loved one would be something along these lines, to get them started.  But don’t stop there.  Combine your gift of a cookbook with some IOU gifts of time to choose and prepare a recipe together.  Sharing a meal always provides the ground for deepening frienships, but preparing a meal together catalyzes the process.

I do not own these two books, but received recommendations for them, so for what its worth, here is something to get you started:

1. How to Cook Everything – [$18.10] (After $5 Rebate on Amazon.com)
2. The Splendid Table’s How to Eat Supper – [$23.10] (Amazon.com)

You can also check out some of the cooking adventures of a future trophy husband at my friends blog.

Part 2 of 5 in Tips for Budgeting

Tracking Numbers – Knowledge is Power

1. Category Pools aka the Envelope Method – Discipline is required here.  If you put $25 into the restaurant envelope then you must hold yourself to spending only $25 in restaurants that week.  When the week (or whatever time period you’ve set) is over, the money left over can be moved to a savings account or kept in the envelope as a rollover amount for those weeks where more than $25 might be justified.

2. Automatic Disbursements – If your employer offers direct deposit, you can automatically disburse a percentage of your paycheck to a savings account so that amount of money is never really considered as part of your daily living expenses.  If our paycheck is $1000, we live in a way that uses up that $1000.  If we make our paycheck $850 dollars, we will live a lifestyle that uses up that $850.  Lets say you are paid every two weeks and put $150 of each paycheck into that savings account which you do not have regular access to.  After just one year you would have accrued a savings of $3900.  Congratulations, you have more saved than the typical American family.

3. Electronic Monitoring – Credit cards (lots of incentives–cashback, points, miles–for responsible use) combined with programs like www.mint.com or quicken make monitoring your spending almost automatic.  Seeing the relative percentage of how much money goes into different categories in graphs and summaries can be a sobering and challenging experience, but its helpful to know what we are investing in.  Spending really is investing.  Half the battle of being generous with our resources is knowing where we spend already.