The 100 by 30 project

Do you pay for over-priced registry items?

Well, do you?

I was assembling a gift off of a registry for a June wedding, and noticed that the registry contained a $120 mattress pad (!) and $80 salt and pepper shakers (!!).

I declined to buy these. Not because I object, although if someone were spending $120 on me, a mattress pad is among the last things I'd want them to purchase.

No, it's because I worry that the couple will forget how much the item cost! Perhaps they were giddily circling Macy's or Target or Crate and Barrel with the shooter gun, and adding whatever caught their eye. Maybe they paid attention to the price at the time, but will forget 4 months later; maybe they never paid attention.

Either way, I don't want to be seen incorrectly as the cheap couple who only bought a mattress pad and some seasoning receptacles!

Petty of me? Maybe. But I've seen so much snickering lately by newlyweds about people not "covering their plate", a concept I hadn't even heard of until recently. I don't want to spend $200 and still have people snickering about what cheap wedding guests we are!

Finding a balance between charitable, activist, and political giving

In preparation for doing our taxes, I've started to figure out how much we gave away last year.

If we define:

1. "charitable" as anything that is tax exempt, e.g. our local food bank
2. "activist" as anything of a political or policy nature, but (at least nominally) non-partisan, e.g. the ACLU
3. "political" giving as donations to candidates, parties, or organizations that focus primarily on supporting political candidates or parties (e.g. EMILY's List)

then we spent $340 on charitable giving, $520 on activist giving (including membership fees), and $600 on political giving.

To a certain extent, the three categories are similar. Suppose I'm concerned about "brain drain" in my city. I can give to a cultural institution, or I can donate to a group working to recruit young professionals to my city, or I can support candidates I believe will best implement policies to attract young professionals to my city. All three further my goal.

But I'm worried that the charity number is too low. Not because I think charitable contributions are inherently better or more effective, but because I have to be careful about thinking of the three as too interchangeable -- the risk is in overlooking immediate needs. I give to Vietnam Veterans of America, my local food bank, and the ACLU, all of which work on "helping the homeless" in one way or another. But no matter how hard the ACLU works on, say, advance notification for property sweeps, it's not going to put food in anyone's mouth tonight.

How do you strike a balance between charitable, activist, and political giving?