Ah, June is in the air. That means sunshine and a whole lot of gift shopping. People are getting married or graduating from high school or college left and right. A good number of birthdays in the summer too it seems. When you have a large family, it’s not uncommon to have to spend several hundred dollars on gifts this time of year. I’m glad I ordered my cheap checks from Costco.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. Giving is just part of life in this family. Heck, I was born, had 27 birthdays, graduated both high school and college, and got married. I’ve scored tons of loot. I just think it’s interesting how all this money just goes around in a circle. First you receive, then you give, and then your kids receive again. I can see how single, childless adults would get really annoyed after a while 😉
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I am originally from Malaysia and we have a very unique gift giving system….heck maybe it is even practised here…
When you attend someone’s wedding/reception, you give a cash gift equivalent to how much you think your meal is plus a little extra…
For example if you spend around $25 a plate….so if a couple came they will give a $50 cash gift(for far away people)…but if the guest is VERY close to the family, then a couple will give usually around $100. (if they have kids below 18, they dont count…but if they have adult working children, then the adult working children should contribute thier own cash gift) Reason is, in Asian countries, adult working children usually stay with mom and pop.
So most of the time, you end up making money for your wedding + reception or at worst case scenario, you break even. I guess thats the idea of a wedding so that the couple is not broke spending on the wedding.
That’s how capitalism works ;).
Yep, it’s all circular. Single, childless adults can get really annoyed by co-workers selling Girl Scout cookies, and other fundraiser merchandise. That would be prevented if people at my job didn’t sell things, which is the policy. But they sell, sell, sell.
Funny how that works!
I often wondered what the point of gift giving was among grownups. I give someone in my family $50 for his/her birthday, and a few months later I get my money back… What’s the point?
-Grant
http://www.TheCornerOfficeBlog.com
I’ve been using the billpay system at my bank lately to send checks to people for gifts, and sometimes I send them an ecard, saying look for their gift in an envelope from Bank of America. No one has minded so far.
I can just say no to cookies, I can’t say no to part of the companies income paying for other families healthcare instead of going into my pocket or bumping up the stock price. But then I’m just being mean and selfish aren’t I 😉
You guys still write checks??? I use billpay for everything…well, except for giving to my church but another church in my area has gone to accepting PayPal….cool! A lot of kids and adults appreciate real CASH too.
We are all fortunate to be citizens in this wonderful world. We make money and we all should be more giving and charitatble.