Insane Holiday Consumption Thread

[OtherJen]

Unfortunately, we're spending Christmas this year with a very materialistic and spendy branch of the family.  I have one particular wealthy shopaholic aunt who eggs everyone else on and buys ridiculous amounts of stuff for the holidays.  She also gets extremely insulted if others don't buy presents for her, even though it's basically impossible as she has every possible thing that she could possibly want/need. 

She has one of those dogs that is like her child as she doesn't have kids.  I remember one year another family member was freaking out on Christmas morning as we'd 'forgotten to buy a present for the dog and "she'll be so upset".  So the family member took the child's fabric ball that my toddler was playing with at the time an wrapped that up for the dog's present.  I suggested a can of dog food but that didn't go down well.  Apparently this dog only eats some kind of home made extra gourmet dog food that her "parents" make for her.

This sounds like absolute hell. I think I would just rather burn the bridge...

Good lord. My husband and I are infertile and have known that we are for 17 years. Our pets (currently, 2 cats, 1 rabbit) are not our kids. They have no idea what Christmas is, and they only know about Thanksgiving because the roasting turkey smells good. If someone wanted to give them a fun gift, that would be fine. They would love the gift but would be blissfully unaware of its absence.

[Chris Pascale]

38 years ago, I discovered that my wife (of 37 years), celebrated Christmas on a fairly high budget...  Choices had to be made... Decided that Christmas spending was not a hill "winable" or worth dying on.  YMMV.

Giving at Christmas must have meant a lot to her. And I bet she always made it awesome.

[partgypsy]

Unfortunately, we're spending Christmas this year with a very materialistic and spendy branch of the family.  I have one particular wealthy shopaholic aunt who eggs everyone else on and buys ridiculous amounts of stuff for the holidays.  She also gets extremely insulted if others don't buy presents for her, even though it's basically impossible as she has every possible thing that she could possibly want/need. 

She has one of those dogs that is like her child as she doesn't have kids.  I remember one year another family member was freaking out on Christmas morning as we'd 'forgotten to buy a present for the dog and "she'll be so upset".  So the family member took the child's fabric ball that my toddler was playing with at the time an wrapped that up for the dog's present.  I suggested a can of dog food but that didn't go down well.  Apparently this dog only eats some kind of home made extra gourmet dog food that her "parents" make for her.

This sounds like absolute hell. I think I would just rather burn the bridge...

OMG. I do have a picture in my mind that the dog wears a christmas vest or sweater, or at least a holiday-themed collar.

Dogs need to dress up for Christmas pictures.  It's a good rule.

We had reindeer antlers for our dog that strapped around her head.  Second year that we tried putting them on her, she ran away as fast as she could to a dark corner, clawed them off her head, and ripped them to shreds.  That's when we moved the Santa robe:


"Dear God, why is this happening again???"

. Lol I have to say, AW

[Dee18]

When I was young we had stockings hung by the fireplace in the living room, but we also had door stockings tied on our bedroom doors.  They were about 6 or 7 inches high...just big enough to hold a candy cane and one toy, like a miniature deck of playing cards, to occupy us until 7 a.m. when we were allowed to wake our parents. We were not supposed to go into the living room before then.  But I always woke up early and one of my favorite things was to go into the living room and sit there for a while...just enjoying the tree and packages, and then go back to my bedroom before anyone else woke up.

[partgypsy]

I remember me and my siblings on the days running up to Christmas, us looking at, arranging and sorting the presents under the tree by who they were for, try to figure out what they were. The anticipation was all part of the enjoyment it it. And feeling rich with gifts

[SpeedReader]

After the year that my sisters and I all gave each other gift cards (living in different states, so no idea what anyone wanted or needed), we called a moratorium.  We only gave gifts to our parents and to our nephew who was still a kid. 

[GuitarStv]

After the year that my sisters and I all gave each other gift cards (living in different states, so no idea what anyone wanted or needed), we called a moratorium.  We only gave gifts to our parents and to our nephew who was still a kid.

I have a serious problem with gift cards.  Giving a gift card is like giving someone shitty money.

"Here's some money!"
"Nice!"
"But you can only spend it at a store of my choosing."
"Oh . . . thanks . . . I guess?"

Somehow marketers have convinced people that giving limited money is somehow better than giving real money, and it's fucking weird.

[Hula Hoop]

I have a feeling I may be posting here soon as we're going to have a big family Christmas for the first time in a long time this year (with vaccines, testing etc.)  I have one particular aunt who is a complete shopaholic and who also expects presents.  I've bought everyone Italian chocolate.  They have enough stuff already so it's consumables this year.

