who's paying it forward this holiday season?

For the past year or so my focus has been on giving & doing for others. Getting away from the bigger is better concept & trying to reduce my carbon footprint. I'm volunteering on Christmas, not really buying many gifts for my family. I made alot of stuff instead & we donated money & gifts to charity.
My husband got a huge surprise holiday bonus last night(bonuses are not a big thing in his field).
We have two friends that are struggling desperately and a few others that are either getting laid off or getting behind with bills.
We invited one of our friends-recently divorced two kids that live with their Dad, declared bankruptcy & can barely pay her rent to come live with us for a while to get back on her feet.
Another couple we know just had their rent raised & their landlord wants them to pay for their oil now, the wife's paycheck bounced last week & the company she works for has no money so she's getting laid off. The husband's 20 year old son is coming to NY from FL to stay with them Christmas week & she told us she doesn't have any money for a Christmas gift for him or for food. We just bought them a gift card to the food store so they can eat well.
My cousin is divorced has two little kids the her tenant stopped paying his rent & moved out. Since the divorce she counts on that money for bills, she's got no money for gifts for her kids & she didn't get a Christmas bonus this year & might be getting laid off in January. Plus this is the 1st Christmas since her mom passed away I'm going to toys R us after work & buying her a gift card so she can get stuff for her kids.
These are just regular middle class people that live simple lives that are struggling. I am so thankful to have good health & not feel burdened by bills from Christmas shopping, I'm not stressed at all this year. I was out shopping for a few little things all day yesterday & everywhere I went I got good parking spots, lines were short, salespeople were friendly, the stores had everything I needed.
After almost 40 years on this planet I finally feel like I'm living the good life in more than a monetary way.
Who else is with me with paying it forward?

Re: who's paying it forward this holiday season?

That is nice. You are both very kind people. That is really what the holidays are all about. I have a friend who is a single mom w/a 13 yr old daughter. She has been struggling w/depression and has been forced to take a low paying job. I am buying a few small thing for them and leaving them at her back door without a name.

Re: who's paying it forward this holiday season?

i am.. i work at a school and there are 2 needy families there that they collected for. one family lost the father at 35 years old- the boys are like 7 and 5 and the other family has 3 boys and one of them was just diagnosed with a brain disorder and they have a lot of medical bills.
so at my school they were collecting gifts for all the kids and i bought something for each family...

Re: who's paying it forward this holiday season?

Wow, you're paying it forward in a big way. My ways are a little more subtle, and not always financial.

I have given several gifts for toys for tots and a few coat drives. I've given monetary donations to anyone who's asked, and some who haven't.

But I've also been trying to help people in different ways. I'm not so much 'donating my time' but when a situation arises, I'm trying to help people out, strangers mostly, in every way I can. That's not so much a holiday thing, but an all year long thing.

Re: who's paying it forward this holiday season?

we did... we sent a nice donation to the troops

Re: who's paying it forward this holiday season?

these are great!!!! Time is often the best gift you can give someone.
I'm glad I can help with money, but its not the only solution to problems. I also got my friend & my cousin "the secret"
to try to inspire them to stay positive.

Re: who's paying it forward this holiday season?

this is really inspirational! DH and i are saving to buy a house, and money is insanely tight right now, so we decided not to buy each other gifts, and set a limit on how much we spend on our families and friends.

i think, next year, i really want to work on being more "green" and paying it forward. our shopping for the year is done, but i am still willing to do something to help. our office is doing "toys for tots" and i am going out during lunch to buy some toys. i know it's not much, but it's a start, and hopefully next year i can focus less on "stuff."