If you would like to be more charitable, the following are a few ways you can:

Look for opportunities to give
If you train yourself, you can keep your eyes open for needs and then take the opportunity to give or donate where needed. Ways you can be more charitable include:

• Ask your child's teacher if there are any ways you can volunteer at your child's school and events. This can mean being a chaperon on a field trip or making treats for a class party or bake sale.


• If you notice your friend looking tired or worn out, offer to watch a friend's kids for a few hours to give her a break.


• Instead of shooing them away, buy the candies/cookies/magazines, etc. for fundraisers when kids stop by your house.


• When the holidays come around, look for places that will accept donate canned goods to food drives, or coats for winter drives, and then donate to them.


• Be there for your friends and loved ones, even if it is just taking a few minutes to listen to them when they need to talk.

Involve your family
You can learn how to be more charitable while teaching the concept to your children as well. For example, many shopping malls have "giving trees" over the holidays, in which you can choose a child and purchase things for them for Christmas. Let the whole family join in and pick out toys and explain to them that because you have so much, you are going to help another family who is not as fortunate. Not only will you become more charitable, but you will be teaching your children important life skills as well.

Give back
Chances are you have, at one point, been the recipient of a charitable act, whether it was an anonymous donation when you were going through a hard financial time, a stranger who pulled over and helped you fix your tire, or something else. Think of where you would be in life if no one had ever been charitable towards you, then take advantage of opportunities to give back.

Don't be selfish
You can be more charitable by not being selfish. That doesn't mean you should make big sacrifices or go without in order to donate money or time, but if you know you have the means to give, don't withhold. For example, you can donate blood at the next blood drive, or take your child and her friend, who comes from a less fortunate background, out for ice cream.

Being charitable is a great way to be. Charitable people not only enrich the lives of others, but in the process of giving, they end up bettering their own lives again. These are a few ways you can be more charitable.