Family Gives Away Half Their Income To Help Others
BOSTON (CBS) -- Jeff Kaufman and his wife Julia Wise are as humble as they are generous.
"We have more than what we need and there are a lot of people who don't so we like to share what we can," Jeff Kaufman said.
Every year they donate half of their salary, which was more than $100,000, to charity.
He's a 29-year-old software engineer and she's a 30-year-old mom working two part-time jobs. Last year they earned about $250K and they gave away more than $128K.
"We like to donate as much as we can so we are shooting for more than 100k this year," Kaufman said.
They have one daughter and one on the way. Their budget extremely tight, but that's how they like it.
"Even after giving away more than half we earn for a few years now we have enough to feel we are doing fine. We really try to prioritize the things meaningful to us and let the rest of it go and live below our means," Julia said.
Most of their giving is to third world countries focusing on developing world health.
"The main way we figure out who to give to is through an organization called "Give Well" and they are a charity evaluator where they find where your money will do the most good," Kaufman said.
Both Jeff and Julia agree to give away half of their income requires a lot of sacrifice. They don't go out to fancy restaurants, they don't have a big flat screen TV, and they've never owned a car. They save what they can and give the rest away.
"We know we are making a big difference to other people and gives us satisfaction to know that we are doing something more important than buying a big screen TV," Julia said.
They hope their story will inspire others to give as well.
