My kids’ birthdays are in November and December, plus Christmas. Both live with SO’s. Both have as much clothing and stuff as they need.
What they really need is money for all kinds of reasons. D lives overseas and S lives in a tiny studio apartment. I have put money in small boxes in the past, but I really like to give wrapped boxes of varying sizes. I like seeing an assortments of presents under the tree. (They have a stocking each year which my mom knitted and that is typically for some chocolate and very basic tizzlers.) Wondering if others have creative ideas to give “just cash.”
Mostly, I just make cute signs in Powerpoint. When older S got his job with a financial company, I made him (in Powerpoint) a credit card/visa card looking thing with his name/fake account number/logo/amount. Then I did something similar with younger S, but his school logo was on the card. And then I had them laminated. And once opened, I transfer the $$$ into their accounts.
We’ve also given them one of those fake books that has a “secret compartment” inside and put $$$ in there.
Maybe buy some cheapie clear plastic piggy banks from the Dollar store and put the $$$ in there?
Edit: We also got a couple of gag gift boxes that says something cheesy like “hot lips” on it - and then we put something inside. I don’t think we put cash in it, but it was a bigger box. Maybe buy a box of candy and slip a check inside the top cover?
When my kids were young, Santa hid the gifts and they had to follow clues left by Santa to find them. Now that they are adults, my son took over and writes question that we must solve (like jeopardy questions) with the final clue leading to the location of a hidden gift. It’s a fun game and the questions are funny and challenging. Of course, we have to do the same for him and it takes effort!
My wife and I usually don’t give cash to our kids; but at year end we make contributions to their respective Roth IRA plans. (Which can free up cash that they might otherwise use to make those contributions themselves; and it also reminds them to think about the long-term perspective regarding their finances.)
Sometimes $ is the right gift. What I will often to for my 20s and 30s kids and partners is either verbally or in a card, gift a suggestion or “permission” to use the $ to get something they have been wanting and haven’t sprung for yet (in our world, while they all make decent $, they/we all still budget and don’t have an endless flow of cash)
For instance D2 could use a new phone. We encouraged her to take bday $ to get that. D1 and husband have a new house and have some furniture needs - I might suggest “take this money and buy something for the living room”. They don’t have to follow these suggestions of course- they can go blow the $ on a fancy meal if they want! But reading the suggestions in a card or from my mouth sometimes helps them to see the $ as the key to a wanted/needed item.
And also I will ALWAYS probably give something small to still ope .
We have done this with gift cards (a big hit) but it certainly could be done with cash. Get a nice wallet and put cash in it. Gift the kids the wallet with the contents.
I’m with you on wanting to have wrapped boxes under the tree! Last year we mostly gifted $ for certain items so I printed out a photo of what the $ was for, put it in a box corresponding to the size of the item, and wrapped it. It made me feel better about “just” giving the $.
I’ll have a few small things under the tree as well that are easily packable in a suitcase to get back.
One factor is the amount of the cash gift. For anything up to $1000 or so, “cash” makes sense, be it just handing it to them or in a more creative way.
For more substantial amounts, such as maximizing the gift tax exclusion of $19,000 per person per spouse, check or wire transfer.
I have bought multiple of these (different kinds) as gifts for DH, DSs, and even FIL, though I am afraid I didn’t put any money in them
You would need to first take it apart and then put it all together, but there are supposedly instructions online if needed. Also not all of them have much space inside, so a bit of research would be needed.
I would also add that for my kids anything over say $100 would not be a great idea to give in cash. Cash may = a trip to the bank. Which they (and me) avoid at all costs.
It may be an ethnic thing, but in my family, you never gave someone an empty wallet as a gift. Always had to have cash inside - preferably new crisp bills. Had a great Aunt who would only handle “clean” cash. Every single Xmas, Easter, birthday card I got from her over the years had brand new bills inside. We used to joke that she had a printing press in her basement.
When I knew my kid was saving for a trip to Disney World, I printed a picture of Mickey Mouse and made my own “gift certificate” for Disney. After he opened it I just transferred the money to his account.
When my kids were in college, I would buy gift cards to local restaurants that they liked. Now that they are older, I’ll do DoorDash, Safeway, Costco, etc. I avoid Amazon because they seem to get a lot of Amazon cards from other people.
I’ll go to Five Below, the Dollar Store (when it was open), Aldi, etc. and find something cheap to attach the gift card to. I’ve been surprised that, on occasion, they sometimes used the cheap items (ex. calendar, candle, food item).
When we got married my sister-in-law got crisp new $1.00 bills and curled them up (maybe they were folded like origami?) and pinned them on a wreath. Long before cell phones so I don’t have a picture!
Have been to a lot of weddings in PA over the years where they do the “pay to dance with the bride” routine like in The Deerhunter. Custom is that you fold the bill that you give into a particular shape for good luck.
Yes, Origami is a fun way to gift cash and pretty portable (you can put it in a card). I often tape an envelope with money or a check to a book I get from Friends of the Library that I think the recipient will like.