[Dave1442397]

After the year that my sisters and I all gave each other gift cards (living in different states, so no idea what anyone wanted or needed), we called a moratorium.  We only gave gifts to our parents and to our nephew who was still a kid.

I have a serious problem with gift cards.  Giving a gift card is like giving someone shitty money.

"Here's some money!"
"Nice!"
"But you can only spend it at a store of my choosing."
"Oh . . . thanks . . . I guess?"

Somehow marketers have convinced people that giving limited money is somehow better than giving real money, and it's fucking weird.

You can just do VISA gift cards. I don't like to limit people's choices either, so that's what I get them.

[GuitarStv]

After the year that my sisters and I all gave each other gift cards (living in different states, so no idea what anyone wanted or needed), we called a moratorium.  We only gave gifts to our parents and to our nephew who was still a kid.

I have a serious problem with gift cards.  Giving a gift card is like giving someone shitty money.

"Here's some money!"
"Nice!"
"But you can only spend it at a store of my choosing."
"Oh . . . thanks . . . I guess?"

Somehow marketers have convinced people that giving limited money is somehow better than giving real money, and it's fucking weird.

You can just do VISA gift cards. I don't like to limit people's choices either, so that's what I get them.

Visa gift card -

"Here's some money!"
"Nice!"
"But because it's a Visa gift card you get less money than if I gave you cash.  And there might be an activation fee depending on where I bought it."
"Oh . . . thanks . . . I guess?"


ANY gift cards always seem to come out as the worse option than cash.  They've been very successfully marketed as somehow better than giving real money though . . . which bothers me deep down in the cockles of my heart.  Maybe even in the sub-cockle area.

[dignam]

My immediate family used to have every member buy every other member a gift.  There are 6 of us, and once SOs came in to the picture, it swelled to 9 or 10.  This was on top of the stuffed stockings for everyone too.  I never cared for doing it this way.  My GF suggested we draw one name out of a hat each and get that person a gift, which I was immediately on board with.  Same with the rest of my family, so that's what we've done the past few years.

This year we shifted again and all the sibs (+ SOs) donated to a charity.  I'm still getting my brother something too, but it's more of a gag gift.  But we still get gifts for the nieces and nephews because hey, that's fun for everyone (plus it gives me an excuse to "help" with the star wars lego sets).

[tygertygertyger]

After the year that my sisters and I all gave each other gift cards (living in different states, so no idea what anyone wanted or needed), we called a moratorium.  We only gave gifts to our parents and to our nephew who was still a kid.

I have a serious problem with gift cards.  Giving a gift card is like giving someone shitty money.

"Here's some money!"
"Nice!"
"But you can only spend it at a store of my choosing."
"Oh . . . thanks . . . I guess?"

Somehow marketers have convinced people that giving limited money is somehow better than giving real money, and it's fucking weird.

You can just do VISA gift cards. I don't like to limit people's choices either, so that's what I get them.

Visa gift card -

"Here's some money!"
"Nice!"
"But because it's a Visa gift card you get less money than if I gave you cash.  And there might be an activation fee depending on where I bought it."
"Oh . . . thanks . . . I guess?"


ANY gift cards always seem to come out as the worse option than cash.  They've been very successfully marketed as somehow better than giving real money though . . . which bothers me deep down in the cockles of my heart.  Maybe even in the sub-cockle area.

My only defense of gift cards is that - assuming the store is one that I generally like - it's better for me to have money set aside for that particular indulgence. If someone gives me cash, I have a very hard time "treating" myself with it. It automatically gets put into my "don't spend!" mindset. Whereas if someone gives me a gift card, I'll go and enjoy having those free dollars to indulge a bit.

[ixtap]

We have one set of nieces and nephews that expect to get everything on their list. We have watched the parents argue about going over budget *and* the grandparents argue about whether or not they are going to bail them out.

[sonofsven]

My sister's kids only wanted Gamestop gift cards. I tried giving more interesting (to me) gifts, but gave up after witnessing the disappointment, lol.

One year I gave my nephew his card but it was packed "russian doll" style, big box, smaller box, etc. I thought it would be funny, and the nephew has a unique sense of humor (he's "on the spectrum", fwiw.)

Everyone was laughing, and he was laughing, as each opened box revealed another fully wrapped gift box, until the final box, which was a cell phone box. It was the smallest box I could find.

His eyes lit up when he saw the box, but when he opened it and found the Gamestop card he ran from the room crying! Turns out he had been bugging his folks for his first phone but they decided he was too young. He was so disappointed and I felt terrible.

