It's Dai Time

Katie & Scott & Simon & Cecily.

Tag: gift

Day 338: donating

January 16, 2010 / / 0 Comments

Yesterday, I gave $35 to Doctors Without Borders to help with earthquake recovery in Haiti.

Overall, I don’t give too much money to charity.  It’s never really bothered me, never made me feel guilty, but I realize that the giving that I do make is somewhat random.

For the past two years, Katie and I have given to our local NPR station because we listen to it on a daily basis and feel a bit obligated to support it in return.  Last year, I also additionally gave a small bit to WBEZ, the Chicago NPR station that hosts This American Life and is responsible for paying for the podcast, which I listen to most weeks.

The only other regular donation is to CMU, just to help boost alumni giving numbers, but that’s really only when I remember to do it.

The last voluntary donation that I gave (aside from the odd dollar at checkout in supermarkets or pet stores) is probably to the Red Cross for Hurricane Katrina.  So, does it really take an epic disaster for me to step up to the donation table?  Should I carve out a portion of my yearly income to go to those that need help?

Is money given to the Red Cross or Doctors Without Borders during a non-major-disaster any less useful than now?

Am I not pulling my weight in doing more for the greater good?  Alas, I don’t give blood as often as I could either!  Am I just being too greedy?  Or is donating to charity above and beyond normal duty?

Day 307: presents for me?

December 16, 2009 / / 0 Comments

Around this time of year, I start taking a look at my Amazon wish list and wondering whether I should be adding or removing things from it.

Most of the year, the list is nothing but a way to remind myself of media that I want to consume at some point: an interesting book I’d heard about on NPR or a video game I mean to get around to once the price drops.

But around Christmas time, the list is actually used and read by an audience of more than one.  So, I have to make sure that the things on it are actually gifts I want to receive and, because I’d feel pretty guilty otherwise, that they’re hovering around a reasonable price.  While I have no problem keeping something on my wish list that I would consider buying at a much lower price, I always get nervous when the list goes out to other family members, who could inadvertently buy something that I did want at a price point that I’m uncomfortable with.

This year is a bit different, though.  I feel a bit guilty putting anything on there with a baby on the way.  We already are starting to populate a separate baby registry on Amazon, and it feels a bit greedy to ask for something for ourselves, only to turn around and ask our friends and family to buy some other baby thing a month later for our baby shower.

So, do I just refer people to the baby registry instead of our wish list?  Or is it silly to ask for all of my Christmas presents to actually be presents for someone who hasn’t quite joined the family yet?

Or do I give people the option to buy something for me, knowing full well that we’ll still have lots of baby gear to get in the upcoming few months?

Day 296: christmas gifts

December 4, 2009 / / 0 Comments

I’m not sure if Katie and I are getting each other Christmas gifts this year.  In fact, since we’ve been married and merged our financial lives together, gifts in general are sometimes a bit silly.

It’s different with family members.  We don’t see our parents or siblings all that often and buying a gift for them or getting a gift from them during the holidays is a good feeling, especially if we manage to pick something that they genuinely end up loving and using in the upcoming year.

But for each other?  Our money all comes out of the same bank account and, most of the time, if we need something, we’ll buy it then and there (or wait for a specific time when we think we can get a deal on it).  So, all holiday-timed gifts would be things that we as a household don’t need but would rather be in the category of items that we would probably not honestly buy ourselves given the choice.  Which makes it all feel a little…unnecessary.

A few years ago, we did something quite fun.  Katie and I both went into Target a few weeks before Christmas and set ourselves a limit of $20 to buy the other as many gifts as we wanted.  It turned out to be quite fun.  We managed to retain the element of surprise; we checked out in different lanes and wrapped our presents before the other person could see them.  We also both knew that neither of us had spent over $20, which was a very reasonable amount to spend on frivolities.

It’s a phrase that we’ve all heard through our years of gift giving and receiving, but it seems to become extra true once you truly share everything: it’s the thought that counts.  In fact, at a certain point, the thought is the only thing that really counts at all.  The rest of it?  It’s just buying ourselves stuff.

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