In my own opinion, at least, cash and especially gift cards are a lazy present. I feel like the whole point in getting someone a gift is twofold - the object itself, and the subtle reminder that your relationship is such that you spent the time it took to select something that was appropriate and thoughtful. I understand the other camp, but to me, I appreciate getting something material and tangible, rather then a impersonal gift card.

It depends on the person. I gave my sister a new book for her birthday because I knew she would enjoy it, but I gave my college-age cousin twenty bucks for his birthday because I knew he could use the money more.

Gifts show thought. Cash shows lack of thought and makes it look like you waited until the last minute.

I give cash to people I don't know very well and my friends with not as much money. I'd feel stupid giving cash to a friend who has a great job because unless I add a zero to the end of the amount I am going to give them then they probably wouldn't remember it.

I've always thought that this was a ridiculous taboo. My preference is for a gift if there is something I think is appropriate for someone or meaningful, but giving cash instead seems perfectly valid to me.

So I am going to a Chinese wedding (actually the bride and groom are Taiwanese) this spring, and I know I have to give money, but where do I get my hands on a red envelope? Can it be any red envelope?

As a color-blind person with a decent-paying job, I'd rather have help--buying clothes that don't look like hell.

@B - i totally agree also it depends on the person. If it's a coworker or someone you barely know, but know well enough to need to get them something, i think gift cards are appropriate.

@Ouze: Sometimes the thoughtful present is giving the person what they need most. I have friends who are having twins sometime within the next two months. They're going to be deluged with ugly baby clothes from well-meaning relatives, but money's going to become tight very quickly, so I'm going to pick them up a a Costco gift card. They can use it on diapers or whatever they decide they need most.

To me, a present says I know what your interests are and actually thought about them and hope you appreciate not only the present but the knowledge that I put some effort into thinking about you.

Cash/gift cards says I don't know what you like or am too lazy to care about you.

I think the point of a gift is that someone actually bothered to find something you'd like rather than the cost (as in, it's the thought that counts...). EVERYONE likes cash, so it's not very personal. Besides, wouldn't it be pretty boring if everyone just passed around 50 bucks for the holidays? "Hey, thanks! I'll just save this until your birthday and give it back to you!"

Cash is okay for a few specific situations: bar mitzvahs, graduations, and other "coming of age" events where the point is that someone's starting out on their own and could use some scratch. Sometimes this applies for weddings/housewarmings too -- I've told friends to let me know if there's something in particular on their registry they didn't get or could really use. Otherwise, I'll do my best to come up with an original gift. Besides, surprises that the recipient would never have thought of can be really awesome.

I would much rather get gift cards than gifts, as typically, the person buys me something I really don't want or need. I am not swimming in money so AMEX gift cards (which I received a couple this past year from coworkers) are great.

The problem with store gift cards is you always end up with a couple of dollars left over on the balance, but you don't really want to buy anything else from that particular store so you end up buying more than you really wanted just to not lose the money left on the gift card.

I think if you are buying someone below you on the pay scale a gift, money and AMEX gift cards make more sense. If you are buying for someone who makes considerably more than you do, you have to buy a gift, as money/gift cards really don't mean as much to them.

Yup, cash is king. I just gave my sister-in-law cash for her birthday cause I have no idea what she likes & she has no hobbies.

I use cash/gift cards if I don't feel I can get a really awesome gift (with a few exceptions, like office secret santa - booze always goes over well).

In some cases, cash really is the best gift - it's what I've given my teenage cousin for a few years now, because he's always saving up for some new gadget or expensive sports equipment. I've started giving cash more often at weddings and baby showers, too (usually with some token small gift attached).

I would never give cash to my parents or my husband - they don't need it, and it says "I'm too lazy to figure out what you really want."

@Beerad: or those surprise gifts can really suck. i've got an electric jar opener sitting at my house that i got as a wedding gift. what's a 23 year old strapping young lad to do with a jar opener?

That kinda fails if you're in a combined situation. Like, what happens if you spend all the quarters doing laundry and then someone attacks your laundry!? You can't defend 'the whites' without a fist roll of quarters!

@SexCpotatoes: You twist your whites into a tail and whip the attacker.

Simple economics: Marginal Utility of Cash > Marginal Utility of Equivalent Gift or Gift Card. Therefore, the most thoughtful gift is cash.

This is the kind of advice you always read in magazines, the kind that sounds good and makes sense, but even the author knows damn well nobody will do. In America, giving cash for anything but a wedding is tacky and a sign that you see the occasion as an obligation and an expense.

@ekthesy: It has to be a red envelope with really gaudy/shiny Chinese artwork on it. Most have Chinese writing, depictions of Chinese kids in traditional clothing, dragons, and a few even have Hello Kitty...

