Make 2018 the year you budget for charity

It's the start of a new year, which means it's time to re-evaluate your annual spending. Have you considered including charitable donations in your budget? Here are five tips to help you get started:

1. Start by figuring out your annual or monthly budget — including how much you need for necessities such as housing, bills and food. Then find out how much you have left over and how much of that you want to put towards charitable giving.

2. Come up with a plan to determine your charitable goals. What causes are most important to you? From here, you can decide if you want to contribute to each charity evenly, or if certain causes mean more to you than others.

3. Look back to previous years to see how often you donated to a friend's 10k race or bike-a-thon. These are things you will want to keep in mind, especially if peer-to-peer fundraising is something you want to continue contributing towards. Come up with a rough budget based on last year's gifts so you can know what to expect in 2018.

4. Figure out where you stand on one-time gifts versus monthly. If you've budgeted your spending to determine how much you can spend annually, it might be easier to make one-time gifts throughout the year. However, if your budget is done on a monthly basis, you may want to consider joining a charity's monthly giving program. Most allow you to donate as little or as much as you want.

5. Instead of waiting until the holiday season to give, try to budget gifts throughout the year. That way, come December you won't feel overwhelmed by your credit card statement and you can spend more time (and money) on family and friends.