That ain't your money. Where are you donating your COVID bucks?

[nkt0]

I view myself as fortunate enough to have a steady job through this crisis and a high enough income to not really be the target audience for the COVID stimulus money. I plan to give mine to the local food bank, a local animal shelter, and possibly a few other orgs that are in need of $$$.

Interested to hear where other privileged folks have given or plan to give their stimulus bucks…

[frugalnacho]

I still feel like I am shackled to a job I don't want to do...so even though I have several hundred thousand dollars invested, I'm not free and will just be adding it to my freedom stache. 

[Greystache]

My son and his fiance have both had their hours reduced and have not yet received their stimulus checks. They have not asked for help yet, but I will probably give them a hand.  If not, it will be a nice wedding gift.

[MudPuppy]

Spouse and I split it three ways: 1/3 to the animal rescue we foster with, 1/3 to the American Nurses Foundation, and 1/3 to ourselves/our local economy to be used buying takeout at local restaurants that we wouldn’t usually be buying

[PoutineLover]

I'm in Canada and I haven't lost my job so I didn't get any stimulus money, but since I feel so fortunate to not be affected, I've upped my donations. Recently I've given to the local mission, a food bank and an organization that helps homeless teens. Will try to do at least monthly donations. Still in the accumulation phase so it's not huge amounts, but I know a lot of people are hurting right now and I want to do my part.

[solon]

I still feel like I am shackled to a job I don't want to do...so even though I have several hundred thousand dollars invested, I'm not free and will just be adding it to my freedom stache.

Yep, it's the only sensible option if you're not already FIREd. Treat it just like you would any other windfall.

[MudPuppy]

I think that’s true for a narrow definition of sensible. My idea of sensible in this situation falls outside of yours and that’s okay.

[remizidae]

Better to give money to people in need directly, rather than forcing them to go through the middleman of a food bank.

https://www.givedirectly.org/covid-19/us/

[nkt0]

https://www.givedirectly.org/covid-19/us/

Yeah i saw this pop up in a few articles. It's an intriguing idea. I'll probably give a piece to them.

[maisymouser]

Same here. Until I put on my own oxygen mask (defined personaly as being capable of sustaining myself and my family with our modest current lifestyle indefinitely) I am very cautious and careful about my level of donations. Like frugalnacho I consider myself to be an indentured servant until I am FI.

I feel that the best thing that I can do for those who are in need is voting. Voting for candidates who support progressive social assistance programs especially.

[maisymouser]

All that being said, I should say that I am so happy to see others who are comfortable giving to those in need. Y'all are great!

[Michael in ABQ]

Some of it is going to my wife's sister. She's a single mom and worked in retail. She's trying to go back to school so even part of our "free money" will help her more than us. The rest is going into building our emergency fund which was not as well funded as it should have been. Especially now that I've taken a hard look at what our monthly burn rate actually is.

[rmorris50]

If I did happen to qualify, it would just go into the pot of money I use to help support mom. She lives off a tiny social security, half which goes to rent!

[slappy]

I paid off my car, donated some money to a local nonprofit that is grocery shopping for those in need, and bought some AirPods pro, which I found a good deal on.

[Tasse]

I donate 10% of all my income. When I get excess like this, I usually give it here: https://www.givewell.org/

[Fishindude]

We've not gotten any stimulus $$ yet, but I was thinking the same thing.
We don't really need it, so why not give it to a worthy charity.

[omachi]

I won't be getting a stimulus check, but made an extra donation to the local food network anyway. The reason to do that, at least where I donated, is that they can source food much more cheaply than you, I, or the people in need can. For example, they work with farmers to buy (or take as donation) produce that wouldn't sell in a grocery store and get it for cheap. Sure, some is ugly, some is bad and comes out during repacking, but it reduces food waste, provides more value than compost or pig feed for the farmers, and gives people perfectly good food to eat.