He got me back a few years later with his own prank, so all was well, and it lives on in the family lore.

[AMandM]

My only defense of gift cards is that - assuming the store is one that I generally like - it's better for me to have money set aside for that particular indulgence. If someone gives me cash, I have a very hard time "treating" myself with it. It automatically gets put into my "don't spend!" mindset. Whereas if someone gives me a gift card, I'll go and enjoy having those free dollars to indulge a bit.

My MIL gives me gift cards to a store that sells women's clothes, because she wants me to have something nice for me. If she gives me a check she doesn't trust me to spend it on myself. (And she's not wrong, lol.)

[Britan]

My only defense of gift cards is that - assuming the store is one that I generally like - it's better for me to have money set aside for that particular indulgence. If someone gives me cash, I have a very hard time "treating" myself with it. It automatically gets put into my "don't spend!" mindset. Whereas if someone gives me a gift card, I'll go and enjoy having those free dollars to indulge a bit.

My MIL gives me gift cards to a store that sells women's clothes, because she wants me to have something nice for me. If she gives me a check she doesn't trust me to spend it on myself. (And she's not wrong, lol.)

Yeah this is me too. If I were to get cash, I just wouldn’t spend it. But gift cards, especially for clothes, ensure that I get something I want in the right size, and that *I actually get it*. But usually it’s the kind of thing where I say to someone who asks what Id want “oh I’d like a gift card to buy something from X clothing store”, so it’s still the store of my choice. A random gift card to somewhere the buyer just picked isn’t as thoughtful.

Edit to add: gift cards can also be useful when you know someone wants something out of your budget or just exorbitant. An apple gift card can be used towards an iPad without you having to buy a whole iPad for example. But that also requires more though than just “buy whatever gift card is closest in the checkout line”.

[Villanelle]

For more than one occasion, I've given my sister or BIL an American Airlines gift card.  They travel frequently and AA is their preferred carrier, but they also have a travel budget.  $50 that goes toward their airfare is $50 more they can spend on an excursion or something else.  If I just gave them $50, I know they wouldn't give themselves permission to go over budget.

So sure, money (unlike gift cards, sort of) is fungible.  But sometimes people need or want a mental excuse to splurge when they otherwise might not allow themselves to do that.  I don't think there's anything wrong with that, but I think you do have to be thoughtful about the recipient and now what works best for them

We also sometimes give MIL a gift card for a restaurant we know she likes and frequents.  In her case, it's not that she wouldn't go there anyway, but her pride would never allow her to accept cash from us.  I think she'd actually be somewhat offended if we tried to give her money.  But somehow a gift card is okay even though it just pays for a meal she would eat anyway and pay cash for, so the overall effect to the finances would be the same. 

[couponvan]

Ex-JW here. I could care less about the holidays.

DH’s family is big into Christmas. Everyone has more than they need, and we have more than the rest of them financially. We moved away from all family 3 years ago. So we are in VA, and they are in IL This year, it’s matching Lands End PJs for the lot of them. Zoom call coordinated Xmas morning in their matching Jammie’s (or robes for those who don’t fit Jammie’s) is the plan. When we lived in Illinois, we used to put everyone up in a hotel (points) and buy brunch for everyone at a nice restaurant as our gift. That was honestly way easier. So next year, it will probably be a family experience gift again. The random excess they send our way generally boggles my mind.

My side, it’s one aunt and grandma that celebrate and we just do tea towels or cookies for the most part. My grandma wins because hers are hand embroidered. I tried to learn one year, but my towel looked as if a two-year old did the work. My sister and I do gift cards for the kids that we put the others names on. So she buys her kids Disney gift cards (from me), and I buy my kids equal gift cards for whatever store my kids might want. Yeah, we’re lazy.

I’d much prefer just to see and enjoy one another’s company versus all the gifts.

[Metalcat]

After the year that my sisters and I all gave each other gift cards (living in different states, so no idea what anyone wanted or needed), we called a moratorium.  We only gave gifts to our parents and to our nephew who was still a kid.

I have a serious problem with gift cards.  Giving a gift card is like giving someone shitty money.

"Here's some money!"
"Nice!"
"But you can only spend it at a store of my choosing."
"Oh . . . thanks . . . I guess?"

Somehow marketers have convinced people that giving limited money is somehow better than giving real money, and it's fucking weird.

