Queer Money™ Facebook Group Questions

Queer Money Questions Answered

Every once in a while, we mix things up a bit on Queer Money™. This week is one of those weeks. Queer Money this week is all about your questions. We’ve taken 3 questions from the Queer Money Facebook group and are sharing our thoughts with you on these 3 topics.

 

 

The topics include how we find a charity to give our money to, how much Queer Money group members spend dining out and super easy tip on how to cut that by 10-50%, and a question about how to fit tipping into your dining out budget, along with our advice on how much to tip.

Listen to this week’s show here:

Where should my LGBTQ giving go?

Here’s our first question, or series of questions from a group member: I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how I will give back to the community. I’m 31 and beginning to realize my own capacity to help others now that debt is going away, and I have a comfortable savings level for retirement. As I start to look at local nonprofits, I am overwhelmed. There is a huge amount of need in the queer and trans community. The nonprofits requesting assistance seem to be everywhere. When you decided to start giving back, did you pick one nonprofit to support? Many to support at a lower level? Did you start your own nonprofit? I’d like to hear your experiences with this.

Of course, there are many ways to determine how to give. John and I suggest that one of the best ways to give back to LGBTQ charities is to start locally. We do this with the vast majority of our dollars. This is because we are closer to the impact that these charities are having our own communities. We can speak directly to those that run the charity and see where our Queer Money is actually going.

We also suggest asking any charity that you plan to give to about the percentage of their donations that truly go to help those they serve. Many national charities have been exposed for giving single digits of their funds to those they serve, while ninety percent or more of funds raised are used to pay salaries or other overhead costs of an organization. These organizations aren’t really serving people, they are just job creators for those that want to get in line and take money under the guise of doing good. So, ask for an annual report or written proof of where the funds go. Charities are responsible to their board of directors too. They will have financial documents.

We love to eat out

Our second question was one that we posed to the Queer Money™ members. The poll and results (the numbers after each dollar range) are below.

• How much money do you spend on average each week on dining out?
  • $0 – $50 – 16
  • $51 – $75 – 11
  • $101 – $150 – 8
  • $151+ – 4
  • $76 – $100 – 2

We asked this question due to results we were seeing from the Honeyfi and Experian surveys that Debt Free Guys participated in creating. We were curious about our group.

Interestingly, nearly two-thirds of respondents say they spend between $0 and $75 a week dining out, and one-third spend $75 or more weekly. We cannot compare these numbers to the respondent’s salaries, which validates the two surveys mentioned above. Our LGBT community loves to spend our Queer Money dining out.

Since we aim to help you Live Fabulously, Not Fabulously Broke, anyway we can help you cut costs is a win for you and us. Recently, we discovered that Groupon.com has upgraded how it works with restaurants. Instead of buying an offer and showing it to the waiter/waitress, now you can register a credit or debit card with Groupon. Then, when you claim an offer (no exchange of money happens), the restaurant will refund your card when you dine at the restaurant, saving you anywhere from ten to fifty percent on dining out. You or the waiter/waitress no longer need to cringe when you pull out your phone to redeem your coupon. That intelligent move, Groupon. Download Groupon today and start saving money on your dining out!

When and how should I tip?

Our final question discussed is: Wondering what the consensus is on tipping? When eating out for dinner, I happily do what is expected and tip 20%, but what if, for example, I go to a counter to get my $10 soba salad and there’s a tip cup there? I budgeted for a $10 lunch but suddenly find myself stuck between a rock and a hard place because I want to stick to my budget, but I also don’t want to appear cheap to the cashier. What would you guys do, tip or not tip?

We both believe that great service deserves a great reward. At the same time, we also understand that in the U.S., many do not earn a living wage as wait staff or behind the counter of many restaurants and service-centered jobs. Tips are designed to reward those who provide good service and to help them earn at or above a living wage for that particular job.

Below are some of our thoughts on what to tip:

• • Sit down restaurants
    • 15-20%
  • Home delivery
    • 15-20%
  • Takeout
    • 0-5%
  • Coffee Bar/Bar
    • $1-$2/drink
  • Bad Service (keep in mind that bad service may not always be the fault of the one serving you and thus they may not deserve to be punished for something out of their control)
    • 0$ – 5%
  • Foreign Country (many countries do provide a living wage to wait staff, so do your research and tip where appropriate)
    • Country rules

That about wraps it up for this episode of Queer Money.