I appreciate this post and agree that the EA community should emphasize frugality more.
For many people, the money saved through frugality (net your donations to effective charities) should be invested to maximize long-term impact. I am a big fan of the Financial Independence (FI) community which offers excellent resources on investing, frugality, and values-based living. I’ve found Rebecca Herbst’s work at Yield & Spread valuable, as she specifically bridges EA and FI principles.
Thanks Rebecca! This is great.
I really appreciate your callout to donating appreciated stocks, and I really hope this becomes a common activity: “The New Above-the-Line Deduction (starting 2026) This is a no brainer to deploy. And I think it actually creates a really good threshold for folks. Is there a world in which you could donate $1,000 a year?”