Shocking, huh? Filthy lucre was the favorite holiday gift among those surveyed by the Ebates cash-back shopping site.
At 39 percent of the vote, it blew away a few categories that surprised me: tablets (15 percent), smartphones (12 percent), tickets to an event/destination (10 percent), televisions (7 percent).
Maybe the majority of respondents don’t have relatives wealthy enough to pony up enough for a new e-gift or a weekend in the Bahamas. Still, they seemed hopeful that somebody would send a few dollars their way.
Or maybe they’re having trouble making it in the current economy (recovery? what recovery?) and even a $50 bill in a Christmas card would give them a little breathing room.
Here’s where it gets weird for me: I would rather receive a $50 gift card than a nice picture of Ulysses S. Grant.
Technically it’s the same thing: My dad buys a $50 Home Depot card for $50 cash. (He doesn’t use discount gift card sites, but I heartily recommend you give them a try.)
Gift cards aren’t a great idea for those who are struggling. It’s not that people living close to the bone don’t need a little diversion now and then. It’s that you can’t throw a $50 movie gift card toward a rent payment.
Well, technically you can if you sold it on the secondary market. However, you won’t get more than 92 percent of its face value and depending on the type of card you might get a lot less. That portrait of U.S. grant is a lot easier to turn around.
Giving vs. getting
Personally, being given cash feels odd to me. Giving it? That’s another story.
I’d love to hand a couple of hundred dollars (or more) to relatives and friends who are struggling financially. Before my own personal economic downturn this was an option; I’d give my daughter a chunk of cash to put into her Roth IRA. (Why make her wait until I die to get some cash? This way she got the advantage of compound interest.)
Not this year. Almost every holiday present I’m giving is being paid for by points from several rewards credit cards and the Swagbucks rewards program. Cash simply isn’t an option; in fact, I’ll be giving fewer gifts this year.
Does that make me a little sad? Yeah. But it’s reality, i.e., a corollary choice to choosing to slash my salary. Earning less means a smaller actual giving budget, vs. my rewards-related one.
On the other hand, I’m at her home in Phoenix right now and have already cooked a turkey and several pumpkin pies. That’s almost as good as helping her to retire comfortably, right?
Readers: Do you give cash as a gift? Why or why not?
Related reading:
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- Wealthy people think you could live on less
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Yes cash would be a nice thing for me. That could go towards my cell phone bill which I need for work or towards gas or even my small savings account that I would like to bump up. Plus I never know what I “want” anyways so cash that I could us for an emergency fund or whatever would be nice to me.
We give cash gifts to daughter and son in law as they live out of the country, and there is no shipping problem. We just deposit funds into their accounts, and then call or email them to check their balances.
I do give cash if people ask for it. For example, last year Dear Niece was saving for her wedding, so DH and I were gave her and her sweetie cash, which was greatly appreciated. Otherwise, I like to give gift cards so the people who receive them can have a special treat. My DSIL wouldn’t turn up her nose at a gift card from Macy’s, but I have a feeling she’ll really appreciate the gift card from the local garden shop that I’m planning to give her!
The local garden shop will appreciate it, too.
We give cash depending on the circumstances. DH’s sister definitely prefers it– several of the items on her amazon wishlist are cash for various savings buckets. We’ve only given it when it feels thoughtful though… like when she was trying to pay off her wedding debt and had mentioned it at our last visit, or was saving for a house downpayment, or for her baby’s 529 and so on. It’s a bit harder when the wish is “cash for my savings account.” I don’t know why we have that hang-up. We’ll probably buy stuff off her amazon list or give her an amazon gift card instead. Which is functionally the same but doesn’t feel like it.
We give $50 every year to DH’s cousin with the 5 kids. Which we probably shouldn’t. But there’s always some hard luck story around December (always after they’ve done the Christmas shopping) and we figure why the heck not.
There’s no point in giving us money. I mean, we like money and all, but your money would just go hang out with the rest of our money and not get spent or do anything to make us remember you fondly. Much better to buy something off my amazon wishlist. 🙂
My mom and (late) grandma used to exchange equal value checks every Christmas, which always seemed silly to me, especially since it was a hassle to remember to get to the bank. In the end I think they would both just not cash the checks.
Gift-giving is odd, to be sure.
And best-case scenario? People get something off your Amazon wish lists using my Amazon widget. 😉
My 21-year-old son has really expensive wants, so he usually gets a check towards a more expensive want. My 12-year-old daughter wants teen store GCs. We’ll see about that. DH doesn’t want anything, so I have to keep my ears open all year to come up with things for relatives to get him. My birthday is in mid December, so this is the one time of year I get the gimmees. Mom usually gets me cash in a card for the bday.
If your DH doesn’t want anything, maybe people should just…not get him anything? Or make a contribution to his charity of choice?
My dad has asked us not to send any gifts unless it’s homemade peanut brittle or a check to his church. I can do those things.
