Essay On Spending Money

If you earn $52,000 a year, you are one of the top 1% richest people in the world.[1] The average American household brings in $51,939 a year.[2] These facts raise some concerns.

First and foremost, the fact that earning $52,000 a year makes you rich by global standards says a lot about the economic conditions of the world as a whole. Many American families earn more than this amount and still manage to amass huge amounts of debt by spending on unnecessary luxuries, meanwhile families in underdeveloped parts of the world are still struggling just to have their basic needs met.

Clearly, there is a disconnect between those of the prosperous, developed world and those suffering in third world countries. We have the means to greatly impact global

Using your money in self-indulgent ways does not make you a bad person. It is a seemingly morally indefensible choice, but perhaps one you would not have made if you were aware of other options, such as saving a child 's life through charitable giving.
Spending money is a zero sum game. In order to gain one thing you must give up the possibility of gaining another thing.

The way we spend our money has consequences. If we choose, both individually and collectively, to spend the majority of our money on unnecessary items and activities, we have chosen self-indulgence over human life.

On the other hand, it seems as though giving up all of the unnecessary, yet pleasurable, luxuries of prosperous life would be a great sacrifice. You may, however, find this is not the case at all, and this is why most effective altruists recommend an approach based on sustainability. In other words, just give it a try.

Start by committing to give 10%, or even just 5%, of your income to an effective charity. If you find you are comfortable with the resulting lifestyle, try and increase the percentage.

Ultimately the goal is to give as much as you can to the right places, but you probably shouldn 't try to strive for this ideal from the start if it means a radical change in lifestyle. You should work up to it