Some examples can be seen @ [www.chinabridal.com]

My fiancee and I are getting married this spring, and I'm starting to get pissed at people who don't want to give cash for presents. We've been living together for 3.5 years, and have everything we need for our apartment. People won't take the hint, however: either give us cash, or give us only the pleasure of your company on our wedding day. :|

@Sam2k: That is true, but unless you're gift recipient is an economist, it's meaningless. I'd rather get cash than gifts, but most people don't agree with me.

The older I get, the more crap I have, and the more I appreciate not getting more crap for presents. I *definitely* appreciate well thought out gifts, but if the choice is between yet another little knick knack and some cash, give me the cash every time.

Making a donation to a charitable cause I care about is another great gift idea. I would have hated this 10 years ago, but now, why not? As I said, I have enough "stuff". I'm sure some people would be miffed, even downright insulted, by this, but I would not be among them.

A well-considered gift reigns over cash.

If you don't have the time/care to actually think of what the other person doesn't have, but wants/needs (kudos if s/he doesn't even realize it (yet)), give 'em cash and a big smile.

Congratulatory sexual favors optional. But well-considered sexual favors.

Gift cards? Yuck. Twice the hassle for them and a pittance of a bother, so no credit to you. Unless they're junkies (in which case, see above - but only da kine sh*t).

It depends on what the recipient would like and/or actually use and your relationship with them.

Some people love shopping and would rather go out and buy something with a gift of cash than to be given a gift. Other people would see it as insulting.

Cash is only tacky if you're close enough to the person to know what they want and what they want isn't cash.

However, it isn't as much fun to give cash unless you go out shopping with the person you're giving it to.

Unless it's for a kid or the person actually requests it, I think cash is a horrible gift. Whenever I get cash and then have to go out and pay for something really unexciting, like gas for my car or my electric bill, it feels as though I just got gas or electricty for my birthday.

If you give a gift card to a store the person likes, at least you know it'll go towards something they'll enjoy.

@B: $20 bucks? Twenty bucks? Geez, how old is your cousin, seven?! :P

Everyone gets fifty bucks if they have a kid or a wedding.

My cousin got a divorce and he said that's when you need the money and the gifts. Perhaps I'll start giving out fifties when people get divorced. :)

My bro is really insecure about giving cash or gift cards. But think about yourself. *I* love getting cash. Of course I want to get a few "real" gifts, but I think cash is the most thoughtful (though admittedly lazy) because the recipient gets to spend it on what *they* want, not what you think they want. Also, it's a pain to return gifts, and the the store will only let you use credit... What if they have nothing you want at that store?
Wells Fargo sells gift cards, and I gave one to my bro one year. He really liked it, especially because at the time he didn't have a credit card, so he was able to use this gift card for internet purchases.

Cash is a GREAT gift, especially for people who are struggling financially (college students, recent graduates, newly married, new parents... etc.).

@Shadowfire: Why don't you just tell them instead of hinting? I have no problem with telling my relatives that I want cash.

@freshyill: You can also just get them the diapers. Before I had a kid I used to buy the frilly blankets and other crap for people who were expecting. But now that I've been through it myself, I often buy diapers and wipes for new parents. Order them off Amazon and have them shipped. They're always appreciated.

Gift cards in general just suck. My sister-in-law gave me a $10 gift card to CVS! What the hell am I supposed to do with that? I still have two-year-old Baby Gap cards I don't know what to do with. I have a collection of Macy's cards that are collecting dust. Blah.

@cockeye: Totally agree. I would go so far as to say that cash is the most considerate gift to struggling people. They can use it for necessities if they have to while saving face. My little sister-in-law is still struggling with an unemployed husband and toddler, while working her butt off, and I always give her two gifts: something for herself like decent makeup or something to wear, and a check. I've had my own ups and downs and I know how good it feels to be able to have enough for something.

That said... be careful of giving cash to someone who lives with someone unreliable. I used to give her cash but her husband used to find it and take it.

@ekthesy: Another option is to draw something on a red envelope. If you guys have mad sketching skills (or if you are the proud owners of a herd of scallions known to the wedding couple that like to draw) then getting a hand-crafted envelope would be one heck of a sweet ride for the wedding couple.

Else your local Asian enclave, or online.

I have a friend who's a crazed origami-ist who gives cash, carefully folded. Bad for the US economy, though, since many recipients keep the cash b/c it's spindled and folded so beautifully. :D

@moosetoga: well birthdays, christmas, and whatever.. those are obligations and expenses.

Now, Graduation or marriage, thats time for a gift. A good one.

[semi-]Threadjack: For about two years, my mom went on a streak of getting me lamps for my birthday and X-mas. And I was still in high school so I only had my bedroom to illuminate. [Although I did get a cool one shaped like the U.S.S. Enterprise, which was great to impress chicks.] Now our family ony gives giftcards. They always are appreciated and we get exactly we want. I'll take the John Douglas books I got with this year's Border's card over those damn lamps anytime.