[Fish Sweet]

I'm currently unemployed, the only money coming in is from the side gig which covers maybe a third of my expenses, and living on savings right now.  I'm far from FIRE. Stimulus check hasn't hit yet. That said, I'm still miles better off than a LOT of people out there, so I've been donating/spending money left and right. I understand 'putting on your oxygen mask first', and ordinarily I'd be in the exact same boat stashing away for my future, but right now a lot of MMM'ers have their oxygen masks on, life vests buckled, escape parachutes attached, and are just figuring out the details of the rescue helicopter while others are thrashing around in the water.  It wouldn't hurt to throw them a life preserver too.

$250 to a local nonprofit that partners with local businesses providing free meals.
$50 to one of my favorite boardgame cafes, as they're closed during this time.
$100 to artists whose livelihoods have been impacted by COVID
And a couple other odd one-off donations.  Unfortunately, also have been donating money for funeral expenses to friends who've lost loved ones.  Fuckin' pandemic.

After the stimulus check hits, I'll probably earmark another $250 to the first nonprofit, and I'm still deciding where the rest should go-- Planned Parenthood, food pantries, and some international nonprofits assisting workers impacted by COVID are big contenders.

Like another poster, I may also buy a set of high quality noise cancelling headphones to treat myself.

[afox]

I cant justify donating money right now. I have to protect myself before I can help others, here's the dilemna:

I feel like im in a situation where my employer could "force" me to work in a dangerous (due to covid) situation at any moment. At that point, I could say "fuck you" to my employer but then I wont get unemployment or health insurance. Certainly there are millions of employees in the U.S. right now that are working under unsafe conditions with no other real option. Once I have enough "fuck you" money to deal with my employer I will donate but the level of savings I feel like I need to ensure my own safety has suddenly increased drastically. Im sure im not the only one that feels this way. People need to feel "somewhat safe" to spend, when its "your money or your life" the decision to not spend on donations or anything else non-discretionary is much easier...

[BECABECA]

Better to give money to people in need directly, rather than forcing them to go through the middleman of a food bank.

https://www.givedirectly.org/covid-19/us/

Thank you for this! I was wanting to donate to something covid related but effective, so this is ideal. I just sent off a donation.

We plan to give all of our stimulus, in addition to our normal annual giving from our DAF. For the stimulus, we qualified for $2400, and so far we’ve given:
$900 to givedirectly’s covid-19 relief campaign
$500 to progressive political candidates running on increased social safety net platforms
$100 to CA’s Immigrant Resilience Fund, a public-private partnership to provide cash assistance to undocumented Californians who are ineligible for COVID-19 federal relief.
$100 to a friend’s mother’s burial expenses

We still need to give away $800 more. I’m expecting we’ll get some more gofundme requests for burial expenses. After that, I’ll donate any remaining funds to givedirectly.

[Samuel]

I'd already donated some to a local food lifeline org before receiving my stimulus check, but since then my employer has announced a round of layoffs. I'll keep my check in the bank for now.

[maisymouser]

I'm currently unemployed, the only money coming in is from the side gig which covers maybe a third of my expenses, and living on savings right now.  I'm far from FIRE. Stimulus check hasn't hit yet. That said, I'm still miles better off than a LOT of people out there, so I've been donating/spending money left and right. I understand 'putting on your oxygen mask first', and ordinarily I'd be in the exact same boat stashing away for my future, but right now a lot of MMM'ers have their oxygen masks on, life vests buckled, escape parachutes attached, and are just figuring out the details of the rescue helicopter while others are thrashing around in the water.  It wouldn't hurt to throw them a life preserver too.

Thank you for this. I honestly hadn't considered my metaphor like that and it's a pretty accurate representation of what's happening. I just donated to a food security program. I hope your side gig helps with the expenses and whatnot, best of luck.

[Cranky]

We gave a chunk to feeding programs run through our church and to a program that helps with utility bills, and plunked some into the New Furnace Fund.

I’m interested to find that there really aren’t any local small businesses that I especially care about. I’m fairly shocked at how distraught people are about restaurants. I hate to see people lose their livelihoods, but restaurant food seems like such a waste.