I only give gift cards when it's to introduce someone to something cool.
Like a gift card for a specific experience activity, or a specific restaurant. I gave my old boss a number of gift cards to kind of force her to do fun things. The gift was me doing the mental work for her of finding cool stuff she would enjoy, the gift card was to pressure her to actually go do it because she didn't want to waste the gift. She was always really grateful, but she enjoyed me being pushy and controlling. The first year I worked for her I bought her new clothes after saying her clothes sucked.

[AMandM]

We also sometimes give MIL a gift card for a restaurant we know she likes and frequents.  In her case, it's not that she wouldn't go there anyway, but her pride would never allow her to accept cash from us.  I think she'd actually be somewhat offended if we tried to give her money.  But somehow a gift card is okay even though it just pays for a meal she would eat anyway and pay cash for, so the overall effect to the finances would be the same.

We do this with my ILs, too.

I think in their minds, a gift card to a restaurant says, "We want you to have a nice time out." It's kind of like those certificates little kids make for their parents that say "Valid for one hug" or "I will mop the floor." Cash to them says, "We're paying for something you can't pay for on your own." It's not entirely rational, but I share the feeling to some extent. A well-chosen gift card does demonstrate that thought went into the gift.

[Morning Glory]

We also sometimes give MIL a gift card for a restaurant we know she likes and frequents.  In her case, it's not that she wouldn't go there anyway, but her pride would never allow her to accept cash from us.  I think she'd actually be somewhat offended if we tried to give her money.  But somehow a gift card is okay even though it just pays for a meal she would eat anyway and pay cash for, so the overall effect to the finances would be the same.

We do this with my ILs, too.

I think in their minds, a gift card to a restaurant says, "We want you to have a nice time out." It's kind of like those certificates little kids make for their parents that say "Valid for one hug" or "I will mop the floor." Cash to them says, "We're paying for something you can't pay for on your own." It's not entirely rational, but I share the feeling to some extent. A well-chosen gift card does demonstrate that thought went into the gift.

+1
My parents love gift cards for their local movie theater. It would be wasted on me though,  unless you also want to watch my kids while I go to the movies.

[Travis]

After the year that my sisters and I all gave each other gift cards (living in different states, so no idea what anyone wanted or needed), we called a moratorium.  We only gave gifts to our parents and to our nephew who was still a kid.

I have a serious problem with gift cards.  Giving a gift card is like giving someone shitty money.

"Here's some money!"
"Nice!"
"But you can only spend it at a store of my choosing."
"Oh . . . thanks . . . I guess?"

Somehow marketers have convinced people that giving limited money is somehow better than giving real money, and it's fucking weird.

You can just do VISA gift cards. I don't like to limit people's choices either, so that's what I get them.

Visa gift card -

"Here's some money!"
"Nice!"
"But because it's a Visa gift card you get less money than if I gave you cash.  And there might be an activation fee depending on where I bought it."
"Oh . . . thanks . . . I guess?"


ANY gift cards always seem to come out as the worse option than cash.  They've been very successfully marketed as somehow better than giving real money though . . . which bothers me deep down in the cockles of my heart.  Maybe even in the sub-cockle area.

I thought I was being slick sending my niece and nephews gift cards one year, until I'm adding up my Christmas expenses and realized I spent $5 to gift $25. Now I just electronically send their mother the money and tell her to stick the cash in an envelope from me.

[AMandM]

I thought I was being slick sending my niece and nephews gift cards one year, until I'm adding up my Christmas expenses and realized I spent $5 to gift $25. Now I just electronically send their mother the money and tell her to stick the cash in an envelope from me.

This creates more work for your sister, though. I would only do this if I'd checked with her beforehand to make sure she was ok with it. (Not saying you didn't!)

[Travis]

I thought I was being slick sending my niece and nephews gift cards one year, until I'm adding up my Christmas expenses and realized I spent $5 to gift $25. Now I just electronically send their mother the money and tell her to stick the cash in an envelope from me.

This creates more work for your sister, though. I would only do this if I'd checked with her beforehand to make sure she was ok with it. (Not saying you didn't!)

It's not without coordination. We've always lived hundreds/thousands of miles apart and we've always had an arrangement like that.

[couponvan]

I thought I was being slick sending my niece and nephews gift cards one year, until I'm adding up my Christmas expenses and realized I spent $5 to gift $25. Now I just electronically send their mother the money and tell her to stick the cash in an envelope from me.

This creates more work for your sister, though. I would only do this if I'd checked with her beforehand to make sure she was ok with it. (Not saying you didn't!)

