Twenty Acts of Kindness That Won't Cost You a Penny (aka FREE!)

1/25/2012

People often ask me for free or inexpensive ways to show kindness to others. Several of the things I shared from the original 38 I featured on my blog were free (or close to it). Here are twenty more:
-Open doors for others
-Return shopping carts for people
-Volunteer at the local food pantry, school, library, etc.
-Thank someone for t...heir hard work
-Write notes of appreciation to anyone who's made a difference
-Look for ways to serve people in your family
-Bring in the neighbor's garbage can/recycling bins
-Help a coworker meet a deadline
-Offer to watch a young mother's child for a few hours
-Take a friend/neighbor's dog for a walk (and give him a nice brushing afterward!)
-Mow/rake/sweep for an unsuspecting neighbor
-Spend an hour picking up trash at a local park, beach or roadway
-Go through your clothes and donate items to a local shelter
-Spend an hour at the local nursing home assisting with crafts or reading to residents.
-Adopt a soldier as a penpal
-Give someone a compliment
-Donate blood
-Leave a positive comment on a blog
-Let someone in line go ahead of you
-Ask all your friends & family members to do something nice for one other person in honor of your birthday and to use the money they would have spent on a gift/card for you toward an act of kindness instead!

Do you have any others that aren't listed here? Leave a comment and share your ideas!

29 Comments

Dorothy

1/26/2012 03:57:18 am

Leave coupons by the like product at the grocery store.

JennE

7/13/2012 07:25:11 am

I do that too, so glad to see your comment. I have also found these coupons from others, I LOVE it! :)

Rebekah Grace link

1/27/2012 02:34:28 am

Give a passing by stranger eye contact and a smile!

karen

1/28/2012 07:23:26 am

Offer a hug to someone

Lisa

7/13/2012 06:11:42 am

Just finished a major project on Wednesday. To celebrate I went straight to the local Humane Society, and visited briefly with every homeless dog, tucking a dollar into each dog's donation jar. The dogs love a visitor and desperately need money to keep them fed and clean until they are adopted. The uglier or older the dog, the more dollars they get from me! Donated probably $20 in all, and walked out feeling great. I would argue that we should celebrate more than just birthdays this way! Thanks for this website; just discovered it today...wonderful.

Rachel link

7/13/2012 06:17:03 am

This site is awesome - I hope you are still dong it!

JennE link

7/13/2012 07:27:44 am

I stumbled across your name in the Yahoo article about the 65 year old man who got his Birthday idea from you. You haven't posted in a while, are you still active?

I love to leave the change in a vending machine. When kids find it, they think they won the lottery. Grownups seem to think it's great too!

Peace, JennE

The Birthday Project link

8/12/2012 02:13:57 pm

Thanks JennE. Yes, we are alive and kicking, just very busy with how fast this movement is growing! As of tonight we are 50 shy of 10,000 "likes" on our FB page. Stay tuned for some fun announcements when we hit that exciting milestone! Thank you for your support & encouragement. It means a lot.

Georgia

7/13/2012 12:02:20 pm

When I am checking out at the grocery store, I look at the items being purchased after me and I see if I have any coupons that the person behind me can use and I give them to that person to help them with their order.

Alexis

7/13/2012 01:42:45 pm

My 7yr old daughter takes flowers from our garden and hands them to complete strangers on the street and the smiles and happiness from them makes her soar for hours

Margareta

7/13/2012 07:08:02 pm

I LOVE this site!! . You're so wonderful to do it! Thank you for being. It gives me new ideas to use every day. Why wait till it's a birthday? I always carry post-its to place on public restroom mirrors, saying "You are beautiful." I hang them up when no one's in there & then love to watch their expressions when women come in & read them. They don't know who put them up of course. That makes it even better.

Brenda Morales

7/13/2012 07:30:14 pm

I do these things all the time- I never realized they were out of the ordinary at all- just common courtesy, I think. This is an awesome website :)

Elle

8/9/2013 04:14:56 am

I agree Brenda! Most of these things SHOULD be common sense, but sadly, a lot of people are so wrapped up in their own lives that it's unfortunate they're not. SO, this post is a great reminder for us all to do the little things to be nice.

