Last year I remember someone (Eliezer?) wrote a somewhat confusing recommendation as to which one one should donate to.
A quick glance at their progress reveals that the MIRI one has almost reached its goal of $250k whereas CFAR has only gotten $8k so far (but also has another two weeks to go).
MIRI’s fundraiser has gone surprisingly well surprisingly quickly, so if you’re happy to support either organization, then at this point it probably makes sense to give to CFAR’s fundraiser.
Awesome! I get my first paycheck (literally, the first paycheck I’ve earned in five years) on January 25, and giving CFAR $100 will give me more happiness than eating out once a week in February—especially since I fully intend to avail myself of one of CFAR’s workshops at the earliest possible opportunity.
I’d give more if I could, but right now I’m clawing myself back out of debt, and $100 is roughly the equilibrium point between “I really, really want CFAR to succeed so I can utilize it” and “I really, really want to stabilize my finances so I can afford to utilize CFAR”.
If it’s the first paycheck you’ve earned in five years and you can’t afford to eat out once a week without the donation, and you have a lot of debt, it’s likely you have little or no savings. If so, I would suggest putting the $100 in the bank in preference to either eating out or CFAR. You never know when a $100 expense might come up.
Furthermore, you should be paying off the debt anyway. Put it this way: Imagine that instead of you coming into possession of $100, someone were to shave $100 off your debt directly. Under those circumstances, would you go into $100 more debt (cancelling the effect of reducing it) to be able to give some money to CFAR? (Ignoring the fact that you probably can’t borrow in increments of $100.) If you wouldn’t increase your debt by 100 to pay CFAR in the first scenario, you shouldn’t pay CFAR in preference to reducing your debt by $100 in this scenario.
nod that’s pretty reasonable, but my total living expenses are only 50% of my income, and I got a sign-on bonus. I’m basically planning on saving 50%, living off the other 50%, and then paying off debts from the savings as the savings passes a certain threshold (defined as 6 months of living expenses). Between the sign-on bonus and the “have fun so I don’t fall back into depression and despair” part of living expenses (which is an ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY living expense and therefore already included in the non-saved 50%), $100 for a charity I believe in and intend on using myself later is absolutely in-budget.
And as for the risk of going further into debt, my debt tends to be somewhat discretized (due to interest amortization, student loan regulation, etc.) so certain methods and frequencies of payment are more efficient than others. $100 from my sign-on bonus is practically a rounding error.
but my total living expenses are only 50% of my income, and I got a sign-on bonus.
That would tend to imply that you actually can afford to eat out once a week even with the donation.
And as for the risk of going further into debt
My point wasn’t that there was a risk of going further into debt, it was that paying money to CFAR is equivalent to paying off the debt and then un-paying it so that you can donate to CFAR. If someone paid off your debt, would you un-pay it so that you could donate to CFAR?
Well, if it’s a stable income then there’s nothing wrong with a little celebration. Could be worth it for the boost in self-esteem from being able to contribute to something one feels is genuinely good and special.
What about CFAR this year? Should I consider donating to their 2013 Winter Matching Fundraiser instead of to MIRI?
Last year I remember someone (Eliezer?) wrote a somewhat confusing recommendation as to which one one should donate to.
A quick glance at their progress reveals that the MIRI one has almost reached its goal of $250k whereas CFAR has only gotten $8k so far (but also has another two weeks to go).
MIRI’s fundraiser has gone surprisingly well surprisingly quickly, so if you’re happy to support either organization, then at this point it probably makes sense to give to CFAR’s fundraiser.
Awesome! I get my first paycheck (literally, the first paycheck I’ve earned in five years) on January 25, and giving CFAR $100 will give me more happiness than eating out once a week in February—especially since I fully intend to avail myself of one of CFAR’s workshops at the earliest possible opportunity.
I’d give more if I could, but right now I’m clawing myself back out of debt, and $100 is roughly the equilibrium point between “I really, really want CFAR to succeed so I can utilize it” and “I really, really want to stabilize my finances so I can afford to utilize CFAR”.
If it’s the first paycheck you’ve earned in five years and you can’t afford to eat out once a week without the donation, and you have a lot of debt, it’s likely you have little or no savings. If so, I would suggest putting the $100 in the bank in preference to either eating out or CFAR. You never know when a $100 expense might come up.
Furthermore, you should be paying off the debt anyway. Put it this way: Imagine that instead of you coming into possession of $100, someone were to shave $100 off your debt directly. Under those circumstances, would you go into $100 more debt (cancelling the effect of reducing it) to be able to give some money to CFAR? (Ignoring the fact that you probably can’t borrow in increments of $100.) If you wouldn’t increase your debt by 100 to pay CFAR in the first scenario, you shouldn’t pay CFAR in preference to reducing your debt by $100 in this scenario.
nod that’s pretty reasonable, but my total living expenses are only 50% of my income, and I got a sign-on bonus. I’m basically planning on saving 50%, living off the other 50%, and then paying off debts from the savings as the savings passes a certain threshold (defined as 6 months of living expenses). Between the sign-on bonus and the “have fun so I don’t fall back into depression and despair” part of living expenses (which is an ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY living expense and therefore already included in the non-saved 50%), $100 for a charity I believe in and intend on using myself later is absolutely in-budget.
And as for the risk of going further into debt, my debt tends to be somewhat discretized (due to interest amortization, student loan regulation, etc.) so certain methods and frequencies of payment are more efficient than others. $100 from my sign-on bonus is practically a rounding error.
That would tend to imply that you actually can afford to eat out once a week even with the donation.
My point wasn’t that there was a risk of going further into debt, it was that paying money to CFAR is equivalent to paying off the debt and then un-paying it so that you can donate to CFAR. If someone paid off your debt, would you un-pay it so that you could donate to CFAR?
Well, if it’s a stable income then there’s nothing wrong with a little celebration. Could be worth it for the boost in self-esteem from being able to contribute to something one feels is genuinely good and special.