This is exactly what my sister and I do. LOL.  We write each others cards and include the $.  Because it kind of ended up being silly to send gift cards back and forth when we didn't have to.  Also, we had gift cards get stolen out of the mail one year, so it was an incentive to not do that again.

[onward19]

Hi, all!

I was thinking, as we come into the worst part of the year (Christmas - blech), it might be fun to see who has the absolute wildest gift-giving traditions in their family. You got an aunt who gives out iPads every year? Let's hear about it!

I have two that come to mind:
1. My DW's family is insane. They are a bigger family (about 15 members all told at the house for Xmas day). It is a requirement that EVERY person buys EVERY other person a gift. Any suggestions about how bad this is for our wallets and the planet is usually met with either blank stares or eye rolls followed by condescending chuckles. The best my DW and I have been able to do after 5 years of cajoling is that we now buy and get gifts as a couple.

2. On my side of the family, for as far back as I can remember, my mother had her 'Christmas job.' Every year, after the school year would start, she would go out and find a min wage job somewhere (Target, Walmart, Starbucks, etc.), and would work there for 8-10 hours a week until the two weeks before Christmas. After I turned 14, she managed to find a gig at a local coffee shop that was cool with her doing this on a yearly basis. She would then use this money for our gifts under the tree. Seemed insane to me then, and insane to me now.

*Not about my family per se, but I also cannot stand the people my age (around 25-35) who use the winter holiday to buy gifts for themselves, essentially using the holidays as an excuse to spend frivolously on things they wouldn't otherwise buy.

**Also, going even farther afield, when on Earth did Birthdays turn into weekends? As in, "Its my birthday weekend this weekend, so I am taking Friday off, and celebrating Friday and Saturday." Gross.

ETA: Fixed my age range. I am not as close to 12 as I wish I was.

   I think we can all agree that it seems a sad waste of her life and energy to spend all that time working for one pile of gifts. However I think it is commendable that she found a way to pay cash for those gifts. Most people just throw it on a credit card and worry about it in January!

[partgypsy]

well i'm feeling cautiously optimistic. I always do spend more money on my kids than I intend to (that one -more thing I want to get them issue). But last year when I was telling my immediate family I didn't want anything, didin't give them ideas for presents, our family got literally 7 pounds of candies, chocolates, sweets etc. And since that is one area I have no self control I ended up eating the majority of those....
anyways my sis did send me some treats, but it was summer sausage and pate and crackers, and they were actually thoughtful, and I have to admit I already broke them open and having a nice snack for a few days. It looks like I will avoid the avalance of chocolate, the tsunami of socks, and otherwise will be modest on the gift front. Sis did send me her gift to me which is glass tupperware (I'm slowly replacing plastic with glass), and my Mom sent me a card. I already dropped off stocking stuffing type gifts to a few friends. The guy I see is going to take me out shopping for a new mattress at some point because he has a truck for transport, but not exchanging gifts. Anyways I really want to take a break from xmas preparations today and just sit on my ass and read a mystery. so that's def happening today or tomorrow. I have had a holiday party the last 2, 3 years. Obviously last years was canceled and I am going to skip this year as well, though I might meet people for a drink or a film during the break. 

[Travis]

I've been waiting for this article to be published since the day this thread was created!

https://defector.com/the-2021-haters-guide-to-the-williams-sonoma-catalog

[Travis]

I've been waiting for this article to be published since the day this thread was created!

https://defector.com/the-2021-haters-guide-to-the-williams-sonoma-catalog

Blech, second time I've seen this posted but it's behind a paywall. I think I get the gist though.

I saw what looked like a paywall, but I was able to click it off.

[Cassie]

Most of the people I used to buy gifts for are dead. I have no grandchildren so I dress my Maltese in Xmas sweaters. The same ones every year. No I don’t expect people to buy them gifts:)).  I have stopped exchange gifts with many of my friends except for a few.  I usually get my kids something consumable that they enjoy and I get a gift card to a nice restaurant I like from them.

[ixtap]

Spending a few days with DIL. Niece and Nephew have already opened most of their gifts. They have received more shoes for Christmas than I own total.

[AMandM]

Spending a few days with DIL. Niece and Nephew have already opened most of their gifts. They have received more shoes for Christmas than I own total.

Wait, what? What will they do on Christmas Day?

[clarkfan1979]

My wife voluntarily buys gifts for about 15 family members. It's her choice and she enjoys it.

About 10 years ago we were forced to buy into a family gift exchange of an additional 10 people. Instead of picking names, everyone had to buy gifts for everyone. I think the limit was $35, but most people spent $50. We received gifts as well, but it was all crap. I tried my best to opt out but was unable to do so. I was told that because my wife and I were both working, we could afford it.

