This edition of leagle-ese is my attempt to correct what I see as the biggest humbug-inducer of the holiday gift-giving season: Gift Cards.

Oh, I know the arguments we use to justify giving those little pieces of plastic: “He/she is so hard to shop for”… “he/she knows what he/she likes better than I do”… “I don’t have time/don’t know him/her well enough to pick out something personally”… etc. etc.

Stop. Just stop. I know your intentions are good, but look at it from the recipient’s perspective.

At best, they get to go shopping at a store of your choosing, then they have to spend money out of their own pocket in order to get the full value of your gift. They’re never going to hit that $25 limit on the nose – so then they have to either spend more or leave some value unspent. Who’s getting the gift in that instance? That’s right, the store.

At worst, the card gets lost in the sea of wrapping paper and post-holiday clutter, and doen’t get spent at all. Who wins then? That’s right, the store.

Guess how much retailers make in unredeemed gift card balances? Currently around 8 billion dollars.  Talk about corporate welfare…

And don’t even mention prepaid Visa or American Express cards. Yeah you can use them anywhere, but they cost extra just to purchase, and if the card isn't used for a period of months, they are going to start charging you a monthly fee that will eat up that balance for you.

I have a collection of gift cards from years past taking up space in my desk drawer, all of them have balances of less than $5.00, and in all likelihood none of them will ever be used. I don’t carry them with me because…well because my wallet is already so overstuffed with junk I have to take it out just to sit.

Is a gift that makes life more difficult really a gift at all?

BUT… I have a solution.

Cash.

If you can’t/won’t pick out an actual gift, just give cold hard cash. Let’s examine the pros and cons of giving cash:

Pros:     Easy to obtain from ATM.

                        Rarely gets lost.

                        Never goes unspent.

                        Doesn’t expire.

                        Accepted everywhere.

Cons:    …

                        …

                        …

I can’t think of anything off hand.

OK, there is one thing – you may feel that the recipient will think you didn’t care enough to even think of a way for them to spend the money. But fear not. I’ve thought of everything! Just print and fill out this handy form and slip it in with your cash gift. I promise it will be better received than any gift card you could give:

 Your welcome!!

leagle 

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