To think giving someone a birthday card with money in it is a cop out?

[HonestTealPoster]

I appreciate that money is useful and that some people genuinely prefer receiving it, but I’ve always found giving someone a birthday card with cash inside rather impersonal. To me, part of the point of giving a gift is putting some thought into what the person might actually like or enjoy. Giving money just feels like the easiest option, requiring very little thought or effort. Obviously, it’s different if someone has specifically asked for money but otherwise I think it takes something away from the sentiment of gift-giving.

AIBU?

My teens bloody love money in card from about the age of 8. They don’t want lots of stuff (thank god) and what they do want is more expensive, so they like being able to save up for it.

I was going to say- if it’s kids or teens, money is the thing!

Cash is grand with me. Hate a gift card though. You’ve just outsourced the job to me.

I voted YABU but it's a bit of both really. I would find cash in a card a strange gift from a friend, say, but my mother giving my kids cash makes sense - they are thrilled and can buy what they want then. (Although it's money on their Revolut cards now, not cash).

I think it relates to the person and the situation. If I know a friend well, I'll happily buy a gift I think she'll like, but I will also think - if she doesn't, is it easy to exchange? Is a voucher better? I want my gifts to be useful not something that I think is nice but isn't something a friend would want.

Money would be my perfect gift! Or a voucher for a shop that I like. I'm an enormously fussy bugger, and very particular, and I would much rather choose something for myself. I ask my DP to give me a list of what he would like for his birthday, coz he's a fussy sod as well, who definitely wouldn't be happy with just any gift

Gift giving is such a complex and personal area

You need to get over yourself and be grateful for the money inside a card. No one really wants 'carefully chosen' gifts which miss the mark.

Surely the person can get exactly what they want with the money so it is actually a good idea.

I think it's better than giving someone a gift they won't use and will end up thrown away or regifted.

I’d happily take a card with money in it

See, I like a gift card! I get very few presents but for me the value of a gift card is I have to spend it on myself, cash would just be spent on house / kids.

I think not everyone is good at or has the capacity, mental, physical, emotional, for picking presents that are personal to an individual. Gift-giving is one of those things that comes easy to some but not to others.

Well I wouldn’t be much impressed if a friend gave me money, but a teen would love it!

Have you bought for any teenagers lately? Unless you have a huge budget there's almost nothing they want or need. They consume literature/film/music/games via digital routes, so books, cds & dvds are no longer an option.

The sorts of tech, beauty products & clothing they want cost a lot. Decent board games suited to teens are upwards of £40.

I spend about £25-30 on niece/nephew. There's sod all you can actually buy as a decent physical gift for that.

Monet is great, next best thing is a voucher.

I 100% guarantee that some of your thoughtful gifts have privately been binned or given to the charity shop. Which has never happened to a tenner in a card.

If someone wants to give me a gift and can't think of what to give, money is fine. If you want to spend time choosing a gift, that's also fine, but a tenner fits in everyone's wallets.

I see a gift card as a chore. I have to traipse around the shops instead of the buyer. Then if it doesn’t get spent immediately I either forget about it or it’s a job on my list of things to do.

i cant remember money gifts or crsp gifts but thoughtful gifts i do remember

My children want money as then they can choose what to spend it on. They don’t want ‘stuff’. What would you buy teens?

I think for adults, if you've got to a point where you're putting cash in a card it's better to do away with gifts altogether, unless perhaps it's a gift to a relative with a big financial imbalance and there's no expectation of reciprocating.

That said, I really hate "carefully" chosen gifts. IME very few of the people who pride themselves in giving carefully thought out gifts ever get it right, and you end up with a load of stuff that's either unusable, a decorative item you don't want but feel obliged to display or something that's almost but not quite the one you wanted. I'd much rather have generic chocs/wine/ toiletries that at least get used up.

It's ok in some situations..If you don't know the person extremely well and /or if you have given them gifts before and you've discovered they were unappreciated..etc

You’d need a lot of vouchers to buy one of his paintings these days.

My eldest loves saving up for something she wants, so money is her favourite gift. I usually keep the cash and send the money to her account. For friends and family who ask, I send them a payment link, which goes straight to her account - they can even use Apple Pay. Even more lazy of us, and them 🤣

To me, part of the point of giving a gift is putting some thought into what the person might actually like or enjoy.

Yes, but the problem is what you think I might like and what I actually like are two different things. So I would rather have the money, or nothing at all.

Older children and teens LOVE money. It's a great present. Little ones like tearing off the wrapping paper.

In my experience most people are not very good at getting people lovely, thoughtful gifts. And this includes a lot of the people who think they are good at it.

I'd much rather cash (or a gift card) to get something I actually really want than some other person's idea of what they think I should want.

I'm also happy to give you gift ideas, or to have nothing at all, if you don't like the idea of giving money.