Another one I'd like to add is to let other drivers in front of you. I try to "see the innocence" of these situations, so I myself don't get frustrated, as I know I space off a lot of times, and am not thinking. (This should be taught as a courtesy in drivers ed!)

Anyway, Thanks for the inspiring post, Robyn! (yes, I'm a little late responding, as I just came across this on Pintrest!)

Jeanice Nelson

7/15/2012 10:03:09 am

Love this website and do many of the random acts regularly. Love the giving flowers to strangers idea!

Linda Ludwig

8/21/2012 03:04:30 am

God bless you for such a good work! I love your heart!

Michelle

8/26/2012 07:25:47 am

I will be doing this for my 37th birthday on Thursday. I've posted the plan to my Facebook and my blog, and asked that anyone who reads it also does a good deed/act of kindness that day (and every day, of course) and shares their story with me as their "birthday gift." A friend blogged about the plan and asked all of his followers to join in! I'm more excited for my birthday than I have been for a long time! I can't wait to hear what everyone does, and to share my own stories and photos.

Hope

8/30/2012 01:40:02 am

I am a US Navy Wife and I know how hard it is on Military Families.. I try to get in touch with other Military Families and send them notes in the mail reminding them how much they are loved, appreciated, and how strong they are. It only costs a little time and postage. :)

Laura Drexler link

9/26/2012 06:16:59 am

As a teenager, I used to go out to the airport on Christmas and Easter and hand out candies to the people working (this was in the mid 1980s). I've always tried to look for ways to bring a smile, but you have taken this to a whole different level. God bless you! Looks like you are inspiring people across the globe.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpq33lXz_oI

Renee

11/11/2012 07:14:44 am

What an amazing thing you have started here! It is inspiring me :)

Annie Tapang link

12/3/2012 04:24:33 am

I did it! I did 31 random acts of kindness on my birthday!
1) Adopted a family through the Carmel Rotary during the Holidays. I partnered with 2 other Rotarians in gathering Christmas gifts for a single, handicapped mom and her daughter who is off to college.
2) Gave a random stranger cash for anything he desires!
3) Gave a gift card to the most selfless couple I know.
4) Thanked my daughter’s teachers and gave them treats.
5) Dropped off 2 rolls of quarters in the park, threw the quarters in the air for the kids to find while they play!
6) Wrote a recommendation letter for Jeff Boothman, our Fedex delivery guy who goes above and beyond the call of duty – always delivers on time and with a smile!
7) Offered Josh Neal, massage therapist a heartfelt compliment for being a good friend.
8) Adopted soldier Jamie Hosman as a pen pal.
9) Gave the sweetest couple, Mr. & Mrs. Scott a gift card for a memorable date night.
10) Gave a bouquet of flowers to a sweet lady in the park while she was walking her dogs with her husband.
11) Left money, popcorn and chocolates at a Redbox.
12) Wrote a well wishes note and left it on a bench for the next person to read.
13) Donated food to my favorite local food pantry – Merciful Help Center.
14) Got a movie ticket, popcorn, chocolates and gave it to a volunteer. I was originally going to give it to a lady walking out of Marsh but she did not accept my gift.
15) Wrote a “Thank You” note to the Carmel Police Department and dropped off some cookies.
16) Wrote a “Thank You” note to the Carmel Fire Department and dropped off some cookies.
17) Put free treats by the vending machine.
18) Bought someone’s gas at Meijer while I helped her open her gas lid.
19) Text my parents this message “God has blessed me with another year and I am so thankful to you for helping me get to the happy place I am in now. They say success if not how far you’ve got but how far you came from where you started. Looking back, although I’ve done some unimaginable dumb things, I had to go through them to learn good from bad. Now, whatever challenges God may put down my path, I’ve learned to walk by faith and not by sight. Thank you – for your patience, forgiveness, unconditional love and well wishes. I love you so much! – Annie
20) Buy a big bone for a great Pyrenees dog – our baby Sophie!
21) Gave someone a free car wash – gift card.
22) Bought drinks for someone at the Starbucks waiting line, I loved their reaction!
23) Dropped off a Thank You card and a bouquet of flowers for Mayor Brainard for his tireless and selfless work for our community.
24) Bought 2 large bags of toys for our Toy Drive with the Arrows YP of the Carmel Chamber.
25) Gave a little sad boy a bunch of balloons to make his day a little better.
26) Gave an employee some time off with pay.
27) Offered to babysit kids for hard working parents.
28) Promote Rotary Community Corps to my friends in Facebook.
29) Promoted volunteer work for the Habitat for Humanity via the Arrows YP.
30) Left cash in the bathroom stall for someone who could use a little help this Christmas.
31) Got my kitty Margay some catnip and toys.

