Crossposted from Otherwise

My husband and I were donating about 50% of our income until two years ago, when he took a significant pay cut to work at a nonprofit. We planned to cut our donation percentage at that time, but then FTX collapsed. In the time since, we’ve decided to keep donating half, although the absolute amount is a lot smaller.

In a sense this is nothing special, because it was remarkably good luck that we were ever able to afford to donate at this rate at all. But I’ll spell out our process over time, in case it helps others realize they can also afford to donate more than they thought.

How we got here

Getting interested in donation

In my teens and early twenties, I thought it was really unfair that my family had plenty of stuff while other people (especially in low-income countries) [...]

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Outline:

(00:41) How we got here

(00:45) Getting interested in donation

(01:09) Early years with Jeff

(02:18) When we earned less

(03:17) Earning to give

(04:15) Both at nonprofits

(04:55) EA funding declines

(05:33) Currently

(05:51) Avoiding spending creep

(07:19) Becoming older and more boring

(08:44) Habits and commitment mechanisms

The original text contained 2 images which were described by AI.

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First published:
December 4th, 2024

Source:
https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/mEQTxDGp4MxMSZA74/still-donating-half

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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Images from the article:

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