“I’m trying to turn around my financial life – I’ve paid off my credit cards, and I’ve stopped overspending. However, there’s still one problem that’s preventing me from building up my savings.

“Every time I have a little extra cash, someone turns up with a hard luck story and I end up lending them the money. Although I don’t usually get paid back, I can’t seem to stop giving away my money. Help!

There are universal and biblical laws that point to the benefits of charitable giving. Those who believe that money is abundant and donate freely to worthy causes usually find that their own personal fortunes increase as their giving grows.

Many of the world’s wealthiest people like Andrew Carnegie, Bill Gates, and Jamaica’s own Ferdinand Mahfood, have established foundations that have helped millions.

Although we are told that “It is more blessed to give than to receive,” or “In charity there is no excess,” is it possible that you can be too generous with your money?

Let’s look at two real-life scenarios where giving too much can be to the detriment of a person’s financial life:

Marlene is a middle-manager who earns over J$250,000 per month. Although she is a single mother of two children, their father pays for all their expenses. Her house and car are fully paid for.

However, Marlene has no money saved, and has two maxed-out credit cards. Why? Marlene grew up poor and is the only one in her family to ‘make it big.’ Her large extended family all depend on her for a living and she feels obliged to help them.

Robert owns a restaurant with great potential for growth, as his customers spread the word about his great food. Robert sometimes gives credit for the meals and finds it hard to turn away someone who is hungry but genuinely doesn’t have any money.

He remembers that as a boy in a small country village, his mother always cooked extra food to share with her neighbours. However, Robert’s business is struggling because he’s overdue in paying his creditors, and his cash flow is tight.

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It seems that you, like Robert and Marlene, have a heart for people and really want to help the less fortunate. However, the challenge comes when you put other people ahead of yourself and your own finances suffer as a result. You really can’t be helpful to people until you help yourself first. As the Bible says, “Love your neighbour as you love yourself.”

The first step to developing a healthier giving habit is to first think about why you feel obligated to help all these people. Why do you put their well-being ahead of your own? Do you feel that people won’t love you unless you give them money? Do you secretly crave the praise and adoration you get when they thank you for your generosity? Are you embarrassed to tell someone ‘no’ when they ask for something? Do you feel that you really don’t deserve to have a lot of money anyway, so you might as well give it away?

Discovering the source of your debilitating addiction to giving away money might require getting help from a counselor, or spending a little time and money on self-help books, CDs and seminars. You will probably find that solving these underlying problems will also improve other aspects of your life such as your relationships and career.

Along with resolving your personality issues, there are also practical things you can do to curb your habit. Since you have a heart for giving, use your budget to work out exactly how much you are allowed to donate every month, once your bills and savings needs are covered. Most people decide to tithe- give up a tenth of their income – to charitable causes. You could establish a special account for the money dedicated to giving. When you have exhausted that supply, you can truthfully say, “I’ve used up all my charity money this month.”

It’s also important to establish strong financial objectives for yourself. Try to identify goals that would give you more pleasure than the satisfaction you get from giving. Wouldn’t you prefer to know that you are building up your money to buy a house in order to get rid of your landlord, or that your savings will prevent your children from needing student loans?

If this extra motivation is still not enough, you can also look for investments that lock away your money or penalize you heavily if you break them. Use investment-linked insurance policies, investment brokerages without a near-by branch, or even off-shore savings accounts to put your money far away temptation. Then if anyone asks you for a loan, you’ll be honest when you say that you can’t get access to your money.

Above all, remember that you can only give away what you can truly afford.