I am low on money these days and my life is hell for it. I have to do with substandard everything in my life I recently had an incident where an elderly woman asked me for money while roaming the street with her family begging for money. I had no money to spare, but had I had any, I wouldn't have given a penny to her (Life is tough, I can't give away money I didn't earn)
But, she later said something which melted my heart, "Majboori hai beta!" (Hindi) "We don't want to do this, but we have to do it son" (now add some emotional value to it), I didn't know what to do, I was on my cycle and I could feel their eyes on me as I passed them and I just peddled faster with teary eyes.
I didn't know how to deal with that. i.e., I don't have enough money for medical necessities or to improve the standard of living of my own life, but I was being asked to spare change by a poor family that was demonstrably in a worse spot than me.
I was always taught that if you give beggars money, they will spend it all on alcohol (not blaming them), and given the number of beggars who have come to be smelling like alcohol and death with wobbly balance, it has been a rule not to provide them with money. Also, let's not forget, if you're really poor (homeless and have nothing to lose) and you are really desperate, you are often dangerous i.e., not someone around whom your kids can roam, again, not blaming them. But... I don't know what is right or wrong in this situation!
How do you deal with external problems you can't solve around you? What is the moral thing to do here?
edit: This kinda reminds of a story about Jesus where a prince once came to him and told him that he isn't at peace with himself no matter what he does, and Jesus told him that to get peace he must give away everything to the poor and follow Jesus around and the prince refused (something along those lines).
I know what the most moral thing might be in this case, but even if you tell me that I should give money to those who live in abject poverty, I probably won't do it as often as I should.
Set aside a budget of time, energy and money to help social causes, spend it as wisely as you can, and give a hard no when someone asks for more.
You mention the alcohol thing, which is fair, although as others note it's best to withhold judgement. At least where I live there's charities you can give money to instead, which will use it to buy things like food, fuel and clothing which they can then pass along. Pro tip: I'd go with a smaller charity, since big ones sometimes get top-heavy.