We give to ALL of my husband’s family, and I for one am sick of it. We are talking over 20 people, including working adults who can buy whatever they want, whenever they want. But the in-laws aren’t going to change, so I’m the one who has to change my attitude. I would absolutely prefer to draw names, or have a Yankee swap, or make charitable gifts. The one year I asked my MIL to donate to my former school so a needy 8th grader could go on the class trip, she said she’d just give me the cash instead. Sigh. I usually give “Family” or “Couple” gifts of gift cards, household items, etc. It’s a drag. Thank you for letting me vent!!!
Oh, dear. Changing such entrenched ways can be very difficult if not everyone has the same mindset.
Wonder if they’d be extremely pissed off if your gifts were pieces of paper that read, “For sister-in-law, a share in a goat to be given to an impoverished family in Romania through Heifer International,” or “For brother-in-law, a $25 donation to Kiva to help a village cooperative build a brick factory in Kenya.” Heh heh heh….
I love you idea, Donna. My family used to run us around like this. We are talking 14 adults with a total of 17 kids. Even when we drew names for the kids, they insisted of everyone drawing five names so each kid would get five presents. My sister wanted to put a minimum of $50 dollars on each gift so everyone would get something nice. This was for kids who were going to to be given an obscene amount of gifts from their parents (most of my siblings make a lot of money)
We finally realized that my family is insane and said “no”. It’s one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. Instead, I have an annual sleepover for the kids at my house which they all enjoy immensely. It has made me their favorite aunt.
I love the idea of a sleepover! What a good solution.
And I’m with you on the excess. A $50 minimum per gift? Wow.
I am at a point in my life where I don’t want cash for gifts anymore. Personally I’m ok getting no gifts but if they must get me something I would rather it be something thoughtful or some great deal they found like at a thrift store or on clearance at a store.
On the flip side I’m ok giving cash for gifts. As the highest earner in my family I don’t mind being the cash giver and receiving less in return.
“Some great deal they found” — that’s sort of like what we’re doing. DF and I aren’t giving each other any presents unless they come with “a stirring tale of thrift” attached.
We give cash, together with an explanation of how we would like the cash to be used. This isn’t to put any pressure on the recipient, but rather to make the present more personal. We often write about an experience we shared with the recipient and how the cash could be used for something related to that going forward.
This makes the present both thoughtful, but gives the recipient some freedom to choose exactly how they use the gift. Win win, in my eyes!
Mmmm pumpkin pies…. :). My parents are very generous and always want to give my husband and I something, but, we don’t need stuff! So, over the years they’ve started giving us the cash they would’ve used to buy a gift. We then invest/save the cash and everyone is happy. I am grateful for my parents’ generosity and thankful that they give us what we truly want and will use. Plus, they enjoy hearing about our investments and how we’re saving for the future. I don’t give cash now (it would be odd to give my parents cash in return 🙂 ), but, I will probably give my future kids cash as gifts.
Nice! Instead of getting some gadget or trinket, you’re building your financial portfolio.
For the past few years I’ve been able to give my daughter cash for her Roth IRA. Probably can’t this year unless I make a big strike before April 15. Sigh.
My parents are at an age where they aren’t able to shop anymore, so I’m tasked with the mission of buying myself gifts (only child) and they wrap them. And I’ll get some cash. I don’t really need either one, but for these last few years it makes them happy.
We do give cash to my husband’s child & spouse, along with something small to open. I think I’m also going to buy smaller for his young grandkids and include some cash for the parents to put toward school/clothes.
For those of you with extra money..One year I went out and purchased gift cards to a local store (groceries/clothes/toys/etc.) we put them in a plain envelope. My husband pulled his priest aside and said, “Do you think you can find a home for these orphans?” I know they went to a family who was down on their luck. It was a better way to spend Christmas that year.
Lovely! What a discreet way to help someone in your congregation who needed it.
DF is the cantor at early Mass every Sunday, and he’ll often take something along with him: for the food basket, the sock drive, the warm clothing collection. I’m always on the lookout to help him: a 60 percent off coupon at Jo-Ann, for example, can turn into a 40-cent pair of gloves and a loss-leader food item plus coupon may equal a free or nearly free food item.
Personally I prefer to give directly to the food bank, as such entities can buy in bulk and stretch the dollars further than we average consumers can. But it’s important to me that my nephews see the result of direction action (a case of ravioli for DF’s Christmas present turns into food for hungry people right here in town), and I think the sight of the food basket at DF’s church is a reminder to parishioners to remember others during the week.
Cash to the daughters and & nephews in college…they really appreciate that! for the younger nieces and nephews I try to buy a gift, although sometimes money is given instead (12 year-old nephew who was saving his money for a game system got cash for Christmas last year).
Yay for learning to save up for what you want! How nice you were able to help him move a little closer to his goal.
My parents used to send us a check every Christmas. I have fond memories of renewing the Sam’s Club membership and buying a few treats we didn’t often buy there, then taking the kids to get new shoes and buying socks and underwear all around. Each person also got a little to spend on ourselves. Nowadays my mom and her boyfriend still give money, and we’ll use it toward a family present or some personal shopping.
