Change the World for $1 a Day

Speaking of projects where you use $1/day like the previously-mentioned dress project, I saw a site today sponsored by GoodReads that had the concept of donating $1/day for 1000 days.  The specific project was to send books to Africa:

At Books For Africa, we believe that education is the great equalizer in the world, and books are at the foundation of a strong educational system.

$1/day seems like so little.  And then there's the rest of the math:

• Monthly—$30 a month (Pay Period = Monthly, Donation Amount = $30)
• Quarterly—$91 a quarter (Pay Period = Quarterly, Donation Amount = $91)
• Semi-Annually—$182 twice a year (Pay Period = Semi-Yearly, Donation Amount = $182)
• Annually—$365 a year (Pay Period = Yearly, Donation Amount = $365)
• One-Time—$1,000 (Pay Period = One-Time, Donation Amount = $1,000) 

Even the $365 seems like "not much" when I think of it as all I'd have if I put a $1 in a bucket every day at the end of a year (excepting Leap Year, of course).  The funny thing is that it starts to feel a little different if you ask me if I want to write you a check today for $365...

In a sorta related item, you could change your world for some "spare change"...  I have never really understood the appeal of Bank of America's Keep the Change program: Bank of America will round up every Visa debit card purchase to the next dollar and deposit the difference in your account.  What freaks me out about that is that I hate being imprecise.  I am wondering if all the rounding up with play havoc with my ability to guess how much I have in my account at any given time.  I know you may think that the need to be precise and guessing at my account balance are opposites, but they're not.  I really do know, maybe not down to the penny, but in general I know if I can make a purchase or not.  If you were taking out a few extra pennies every time, I could end up in really big trouble.  I've seen Office Space.  I know what pennies do.  The linked article on the Keep The Change program said that it's unlikely to help you unless you can get to the point of saving $5000.  And if you can save that much, you should probably be putting your money into something with higher yields.

But still, we're taking a small amount and ending up with something big after a while.  So, can I commit to it?  Is it worth it?  Is it enough?

Exploring the Kama Sutra in 69 days!

Just kidding.  Although that was a suggestion when I asked for project ideas.  Bet you can't guess who suggested that!

I got some other interesting ideas for one-off posts and a link to a blog where a woman re-created a dress a day on a budget that was fascinating.  Good idea, but I have no time for projects which require time. (sigh)

I got a couple of ideas for longer-term projects like

• volunteering and blogging about those experiences (I used to love taking my dog to a Boulder, CO halfway house so that she could participate in pet therapy.  Alas, my current pooch, while super-sweet and quite a character, doesn't have the temperament for that.  I could consider other volunteer opportunities -- like I've always wanted to help with Habitat for Humanity.)
• reuniting with lost friends or those relatives that live down the street that you never call and only see if another relative visits from out of state and sharing that experience (I should totally do this and feel guilty for avoiding it -- I almost didn't mention it here!)

I found a writing class I wanted to take, but got scared of the commitment.  My job takes all hours of the day some days and is so unpredictable that I just couldn't justify spending any money on anything.  (I actually did decide to learn Spanish a couple of years ago, but only made 2 of the 5 classes due to work.)

The search continues...in the meantime I will write up mid-year reviews for my team (a new job task I've never had to do previously and which is not proving to be all that fun).  Wheeeeee~~!