Now 10 years later, the organizers of this event suggested that we draw names instead. The reason that was given was because it's too expensive.

[ixtap]

Spending a few days with DIL. Niece and Nephew have already opened most of their gifts. They have received more shoes for Christmas than I own total.

Wait, what? What will they do on Christmas Day?

Open the ones from Grandma and Grandpa and aunts and uncles! We get each family a present, but I think the sisters get each kid a present....

[Zamboni]

After the year that my sisters and I all gave each other gift cards (living in different states, so no idea what anyone wanted or needed), we called a moratorium.  We only gave gifts to our parents and to our nephew who was still a kid.

I have a serious problem with gift cards.  Giving a gift card is like giving someone shitty money.

"Here's some money!"
"Nice!"
"But you can only spend it at a store of my choosing."
"Oh . . . thanks . . . I guess?"

Somehow marketers have convinced people that giving limited money is somehow better than giving real money, and it's fucking weird.

You can just do VISA gift cards. I don't like to limit people's choices either, so that's what I get them.

Visa gift card -

"Here's some money!"
"Nice!"
"But because it's a Visa gift card you get less money than if I gave you cash.  And there might be an activation fee depending on where I bought it."
"Oh . . . thanks . . . I guess?"


ANY gift cards always seem to come out as the worse option than cash.  They've been very successfully marketed as somehow better than giving real money though . . . which bothers me deep down in the cockles of my heart.  Maybe even in the sub-cockle area.

Here are just a few of the reasons why I stopped buying gift cards:
1. A few years ago a nearby restaurant had this "buy $50 in gift cards, get $10 more free" promo. So I bit. Seems like a good deal, right? Then, when I went to use one of the gift cards a few months later, it had never been activated and the restaurant wouldn't take it. I didn't have the receipt, and it didn't seem worth the life energy to ruin my day and argue with a server who obviously didn't care at all.
2. My other half was given a gift card to a restaurant chain that closed all locations in our area during the pandemic . . . so we couldn't use it. oh well!
3. And just this past week I was in Target at the customer service line behind a guy who had two $25 gift cards that wouldn't work AND he had the receipt from their purchase. The person working customer service agreed that everything was in order other than the cards not working, but he had no idea how to handle it and just shrugged. Then a few minutes later a manager showed and basically said "yeah this happens a lot because there's an extra step the cashier has to do that many forget." But then she left to go do something else without fixing the gift cards. When I left awhile later, the poor guy was still standing there at the counter. I have no idea how much of his life energy was robbed. I went through a similar thing once with a $10 Walmart gift card someone gave me. So not worth it. Seriously.

There are more reasons, but I'm 100% with GuitarSteve on this, and on Stroopwaffles being awesome.

[Just Joe]

I found stroopwaffles at Aldi. We love those things now. I'll bet the real deal is even better...

[Kris]

After the year that my sisters and I all gave each other gift cards (living in different states, so no idea what anyone wanted or needed), we called a moratorium.  We only gave gifts to our parents and to our nephew who was still a kid.

I have a serious problem with gift cards.  Giving a gift card is like giving someone shitty money.

"Here's some money!"
"Nice!"
"But you can only spend it at a store of my choosing."
"Oh . . . thanks . . . I guess?"

Somehow marketers have convinced people that giving limited money is somehow better than giving real money, and it's fucking weird.

You can just do VISA gift cards. I don't like to limit people's choices either, so that's what I get them.

Visa gift card -

"Here's some money!"
"Nice!"
"But because it's a Visa gift card you get less money than if I gave you cash.  And there might be an activation fee depending on where I bought it."
"Oh . . . thanks . . . I guess?"


ANY gift cards always seem to come out as the worse option than cash.  They've been very successfully marketed as somehow better than giving real money though . . . which bothers me deep down in the cockles of my heart.  Maybe even in the sub-cockle area.

Here are just a few of the reasons why I stopped buying gift cards:
1. A few years ago a nearby restaurant had this "buy $50 in gift cards, get $10 more free" promo. So I bit. Seems like a good deal, right? Then, when I went to use one of the gift cards a few months later, it had never been activated and the restaurant wouldn't take it. I didn't have the receipt, and it didn't seem worth the life energy to ruin my day and argue with a server who obviously didn't care at all.
2. My other half was given a gift card to a restaurant chain that closed all locations in our area during the pandemic . . . so we couldn't use it. oh well!
3. And just this past week I was in Target at the customer service line behind a guy who had two $25 gift cards that wouldn't work AND he had the receipt from their purchase. The person working customer service agreed that everything was in order other than the cards not working, but he had no idea how to handle it and just shrugged. Then a few minutes later a manager showed and basically said "yeah this happens a lot because there's an extra step the cashier has to do that many forget." But then she left to go do something else without fixing the gift cards. When I left awhile later, the poor guy was still standing there at the counter. I have no idea how much of his life energy was robbed. I went through a similar thing once with a $10 Walmart gift card someone gave me. So not worth it. Seriously.