Sarah link

1/12/2013 09:32:55 pm

I wish I had known about this site last week. My birthday was January 8, but I think I will get started on this as soon as possible. I am a huge believer in random acts of kindness, and I work hard to seek out the moments in my life where I can make someone's day brighter.

Recently, I have been trying harder than usual, because I feel there is so much sadness in the world, why would I not brighten someone's day when I am given the chance?

1. January 2: I had the sweet opportunity to have a conversation with an old man sitting in the booth next to me while I studied. I discovered he was missing his wife (passed 2 years before) his son (passed one year before) and was worried about his other son, whom he'd taken to the emergency room earlier that day. I bought his meal. Nobody told him it was me. The manager said, "he had tears in his eyes and said to give his deepest thanks to the stranger who blessed his heart today."

2. I was told that I would have to wait for my advisement appointment for hours, but to show up early anyway. So, I paid for 5 hours of parking, just in case, since I wouldn't be able to get back if it ran out. My appointment took 20 minutes. So, I gave my parking sticker to a girl who was about to pay for her parking, she looked baffled by the gesture and just kept thanking me.

3. I let a man with only one item go ahead of me at the grocery store, yesterday.

I plan to make up for a missed Birthday Project opportunity! :) thank you for this site! It warms my heart to see generosity and love poured out in such a sweet way.

Sarah

http://assignment-australia.com/buy-assignment link

10/13/2013 09:38:18 pm

Ask sum your buddys & progeny components to do something pretty for undivided else body in credit of your birthday further to employment the profit they would get weary on a tribute/ticket for you beneficial an play of generosity rather!

mbeckrn

4/29/2013 04:50:55 pm

Pay it forward I say, I do a lot of these things every day, but the best one was the guy at the park where I take my dog every day. He had a newer car but it was not starting. I handed him my cell phone and told him to call who ever he needed to while I took his dogs around the pond. Turns our he has just lost both his parents and the dogs belonged to them. I saw a tear coming so I excused myself and left feeling really good. I am on a very limited income, so what I did was pretty risky. He could have left me with his dogs and taken my phone, but I didn't care. Karma

Elle

8/9/2013 04:24:19 am

YES, mbeckrn, Pay it Forward!!! (and Karma) -- ;)

One little thing I try to do for others (when I myself am not in a hurry), is to let those with only a few items in front of me at the cash registers. I did this one holiday season, and let 2 people go in front of me because it was around the noon hour, and I could tell they were there on their lunch hours (i'm a sahm and my children are in school all day). I was going to let a 3rd person go too, and he started chuckling, saying he wasn't in a hurry, but thanked me anyway.

It just feels good to do this kind of stuff, especially when you don't expect anything in return. This is gonna inspire me to do a 30 day RAOK or 45 for my b-day.

Cayren

6/19/2013 09:10:12 pm

I just have to say, I may consider doing some random acts of kindness on my birthday. My next birthday is April 7. I will be 13 and I will be glad to do some deeds of kindness!

Claire link

2/25/2014 09:02:59 am

Love this!!

Josefin Björnberg link

2/5/2016 05:04:02 am

Always give a little smile and say hello when you pass from strangers.

Josefin link

2/8/2016 06:23:57 am

The given blog is awesome. It will helpful for me in my life. I hope you are still doing it. I do these thing all the time. i never realized they were out of the ordinary at all

josefin link

2/10/2016 06:13:17 am

The given blog is awesome. It is very helpful for me. I hope you are still doing it. I do these thing all the time. I never realized they were out of the ordinary at all.

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.

Twenty Acts of Kindness That Won't Cost You a Penny (aka FREE!)

Leave a Reply.

Author

Archives

Categories

Follow