When I was 17, my mom gave me a piece of paper for Hanukah that stated she had bought a goat for a family in Africa in my name. Now, being older, I recognize the nobility and practicality of this present, but the 17 year old girl that I was threw a fit because I didn't get an iPod.

@Sam2k:
Agreed. There is a very interesting economics paper that discusses this called, "The Deadweight Loss of Christmas" by Joel Waldfogel (American Economic Review, December 1993, v. 83, iss. 5, pp. 1328-36).

The gist of the article is that since a gift-giver has less than complete knowledge of the recipient's true preferences, the best the gift-giver could hope to do is match what the recipient would want. Giving a non-cash gift that misses the mark brings inefficiency to the process and makes everyone worse off than had there been a straight cash transfer.

The author surveys a group of Yale undergrads and examines the actual cost of a gift vs. what the students would be willing to actually pay for that gift. If the student's willingness to pay is less than the amount spent, there is a deadweight loss.

The study confirms what most of us already know: Gifts from friends and significant others are most efficient. Conversely, those from aunts, uncles and grandparents are least efficient, destroying 1/3 of the cash-value of the gift. (Read: "Oh look...socks.")

So, as the article alludes to, unless you know others better than they know themselves, the most efficient gift is cash.

Cash easily... I can do alot, pay off a bill, buy groceries, or spend it on something fun.
If someone gave me an object, I would think that person probably got it for free and/or is trying to be rid of it.

If you're going to give me something, give me something you made or makes you think of me. And if you can't do either of those, for the love of all that is good and holy, give me cash, so I can buy myself something or make myself something.

To me, it goes: Well thought out gift > cash > not so well-thought out gift > gift card > gift that's really what the giver wants, not the recipient.

I have THREE different $25.00 Best Buy gift cards given to my by different gift-givers.

Needless to say, they are NOT readers of the Consumerist.

Of course what I'd really love is some JP Penney's gift cards to I can power-shop the big and tall dept.

all 3 can be thoughtful or not so much. it's not the gift that determines the thoughtfulness, it's the amount of thought put behind the gift, duh!

The only reason I prefer to give (and receive) gift cards rather than cash is that it ensures the money won't be spent on candy and cigarettes. I know that in my own experience, when I was a kid, and got cash as a gift, I often couldn't tell you what I did with it a week later. Now, I tend to put the money in savings, but years later, there won't be one iota of sentiment attached to the extra $50 that I have in my savings account.

I tend to remember things I purchased with gift cards, however, and years later, that item does hold a positive association with the person who gave me the gift card. The gift card that my mother in law gave me several years ago made her one of the coolest people I've ever met, because right now, it takes the form of two obscure reggae compilations that I had been salivating over for an eternity.

Having said that, I only buy gift cards to merchants who have an established track record; and only if I have it on good authority that the giftee will be able to immediately spend it on something they truly want. Amazon is a great example. They sell just about everything under the sun, their prices are good, and their customer service is spectacular.

A bad example? My aunt gives me a $25 Blockbuster gift card for Christmas every year, and I can barely give the damn thing away. I love her to death, but it breaks my heart to think of her parting with her $25 for something that no one she has ever met is going to enjoy.

My BF used to get me crap for birthdays, anniversaries, and various other gift giving occasions. He meant well, he just sucked at giving gifts. I know it's the thought that counts but often times I'd wish he's saved himself the money and not gotten me anything at all rather than something completely useless.
I told him, from now one, gift card only. He knows where I shop and the gift cards have made budgeting easier since I get to cheat in certain areas.
If I had gotten cash, I would have frittered it away on little things (like coffee) or used it for practical things (like gas)- not really fun. Gifts should be fun.

@ekthesy: You can get red envelopes at a Chinese market. Does your town have one? You might also wanna check out Chinese/Taiwanese wedding traditions by reading online, if you're concerned about doing it right.

@ekthesy:
If there is a chinese/asian grocery store where you live, you can pick one up from there. Or, just stick the cash/check in the same envelope as your card (assuming you're giving them a card)...people did both for our wedding, and it was fine and dandy. As long as you don't give them anything with Hello Kitty on it...that's about as chinese as egg foo yung.

@joemama321:

The study confirms what most of us already know...those from aunts, uncles and grandparents are least efficient, destroying 1/3 of the cash-value of the gift. (Read: "Oh look...socks.")

actually, i read that "oh look...button down polyester reindeer cardigan" *shudder* sorry, flash back to my sophomore year of high school.

Giftcards are stupid once you figure out the company who issued them can refuse to take them. Use cash.

If cash isn't your taste, Checks do well too!(Yuk, yuk, yuk)