Budgeting or debt help - free

[Elaine Fawcett]

I'm an accountant IRL... and I was thinking of how I can give back to my community. I placed an ad on CL offering free help getting out of debt and/or creating a personal budget. I'm not looking to access anyone's personal information. Instead, I will teach you how to do it yourself and make myself available to answer questions as you go through the process. I thought I'd be inundated with requests for help, but just got crickets. Is this just because people think free is worth what the charge is? 

[Scott Trench]

I think it's great that you want to give back to the community! 

Just to give you some more realistic expectations of what to expect when volunteering:

I've found that finding quality organizations, serving willing, motivated folks seeking real lasting change in their lives is a struggle unto itself. Do not expect to volunteer your services (other than manual labor, or giving out free food or something) and be met with enthusiastic, well-organized support from folks who understand and are prepared to effectively engage you with the appropriate clientele.

Getting to that point takes time, energy, and networking. It's an exhausting, and years-long effort (or at least it was in my case), and you will STILL be disappointed at the end of the day by the failure to take action on the part of some of those you volunteer on behalf of. That said, it is all worth it if you keep slogging away and keep an eye out for opportunities to volunteer in ways that are increasingly aligned with your skills and passions. There are some folks out there that can really use your help, and really benefit from it, and it's really powerful and awesome.

While your intent is admirable, you can't expect to go out and volunteer your skillset on Craigslist and be met with a rewarding experience that comes to you. You have to go out of your comfort zone and skillset and really understand which organizations (and leaders of those organizations) are really doing the great work, and modify what you do to fit THEIR needs. Don't expect the attempt to give back to be fun and rewarding right off the bat. It won't be unless you get really lucky. Put in the time, work, and networking to over time move closer and closer to your ideal version of social work, in your case, budgeting and debt reduction, over time, and through organizations that dance around the subject. You may learn that this is only one part of the help that folks that can benefit from your services need and gain some new perspectives along the way!