Giving Back
I've been a student for many, many years. Though I've been entitled to concessions from the government, and managed to score myself a well paying one-day-per-week job, I've learned to live simply and not spend my money on crap. Early on I had a lot of trouble not going over budget on food even though I was buying the cheapest vegan food available
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Donations have been going alright. I haven't managed to make the time to look into Australian Ethical investment, though. I should get around to that eventually.
The main thing I have done is put US$500 into Kiva and began loaning $50 amounts to various groups/people. It was hard to begin with because there was just so much choice!, but I ended up searching by who has been waiting the longest and found things which didn't conflict with my ideals (many of them did =/). It's nice to get random emails saying businesses are going well because of my investments - though much of it just feels like I'm doing so little, as I'm only lending money I'm doing nothing with anyway.
But having a lot of income made it easier for me to justify just giving to groups like Animals Australia on behalf of friends and family for gifts. I gave a lot to Vegfam for Cassie at Chrsitmas, too - partly because I wasn't expecting the exchange rate to be so high, but I didn't mind =) And I feel more comfortable giving to people on the street (though I still have concerns about where the money goes).
Now I'm back to having a very low income and needing to be careful with how I spend money. It's not so hard, as I buy little other than food anyway. But I make sure I support good companies when I do make purchases (it's very rare now that I walk into Woolworths or Coles) - having access to and discounts at food cooperatives definitely helps.
I guess it all comes down to making yourself aware about how you can make a difference. Then you can gradually make lifestyle changes to suit. If it's slow it doesn't feel like you're actually missing out on anything.
Having said all that, there are many areas in which I can improve still. I'll work on them.
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