Making clothing donations to a worthy charity like Goodwill has always yielded multiple benefits. In addition to the charitable work done by these organizations, donors have been able to take small tax deductions as well. Another advantage getting a lot of attention lately is that shopping at charity thrift stores can lead to some unbelievable deals for name brand clothing.

Some people may feel guilty shopping at such a store because they feel they are taking away opportunities for less fortunate shoppers. When you realize that there is an abundance of merchandise and that store proceeds also go towards the charitable mission, this excuse can quickly be dismissed. There may also be historical stigmas attached with second-hand clothing and thrift store shopping, but there really shouldn’t be. A recent Goodwill fundraiser turned quite a few heads and hopefully many opinions of thrift store shopping as well.

As part of its fundraising event at the French Embassy in Washington D.C., Goodwill held a fashion show featuring items from Goodwill donations. Many of the high-society attendees, who previously stated that they would never shop at a charity thrift store, were clamoring for items to buy from the racks after the show was complete.

Paying incredibly reduced prices for high quality, name brand clothing isn’t tacky, it’s financial genius. Many of the items for sale are barely worn and some are even brand new. I know that we’ve donated clothing that our children outgrew before they were able to wear and I’m sure others do the same. Following the logic that those with more also give more, a high percentage of clothing donations likely come from wealthy individuals who themselves wear high quality, expensive clothing. Reusing items is also environmentally friendly because it cuts down on the amount of resources that must be used to produce new items.

So continue donating clothing to charity and taking the appropriate tax deductions. But also remember to check there before buying new clothes. You can probably find superior items for significantly lower prices, and your purchase will further support a charitable cause.

It seems that 2008 will likely be remembered as the year of the bailouts. Such a generalization loses sight of the fact that only big businesses are getting government help. Not only are small businesses not getting bailed out, but their options are also shrinking as credit tightens.

The National Small Business Association recently released its 2008 Small-Business Mid-Year Economic Report, which included the results of an August 2008 survey of small business owners. A full 67% of small business owners surveyed responded that their businesses had been impacted by the credit crunch. As credit tightens, banks generally favor their largest account holders. So while large corporate customers are still able to borrow money to a certain extent, small business funding is drying up.

The survey also discussed the difficulties faced by small business owners as a result of FDIC insurance limits. 68% of small business owners found the $100,000 FDIC insurance limits inadequate to cover their business accounts. By providing inadequate protection of small business deposits and expensive (or unavailable) funding for financing needs, banks continue to hurt small businesses in a number of ways.

Small businesses can’t count on government bailouts to help them when they run into trouble. Small business bailouts are do-it-yourself. Traditional banks are unlikely to help. Fortunately, social lending continues to grow and serve the needs of the small business community at this most critical time. With low operating costs and lenders more than willing to fund exciting small business projects, P2P loans may prove to be a major catalyst in stimulating the economy in a meaningful way.

Is your small business hurting? Have P2P loans come to your rescue? Please share your experiences with the community perfectly suited to serve your small business funding needs.

They say that it takes money to make money, and often times that holds true. But can spending money save you money? In many cases, it can. Monitoring the costs and the savings are a great way to continually ensure that paying to save makes good financial sense.

Paying to save comes in many different forms. One example would be to join a Wholesale Club like Sam’s Club or Costco. For a yearly fee, you are able to purchase products at discounted prices. Another example would be joining Amazon Prime. For a yearly fee, most purchases from Amazon get free 2-day shipping, or reduced price overnight shipping. A final example is joining a movie rental service like Netflix. For a monthly fee, unlimited movie rentals are available.

In all cases, you’re better off paying to save if you pay less than you save. That may sound obvious, but the calculation still needs to be done. When performing your analysis, make sure you compare the costs you would have incurred had you not paid to save instead of comparing how much you actually saved. This may seem counter-intuitive, but once you pay to save you may end up making many more purchases.

As an example, when deciding whether a Netflix subscription is worth it, compare the cost of the subscription to the current amount you spend on movie rentals to see if you’ll save money. If you were to instead compare the subscription cost to what all the movies you borrow from Netflix would have cost to rent, you’ll skew the results. The fact is that you wouldn’t rent as many movies if you had to pay regular rental prices. In a similar way, you may find that once you join a wholesale club, you do get great prices but you start to buy so much more that you end up spending more as well.

If the goal of paying to save is to end up spending less, you’ll need to keep track of your costs and your savings. You can certainly save money through many pay to save programs, but unless you’re careful they can easily end up costing you more.

At times, it can be difficult to save money. All too often we feel that we have enough trouble just staying afloat, let alone trying to get ahead. Seeing others find success can provide the inspiration we need, particularly when they are even worse off financially than we are.

That’s exactly what I took away from reading about low-income families saving nearly 5% of their income as part of a non-profit program based in San Francisco. The program is offered by the non-profit Earn, and it couples financial education with incentive matching towards a specific savings goal. For each dollar saved by participants, up to $2,000, Earn adds another $2. One dollar of the match comes from a government program and another comes from Earn itself. The money is held in an Individual Development Account, which can only be used for the specified savings goal, such as paying off credit card debt.

