This is a most interesting thread. Hopefully, I can add
something insightful.
CouponMom is provided free to
all users with the hopes that we use our coupon deals to get at least one item a week for charity. Who we define as charity is a personal decision. Some choose food pantries, others know relatives/friends down on their luck, there are those who focus on homeless shelters, and others like to donate free pet food to animal shelters, and the list goes on.
I'm getting the sense in this thread, that there is a struggle going on with defining charity vs. bailouts.
Without wishing to take a moral position, Here are my thoughts on the matter. Charity is giving someone a hand up who may not have otherwise had one. It is done of our own free will, and with the hope that it somehow makes a difference.
Bailouts on the other hand are the
expectation that someone will be
repeatedly rescued whether it is from your coupon deals (with no effort of their own), repeated financial assistance (again with minimal to no effort of the recipient) and so forth.
There is a
fine distinction between
charity and
bailouts, and again a personal decision. Having said all of this, some of you may know that I am a HUGE Dave Ramsey fan, and that he uses the word boundaries quite often. I am a big believer in boundaries. Boundaries exist for a reason.....to minimize being taken advantage of.
And just a word of encouragement, many of you get up very early/stay up late to work on your coupons/deals/ and then the time spent to hit the stores. You spent your time/effort/energy to do that. You also had a game plan to help your family, your charities of choice, and so forth. If others weren't willing to do likewise, never let them make you feel guilty.
I sincerely hope that helps someone today.
