I agree that she wasn't helping to do good -- she was helping so that people would pat her on the back and say, "What a good person you are."
This is even addressed in the Bible: So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. "But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
She also should've listened to her parents about building that emergency fund and taking care of herself. Is the parakeet's owner going to help her when she finishes college and needs to move to another state for her first job? Is the American Cancer Fund going to help her pay her deposit on her first apartment? No. It's good to help -- sometimes even to help until it hurts -- but not to give everything away when you yourself haven't yet established yourself in the world.
Since Bible verses are on my mind, I'll throw this verse out too -- it describes how a virtuous woman manages her finances and household goods:
"She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet. She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple ... She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant."
This describes a woman who gives to the poor -- but also a woman who looks to the needs of her own household, who lays in clothing, who makes goods to sell at the market. Somewhere else in this chapter it mentions that she considers a field and buys it. Clearly paying attention to one's own finances is a positive.
In the author's defense, she does seem to have learned from her mistakes -- even if her motive is the desire to go out to lunch.
