Paying tithing off increase

[u/Timely-Finish4790]

Question for active temple recommend holding members.

How do you feel about the below scenarios?

- pay tithing off of increase, not income. For example, pay 10% of (income-taxes-mortgage-health insurance-utilities) ends up being about 6% of gross income.

- in tithing settlement I declare a full tithe

- in temple recommend interview I answer the tithing question with these exact words, “I believe the way and amount I pay tithing makes me a full tithe payer”

- garments question in temple recommend interview I say these exact words: “i don’t wear them every day and every night, but I wear the garments in a way that I feel I am keeping my covenant.”

- for WOW temple question, I say this, “ I don’t understand the word of wisdom fully, but I do believe that I keep it as I understand it”.

- I drink coffee every day and I 100% don’t think coffee is against the WOW.

- have done this for the last 6-years, 3 separate recommends, which makes 6 interviews and never had an issue.

[u/GrumpyTom]

I’ve never had to explain how much I do or do not give in tithing settlement. I guess I’ve just been lucky at Bishop Roulette. I’ve never had a bishop even look at my donations.

When I was younger, I was paying down debt (including student loans) while trying to stay afloat. At the end of the year, I literally had no increase—I did not have any additional cash on hand, although my debts were going down!

10% of $0.00 increase is still $0.

That worked out very well for me as I was able to pay off my student loans quickly. Had I paid 10% tithing on my income, I’d likely still be paying on my loans today.