There are more reasons, but I'm 100% with GuitarSteve on this, and on Stroopwaffles being awesome.

This discussion has motivated/reminded me to get the ridiculous stack of gift cards that has been in an envelope stuck to our fridge since the beginning of the pandemic. Literally hundreds of dollars sitting there, not being used. My goal for early 2022 will be to use them up.

[Metalcat]

This discussion has motivated/reminded me to get the ridiculous stack of gift cards that has been in an envelope stuck to our fridge since the beginning of the pandemic. Literally hundreds of dollars sitting there, not being used. My goal for early 2022 will be to use them up.

I had to throw most of mine out since the businesses folded over Covid. Most of the remaining ones are for small independent restaurants, and I refuse to use them while restaurants are still struggling. So some of those will probably need to be thrown out too if those restaurants go under.

[Kris]

This discussion has motivated/reminded me to get the ridiculous stack of gift cards that has been in an envelope stuck to our fridge since the beginning of the pandemic. Literally hundreds of dollars sitting there, not being used. My goal for early 2022 will be to use them up.

I had to throw most of mine out since the businesses folded over Covid. Most of the remaining ones are for small independent restaurants, and I refuse to use them while restaurants are still struggling. So some of those will probably need to be thrown out too if those restaurants go under.

All of mine are for businesses that are still open, luckily, and most are doing well. But yeah, we have some for one small mom and pop restaurant that we love that we bought to help them out, and we won’t use them until things recover a bit more.

[Travis]

This discussion has motivated/reminded me to get the ridiculous stack of gift cards that has been in an envelope stuck to our fridge since the beginning of the pandemic. Literally hundreds of dollars sitting there, not being used. My goal for early 2022 will be to use them up.

I had to throw most of mine out since the businesses folded over Covid. Most of the remaining ones are for small independent restaurants, and I refuse to use them while restaurants are still struggling. So some of those will probably need to be thrown out too if those restaurants go under.

All of mine are for businesses that are still open, luckily, and most are doing well. But yeah, we have some for one small mom and pop restaurant that we love that we bought to help them out, and we won’t use them until things recover a bit more.

I was looking in my wallet yesterday for some random reason and discovered I had a handful of gift cards from a few years ago still in there. Three for restaurants that don't exist here in Korea and one for Amazon that I just now loaded onto my account. Oops.

[RainyDay]

A story of weird holiday consumption, pre-COVID:

My sister-in-law has always LOVED Black Friday.  To the point of actually going to stores and standing in line to get in at midnight.  She finds it to be "part of the holiday spirit."  To each her own, but...

...a few years back, some of the stores in our area started opening at 6pm on Thursday (aka Thanksgiving day) to get a jump on Black Friday.  We were right in the middle of eating our big family Thanksgiving meal when SIL suddenly jumped up and announced she had to leave in order to get to [insert name of store] so she could get the advertised deals on new/upgraded iPhones for herself and my two teenaged nieces.  (they get new iPhones every year "because it's such a good deal")

I was astonished that someone would leave mid-meal just to go shopping.

[Metalcat]

A story of weird holiday consumption, pre-COVID:

My sister-in-law has always LOVED Black Friday.  To the point of actually going to stores and standing in line to get in at midnight.  She finds it to be "part of the holiday spirit."  To each her own, but...

...a few years back, some of the stores in our area started opening at 6pm on Thursday (aka Thanksgiving day) to get a jump on Black Friday.  We were right in the middle of eating our big family Thanksgiving meal when SIL suddenly jumped up and announced she had to leave in order to get to [insert name of store] so she could get the advertised deals on new/upgraded iPhones for herself and my two teenaged nieces.  (they get new iPhones every year "because it's such a good deal")

I was astonished that someone would leave mid-meal just to go shopping.

That is... horrifying

[SailingOnASmallSailboat]

A story of weird holiday consumption, pre-COVID:

My sister-in-law has always LOVED Black Friday.  To the point of actually going to stores and standing in line to get in at midnight.  She finds it to be "part of the holiday spirit."  To each her own, but...

