Sometimes I patronize small businesses or go to events that either have a sliding scale cost (not dependent on income, it's honor system) or are pay-what-you-can. Sometimes there's a range of accepted prices, sometimes not. I'm always torn on the best way to handle this. Especially if I technically "can" pay the highest amount.
I just ran into this today. The sliding scale was $20-$40. Usually I pick somewhere in the middle, but today I only paid $20, because my credit card balance is higher than I'd like right now due to some medical bills and vacation expenses. I figure that they wouldn't offer to take as low as $20 if they didn't mean that they were OK with taking that little, but I still kind of felt like an asshole. I'm not destitute, I make a decent - though by no means high - salary for my city, I have savings, but my credit card balance makes me a bit nervous and I want it gone asap so I went with the lower amount this time.
Was that the right thing to do, or am I a cheap asshole who's taking advantage of a small business?