cbr

link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Treaty

Would you rather save one horse-sized duck or a hundred duck-sized horses?

We used to disagree on how much to donate, where Julia wanted to donate more and I was wary of giving away too much and saving too little for our future. We had a complicated system where we would each choose a fraction of our income to donate and then live together on the non-donated portion of our incomes, but this got to be too much of a hassle, so starting last year we agreed to just do 50% of our combined income. We like the symmetry: one for us, one for the world.

This year we did have a large unexpected expense but we had some savings and are still trying for 50% for the year.

My favorite charity right now is probably the Against Malaria Foundation. Malaria is one of the biggest killers of children worldwide, and bednets are both cheap and effective.

Have a look at their GiveWell review (warning: long!) for a very thorough description of how they're one of the best giving opportunities out there.

When you look at the level of poverty in the world, it's pretty overwhelming. There are so many people living on so much less than I would even have thought was possible! I figure I earn more than I really need to live on, and I should try to make do with less so others can have more.