...a few years back, some of the stores in our area started opening at 6pm on Thursday (aka Thanksgiving day) to get a jump on Black Friday.  We were right in the middle of eating our big family Thanksgiving meal when SIL suddenly jumped up and announced she had to leave in order to get to [insert name of store] so she could get the advertised deals on new/upgraded iPhones for herself and my two teenaged nieces.  (they get new iPhones every year "because it's such a good deal")

I was astonished that someone would leave mid-meal just to go shopping.

OMG. All of it, from the store opening at 6 pm on Thanksgiving day to the annual iphones to the leaving mid-meal. Whoa.

[Morning Glory]

The only insane consumption in my family this year was wine and cookies, and I certainly contributed my share.  I need a multivitamin and a salad.

[Zamboni]

Ugh. Black Friday. I have had to have this conversation a few times with my teenagers.

Teen: "What are we going to do for Black Friday?"
Me: "Nothing."
Teen: "What?! I want to celebrate Black Friday!"
Me: "Black Friday is not a holiday and there are no traditions or things to celebrate. It's a thing made up recently by retailers to get you to shop."
Teen: "But it's Black Friday. It's the day people go to the mall because the deals are the best."
Me: "I'm definitely not going to the mall. And, statistically, prices on most mall-type goods are lowest after Christmas / early January, not on Black Friday."

By coincidence I shopped on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving this year because my son needed longer pants, and they already had all of the Black Friday "doorbusters" sales signs up and going. And I'm still convinced they are going to be cheaper next week.

[elaine amj]

A story of weird holiday consumption, pre-COVID:

My sister-in-law has always LOVED Black Friday.  To the point of actually going to stores and standing in line to get in at midnight.  She finds it to be "part of the holiday spirit."  To each her own, but...

...a few years back, some of the stores in our area started opening at 6pm on Thursday (aka Thanksgiving day) to get a jump on Black Friday.  We were right in the middle of eating our big family Thanksgiving meal when SIL suddenly jumped up and announced she had to leave in order to get to [insert name of store] so she could get the advertised deals on new/upgraded iPhones for herself and my two teenaged nieces.  (they get new iPhones every year "because it's such a good deal")

I was astonished that someone would leave mid-meal just to go shopping.

I’m actually one of those weirdos that enjoy Black Friday. Sometimes I get super deals, sometimes just OK deals. I do find it fun and enjoy the challenge of deal hunting and shopping in the wee hours of the morning. One time DH and so started at 6pm and kept going until 9/10am (yes, all night long).

But I wouldn’t give up a family meal for it. It’s good, but not that good. Family time is way more important. I agree that starting Black Friday at 6pm on Thanksgiving really does stink - I am not a fan.

I did get my new iPhone essentially for free this year on Cyber Monday. I do have to pay $400 extra over 2 years for an upgrade to a fancier plan. Much cheaper than paying cash for the phone.

2 years ago, I did something similar for DH and the kids for their iPhones, and ended up spending around US$200 for each phone (US gets better deals than here in Canada).


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[Zamboni]

^Sounds like maybe you got good deals? It's hard to do an apples to apples comparison, though, if you had to get a more expensive phone plan. The main thing is that you seem to enjoy the process of finding the deals, and that's really important.

I bought my most recent new iphone on a normal day online, paid cash for it, and it was $500. Always paying cash up front for the phone has allowed me to sign up for the cheapest possible phone plan of my choice while also keeping a decent phone. For several years my phone plan was only $10 a month (although it didn't have much data, so I had to be on wifi, which I normally was, so it wasn't a problem).

My current phone plan is $30 a month and is unlimited everything as far and I can tell . . . at least I've never had to pay extra and I do things like drive cross country using a map app the whole way pretty regularly. ymmv

[Dicey]

We're at my Costco brother's for Christmas. Unsurprisingly, he shops at...Costco. They also keep snacks out on the counter, which I do not do. Last night, a pillow sized bag of Chex Mix was out on the counter (I may have put it there) and I picked out a huge amount of the Chex cereal pieces while we were watching the game. Like maybe half a box worth. OMG, talk about insane holiday consumption

[LD_TAndK]

The only insane consumption in my family this year was wine and cookies, and I certainly contributed my share.  I need a multivitamin and a salad.

Same here, nothing better than the day after all the festivities end. Do all the cleaning, go on a run, eat a healthy meal, feel like a brand new human.

[elaine amj]

In my house, we are still working on leftovers. I haven’t felt hungry since Dec 24…


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