While programs like this are certainly worth our attention on their own merits, they also show us that anyone can save a significant portion of their own income. You might think that the 2-for-1 matching is the incentive for program participants, but nonetheless you must credit these savers for making do without nearly 5% of their income. With an average household income of about $18,000, every penny counts. Yet they are still able to save.

The financial education aspect of the program is also something that you are capable of achieving. Reading the Lending Club blog, personal finance books from the library and other Internet resources can all go a long way towards advancing your financial education. Setting a specific savings goal will also help your cause. Unless you qualify for such a worthy program like Earn’s, your savings will be just what you yourself are able to save. Nonetheless, seeing low income families saving 5% of their own money hopefully makes you realize that you could probably do the same.

Not spending money is harder than it sounds.

American consumers are increasingly cutting back during these tough economic times, which is a bummer since Sonic banana splits are only 99 cents.

But the reasoning makes sense. Keep as much money as you can until the stock market and the banks and the scores of other financial institutions settle down and experts can make heads or tails of where the economy is headed. Cut back on expenses, hold off on investments, and maybe even consider stuffing paychecks underneath mattresses for the time being.

The advice is good. The strategy is sound. The only problem is spending money hasn't ever been a weak suit of an American consumer. There are decades of evidence and thousands of Wal-Marts to support that claim. We have a hard time standing pat with our money. Some people like spending it; others like investing it. But no one likes to just stand there, hold it in their hands, and wait.

Fortunately, there are 4 ways to make the waiting period a little easier.

1. Budget for your future.

If you're being honest with yourself, budgeting is probably something that you should have done a long time ago. Well now, with your money not going anywhere for awhile, you have the perfect opportunity to plan out your spending future.

Start by setting aside a percentage every month to put into savings or investments. Then sit down and figure out all of the expenses that you plan to incur every month. Put everything from mortgage payment, utilities, and cell phone bills to groceries, entertainment, and Netflix on the list. When you're done with that, use the leftover income that remains (note: hopefully leftover income does remain) to plan vacations or big purchases or even donations.

Budgeting would be a good task during the hands-off money times because you will still get the chance to talk about your money and interact with your money and look forward to the time when you get to spend your money again. Yes, consumers can be that desperate.

2. Learn more about finance.

Now, don't take this bit of advice to mean academia and poring over books in a stuffy, university library. Although if that is the way you learn, then more power to you. What this advice is really about is simply researching and understanding financial terms and ideas you have always wanted to know more about. For me, it's the value of checking account interest.

While you can't spend or invest your money during this time, there are no rules against looking into different opportunities. Since you'll be sitting on your hands, you might as well take the time to learn more about money topics you have always been interested in but never had the chance to research.

For example, if real estate investment has always piqued your interest, the bumbling economy has provided an ample study hall for you to find out more. During the downturn, you can look into the specifics of real estate, discover how lucrative the opportunity would be, and prepare yourself to get in the game once the economy shroud is lifted.

If you use your time wisely while you're sitting around, you will have the advantage when everyone stands up again. Don't let the comfy recliner of cautiousness make you indifferent.

3. Make new friends.

The economy is not only tough on you. It is tough on everybody. And if misery does indeed love company, then finding fellow money martyrs shouldn't be that hard.

Even better, getting together with those who are struggling with similar issues can actually help you out in the long run. If you are a compulsive shoe shopper on a short leash and you meet a similarly compulsive shoe shopper on a similarly short leash, you will at least have someone to commiserate with.

Another great part to finding new friends during the downturn is that you can come up with some cheap ways to entertain yourselves. Rather than spending money on vacations or dinners or weekend getaways, spend the time at a neighbor's house or split the bill for a barbecue. There is strength in numbers, and there is also dispersal. A $100 children's bounce house is much more manageable when the 10 couples in your neighborhood chip in.

4. Distract yourself.

The best solution for not spending money might be to stop thinking about it altogether. Naturally, this is easier said than done, but if you're serious about keeping your money where it belongs, the extra effort is worth it.

• Spend time with family. Hopefully you are already doing this, but if not, the frugal days we live in should make family time even more appealing. Play a board game together (Monopoly might fix your investing jones), cook a meal together, or head out to the park for some good, cheap fun.
• Watch football. Really, sports of any kind will do the trick. Football season is in full swing, and there are games on virtually every night of the week. Following your favorite team or getting into a conference showdown can make all your money troubles disappear. Note: watching football and spending time with family may or may not be complementary.
• Volunteer. Not everything is about you. Give back to your community in other ways than just your wallet by volunteering with a local charity or non-profit group. The time spent helping others will be rewarding and affirming, and you'll hardly even remember that you haven't bought a video game for a month and a half.
• Spring cleaning: Get a head start on it. Box up your summer clothes and break out the fall attire. Get rid of toys and trinkets that have been sitting around forever and were never used. Spring cleaning doesn't have to happen only in the spring, and if we're honest with ourselves, it rarely happens then anyway.