What companies are you currently giving your money to? Oil companies, beer companies, coffee companies? How can you alter your spending habits to divert some of that money into your favorite cause? You don’t have to take a vow of poverty to help the world’s poor, just identify opportunities in your daily life to shift your spending habits away from “junk” and into poverty-reduction.

How to Divert? Before making a purchase, ask yourself how badly you need it… Don’t really need it? Write a check to the cause for however much you would have spent on the item. Congratulations, you’ve Diverted! You just prevented yourself from making an unnecessary purchase and diverted that money into the cause! We recommend carrying blank checks with you at all times and writing the check to the cause while in the store or at the moment you’ve made the decision to divert. This adds to the sense of accomplishment.

Americans spend over $10 billion a year on ice cream.