[Scubanewbie]

My DH and I are unaffected right now (in the fortunate boat at the moment of being ahead of the game based on gas/childcare/vacation spending cancelled).  I'm committed to 100% of it going to charities and local businesses but admit I'm having a bit of analysis paralysis on all the places I could donate.  So far I've:
1) 100% funded my childcare provider's salary April (with May/June/July also committed) it's a center so not contractually obligated but volunteered as her salary is more than I would have ordinarily given so gave me the 'push' needed to dig a little deeper
2) Funding children's gymnastics fee - they asked if we would consider paying ahead with a credit being available in the fall
3) Offered (and was declined) continuing to pay cleaner (yeah yeah, facepunches and all that, dual income long commute and I wouldn't give it  up for the world but still save >50% of income so hush :)
4) Paid for small services I otherwise would have done myself, i.e. local seamstress
5) Bought $500+ local business gift cards to give for teacher appreciation <- OK, that one wasn't my money, but a great idea by our local PTA and I'm the treasurer so wrote the checks :)

All of these represent me continuing or bumping up spend I otherwise would have had though. It doesn't feel like sacrificial giving and I'm having a hard time with the rest.  I want to buy a bunch of gift cards but honestly never go out and care less about restaurants than most, I tend to like service businesses more and most of them are truly closed.  I feel the need to do something and am having a hard time pulling the trigger.  Most of the places I feel strongly about are actually doing well or even swimming in donations, I'm really impressed by my local community.  Probably I end up dithering so long that I just spend it all when things open back up more freely than I otherwise would have.  Renting kayak's...sure!  Ice cream at the cute shop afterwards everytime vs. only now and again...absolutely!  Yes, yes, and yes!

[OtherJen]

We put the bulk of ours in savings because we don't know how much longer we'll both be working. But we did make a donation to a local food bank.

[Dee]

I'm in Canada, so no stimulus money for me. At first, I donated directly to a friend in need, to the local food bank and to a local shelter. As time went on, and more and more government aid packages were announced for more and more segments of society, I decided I would be paying enough in taxes for the rest of my life and am currently on hiatus from giving. I obviously may change my mind as time goes on. But currently I'm really apprehensive about all the ways I am likely to be taxed in the future to pay back all this government giving that's now taking place. I guess time will tell.

[ColoAndy]

Ordering from a few local businesses, and saving the rest.

[Sailor Sam]

I got Visa gift cards, and mailed them off to people in my wider social network who are struggling. It makes me smile, thinking of the surprise on their faces, when the envelopes mysteriously showed up.

[Dicey]

Better to give money to people in need directly, rather than forcing them to go through the middleman of a food bank.

https://www.givedirectly.org/covid-19/us/

Before you look down at foodbanks (oops...to late, apparently), you might be interested to know that they have ways of obtaining foods at insanely good prices that most mere mortals can only dream of. Mine buys fresh produce for twelve cents a pound. They buy canned goods by the truckload straight from the manufacturers. Further, my Food Bank supports all kinds of groups who feed people. Churches, religious, and civic organizations all are supported by them. The Food Banks join with neighboring counties Food Banks to share in overhead costs, but everything that's donated in a specific county stays in that county. Just out of curiosity, why so much Food Bank disdain?

Giving money to people directly doesn't always translate into nutritional food.

[brooklynmoney]

1k to the food bank today. Granted it came from the DAF so feels like cheating since I had already donated the $ technically. Will have to give more straight from the bank account.

[Fish Sweet]

I'm currently unemployed, the only money coming in is from the side gig which covers maybe a third of my expenses, and living on savings right now.  I'm far from FIRE. Stimulus check hasn't hit yet. That said, I'm still miles better off than a LOT of people out there, so I've been donating/spending money left and right. I understand 'putting on your oxygen mask first', and ordinarily I'd be in the exact same boat stashing away for my future, but right now a lot of MMM'ers have their oxygen masks on, life vests buckled, escape parachutes attached, and are just figuring out the details of the rescue helicopter while others are thrashing around in the water.  It wouldn't hurt to throw them a life preserver too.

Thank you for this. I honestly hadn't considered my metaphor like that and it's a pretty accurate representation of what's happening. I just donated to a food security program. I hope your side gig helps with the expenses and whatnot, best of luck.

Thank you so much!  And for your generosity of heart in donating to the food security program. :)  In truth, my post was as much a pep talk to myself to stay the course as it was encouragement for others.

