Good day from sunny Orlando, Florida! I am Josh Elledge, the Chief Executive Angel of SavingsAngel. Welcome to the SavingsAngel show!
As a consumer expert and money-saving advocate, I’ve appeared over 1500 times in the media, including on television and on the radio, and I hold a syndicated newspaper column.
And I really am encouraged - and like to encourage others - when I hear of people giving back or paying it forward. No matter how you describe it, I’ve always advocated generosity - and we’ve always promoted it through SavingsAngel as well. It feels good - and I want YOU to feel good - but I want to make this happen easy for you.
This week I want to give you two ways that you can be generous...
First I’ll have 8 ways to give back or pay if forward. Then I’ll have 5 charities Retailmenot recommends for easy giving when you’re shopping. And I’ll wrap up this portion of the podcast with a caution about giving.
After that, I want to continue our discussion about life insurance. Life insurance is a way to give to your own family - in case the unthinkable happens. So, even though it can be uncomfortable to think about, it’s important. To help you even more, you can listen to my two most recent podcasts at SavingsAngel.com, where I’ve discussed life insurance already. It is life insurance awareness month.
I’m eager to give to you in the form of knowledge, so get to saving more, earning more, and living more abundantly!
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I want to start this portion of the podcast with a quick list from Retailmenot.com. They’ve put together a short list of charities that allow you to purchase merchandise while giving! I thought this was kind of cool.
ASPCA When you buy merchandise from the ASPCA Store, 40 percent of the purchase price funds the work of the animal welfare group. You can also buy what’s called a “symbolic gift,” with 100 percent of the purchase price benefiting an animal’s life.
2. American Heart Association The American Heart Association runs ShopHeart.org, and 100 percent of proceeds after expenses go to support the American Heart Association’s efforts to drive awareness and education of heart disease and stroke.
3. World Wildlife Fund Another source of presents for an animal lover is World Wildlife Fund, which allows you to symbolically “adopt” an animal as a gift. For instance, the recipient of a Panda Adoption Kit ($50) will receive a panda stuffed animal, an adoption certificate, a species information card, a photo of a panda and a gift bag. You can also adopt lots of other animals like cougars, kangaroos and wombats.
4. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital All the proceeds from the St. Jude Gift Shop benefit the St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, which is famous for providing care for children suffering from cancer and other life-threatening diseases.
5. Livestrong Lance Armstrong’s Livestrong lives on beyond Lance’s foibles - but hey they provide invaluable support to people of all ages with cancer, and the Livestrong Store has tons to choose from, especially when it comes to apparel.
Along with these charities, you can peruse RetailMeNot’s charity section for even more gift ideas that give back. Go to retailmenot.com/coupons/charity.
And now, my list of 8 easy ways to give back or pay it forward.
(1) Help a student: Students typically need to raise money for at least one activity or event every year. Don't want what they’re selling? Ask if simply giving them cash is okay.
(2) Hold a second-hand sale for a cause: Save yourself a lot of work by making the sale by donation-only, rather than pricing everything. Use social media to get out the details of the sale and the cause.
(3) Tip generously - even if the service is poor: We typically give less when a server doesn't do a great job, but you don't know what they are going through outside the restaurant. So maybe it is actually the best time to give more generously.
(4) Buy someone's coffee or lunch: Ask the...
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