I’m at a stage where I don’t need or want much stuff – we’re working toward having *less* stuff, and my wants are very specific. I do enjoy lending on Kiva, and monetary gifts are perfect for that. I’m hoping we can drive up and visit family sometime within the next year, so money could work toward that, too.
We try to give actual gifts to our sons, but we generally slip in a little cash. And we fell away from giving our nieces and nephew cash when the economic downturn hit us in the late 2000s, but I’d like to see if we can resume that tradition this year. At one time, we had a tradition of giving Christmas ornaments made locally from shells or sand dollars or the like, and that was a good tradition, too.
We don’t really exchange many gifts with friends, but when we do, it’s usually something small and either useful or consumable – holiday cookies, handmade Christmas tree ornaments, a book someone’s been wanting, that sort of thing.
Not really sure what we’ll be doing this year. Time to start planning, I guess!
I like the way your family celebrates. Kiva lending is another nice alternative to gifts for people who have everything already.
Before I left for Phoenix I watched my nephews while their mom went to the theater (not “The Book of Mormon,” by the way — it was “An Iliad”) and showed them a Heifer International catalog. The younger one in particular was utterly fascinated by the idea. I told him that if he and his brother were thinking about getting a gift for me, perhaps they could make it a $10 share in an animal that could help people help themselves.
I think he’s torn between a flock of ducks and a pig. He’d probably prefer a water buffalo, but the shares for animals of that size cost more.
Last year their mom gave them some cash to spend on DF and me. When they asked what DF wanted, he said he didn’t really need anything but would love it if they’d purchase some food for his church’s food bank. The two of them had a marvelous time at Fred Meyer, comparing costs to see how much chili vs. ravioli vs. tuna they could buy with their cash. And they had an even better time bearing the food into our house and showing to to DF.
I reminded them that because of their gift, and gifts of other people, some mom or dad somewhere wouldn’t be thinking, “My cupboard is almost empty and payday isn’t until Friday.” Instead, they’ll be saying, “Cheese ravioli for dinner tonight, kids!”
It’s really easy for kids in our country not to understand what poverty means (unless, of course, they’re experiencing it themselves). Programs like Heifer and Kiva, and local food banks, can help awaken their senses of empathy and sharing.
Oh, that does sound like a great idea for your nephews. They get to shop and plan and spend a little money, AND help someone else out. Come to think of it, we try to do a little Christmas shopping every year, for Toys for Tots. We try to go with arts & crafts kits. One year I donated a glitzy personal journal rubber-banded to some glitzy gel pens. I’ve heard that they often have trouble getting gifts donated for older kids, so we try to aim for the pre-teen to teen age range.
I love the idea of Heifer International, too, though we’ve never done it. Thanks for putting them back on my radar.
When the kids were growing up, I used to tell them, “We’re not poor, just broke.” Things got tight sometimes, but we always had a roof over our heads and something to eat, and usually a little money once in a while to spend on frugal fun. I think it gave our kids an appreciation for not having enough. Once our older son started working, he started a tradition of buying something for Toys for Tots every year, and when he and his brother go hang out with friends who are having tough times, they often bring snacks or something to cook for their dinner and “forget” to bring the extra food home. Gotta love ’em…
Your kids sound like gems. Well done, you!
I do not give cash, but I do receive it from most family members.
I think my budget is pretty modest compared to the national average (1/2 in fact). This year I budgeted $395 to include all presents, cards + postage, wrapping supplies, shipping, & tickets to the theater. I’ll also be cashing out $75 in paypal rewards via Swagbucks that I can pad my budget with to splurge a little, which includes a $30 charitable donation.
Side note: I’m in charge of an Adopt-A-Family holiday drive at work. We’re explicitly told no cash. We’re asked to buy 1 need & 1 want per child or senior (max $30 total) *no gifts for adults and 1 grocery store gift card per family. However, if we want to buy an additional “family gift”, a $30 max gift card is recommended.
When my sister and I adopted families each Christmas the “want sheets” were mostly clothing and household items, with one or two toys (and sometimes those were “art supplies”). It was so gratifying to be able to fill specific needs.
This year I’m not adopting a family but I will be making a $50 donation to the local food bank; part of that comes from the money I find all year long.
For my personal gift-giving I will have spent about $40. The rest of my gifts are coming from awards programs, yard sales (got a huge bag of books for $5), and a few odds and ends picked up in the Expo Hall at the Financial Blogger Conference (they make great stocking stuffers).
And I just found out that I won a $100 Visa prepaid card from a MyPoints Facebook promotion. Woo hoo! The second round of the promotion is now live, so I hope somebody who reads this winds up winning.
Enter at https://www.facebook.com/mypoints/posts/10152391092090443:0
Yes, cash is about all I gave my late mom. That’s all she ever wanted, so that’s what she got. Usually, I’d give her a very modest gift along with the cash, but the money was the main event for her.
I’m thinking about giving my adult kids cash and fewer gifts this year. It would cut the holiday shopping stress for me, and it would give them some much-needed cash, which I know they could use.
Cash: It always fits and people never need to return it.