[ministashy]

So far I've donated to the WA Food fund and the Navajo Nation Covid-19 fund, which has been very hard hit and doesn't have a lot of extra resources.  I'm spacing my donations out over six months, so that I can keep donating when possibly the first flush of stimulus-inspired giving recedes.  After six months, I'll reassess my budget and see.

[Cranky]

Better to give money to people in need directly, rather than forcing them to go through the middleman of a food bank.

https://www.givedirectly.org/covid-19/us/

Before you look down at foodbanks (oops...to late, apparently), you might be interested to know that they have ways of obtaining foods at insanely good prices that most mere mortals can only dream of. Mine buys fresh produce for twelve cents a pound. They buy canned goods by the truckload straight from the manufacturers. Further, my Food Bank supports all kinds of groups who feed people. Churches, religious, and civic organizations all are supported by them. The Food Banks join with neighboring counties Food Banks to share in overhead costs, but everything that's donated in a specific county stays in that county. Just out of curiosity, why so much Food Bank disdain?

Giving money to people directly doesn't always translate into nutritional food.

Yes. I gave a specific amount of money to my church's food pantry several years ago, for my birthday, with the idea that they would give every family a bag of apples that month. They said, oh, we can do better than that, and made it cover a produce item for 5 months straight - which had never been offered before - and then decided to offer produce every month. They can get way, way better prices for things through their network.

[MasterStache]

We put the kids money into savings. My son will need a car this year so it went into his car fund. The rest we are donating a bit and spending the rest ordering takeout from local restaurants once or twice/wk.

[des999]

I only got a few hundred dollars, but I donated it to the local food bank.  This crisis definitely has me feeling very fortunate to be in my situation.  Even though I'm not FIRE, I'm getting there.

I am going to try to do a better job of giving.

[chemistk]

We were going to save and donate the whole thing, but 50% of it ended up going to our local Ford dealer. $2100 of transmission work needed to be done on my car.

So, we've been spending it 1-2x a week at local restaurants and put the rest into our house fund.

[nkt0]

Got our deposit today and turned around and donated:

$1000 to local food bank
$1000 to give directly's US covid program
$200 to local animal rescue

Left $200 in reserve for other stuff that may come up later.

[pressure9pa]

10% to local church, like all receipts.

$1000 to https://realhopeforhaiti.org/ 

Haiti has a population of 11 million, and has between 60 and 90 ventilators depending on which source you believe.  The population is largely malnourished and undereducated, which is a bad combination for a Covid-19 breakout.  I've visited this mission in the past and am confident the dollars are well-used.

Remainder will go into my 401k, basically making up for the pay decrease we have in effect.

[desk_jockey]

Had I received one, it would have gone as a donation to the opposition candidate's campaign. 

[MudPuppy]

What does that mean?

[desk_jockey]

What does that mean?

Trump sent out letters to everyone that received a check and most that got the direct deposits.  I presume he did so because he wanted to create the impression that he was the reason the money was distributed.  Had I received the $1200 I would have sent the money to the Biden Campaign for President, which 5 years ago is an idea that would have never occurred to me.       

[MudPuppy]

Ah. Same, tbh

[Sibley]

Donated some to the local animal shelter and zoo. I like animals more than I like people.

[SquashingDebt]

Thanks for this thread!  I've been inspired to donate half of mine to food security nonprofits (so far one local and one national, both focused on promoting local food systems).  I'll spend the other half pre-paying my CSA (not required to pay ahead of time so it'll give them a boost) and buying other local food.

[Photograph 51]

One of my patients admitted that he spent his entire stimulus check on cocaine.  Anything that anyone on this board does with their check is bound to be better than that.

[MudPuppy]

@Photograph 51 just supporting a local small business

[aceyou]

We have donated to a local non-profit that provides free legal representation for immigrants.  The are doing great work in our community for group of people that badly needs it. 

[Schaefer Light]

I still feel like I am shackled to a job I don't want to do...so even though I have several hundred thousand dollars invested, I'm not free and will just be adding it to my freedom stache.

My thoughts exactly.  Mine's going to buy more shares of VTSAX.

[flyingaway]

Never received one, even in 2008.

[Bloop Bloop]

Never received one, even in 2008.

Also never received a stimulus