Comments on: Gift Card Purchase Fees Are A Waste Of Money - We Need To Start Using Chinese Red Envelopes

By: How Do You Use an American Express Gift Cheque?

How Do You Use an American Express Gift Cheque? — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 15:03:58 +0000

[...] Find another way to give the money. I would suggest giving cash (or a check) in one of those red envelopes if you want to make it look pretty and special. And if you’re an employer of thousands, I can [...]

By: 01

01 — Thu, 01 May 2008 08:23:11 +0000

mapgirl, Japanese also give money for funeral and the envelopes are black or other dark colours.

By: 01

01 — Thu, 01 May 2008 08:21:45 +0000

Hi, you are very misinformed. If you have no use for the Starbucks card, you can call them and they will “refund” you the denomination with a check to your address.

By: Raymond

Raymond — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 21:57:39 +0000

Mapgirl,

I had no idea people gave money for funerals…I wonder if the counterpart to red envelopes for weddings and new year would be white envelopes for funerals since in many Asian cultures, white is associated with the passing of someone.

By: mapgirl

mapgirl — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 13:27:48 +0000

Raymond, I have a hard time finding the envelopes, but I used to live in San Francisco and the local banks in Chinatown had red envelopes during Lunar New Year. I meant to check DC Chinatown for them this year, but notably, Bank of America (former HQ’d in SF) does not have a large branch in Chinatown in DC and that would have been my first destination.

I guess I’ll have to see if I can find them some other way from some other place.

FWIW, Koreans also give cash for weddings, funerals, birthdays and new year. However, you do NOT give funeral money in a red envelope. Might want to check that. The money is used to defray funeral costs. Oh. Perhaps I should do a post about this?

By: SavingDiva

SavingDiva — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 14:21:48 +0000

Sounds cute! Now, I just need to find cute envelopes (not necessarily red)….

By: Gift Cards for Experiences vs. Gift Cards for Stuff

Gift Cards for Experiences vs. Gift Cards for Stuff — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 02:02:43 +0000

[...] they’re just for buying “stuff” (like gift cards to Big Box retailers), I prefer Raymond at Money Blue Book’s take — give in red envelopes. It’s pretty and gift-like, but you’re not limited by a store. Plus you don’t [...]

By: Urbanfrugal

Urbanfrugal — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 22:02:03 +0000

Giving cash definitely helps you stick to a spending plan. If you decide that you can only afford to give a person $10 then give them $10. (You can even make little envelopes out of old magazine pages, for a really unique touch)

By: Festival of Frugality #107 | Cash Money Life

Festival of Frugality #107 | Cash Money Life — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 12:17:03 +0000

[...] from Money Blue Book says gift card purchase fees are a waste of money. He advocates using Chinese red envelopes and giving cash instead. Who doesn’t like [...]

By: Raymond

Raymond — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 08:07:07 +0000

Lily,
Red envelope cash gifts are the best!

Mrs. Micah,
Not sure where you live in the Maryland area, but there are Asian stores around here that probably sell the red envelopes - there’s Maxim over in Rockville on Hungerford Drive. Maybe Chinatown in DC has it too - perhaps one of those 7-11 type stores (although DC’s Chinatown is seriously being taken over by mainstream stores).

By: Honest Dollar

Honest Dollar — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 03:14:50 +0000

For the crafty, you could always make your own.

By: Mrs. Micah

Mrs. Micah — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 23:41:26 +0000

I really like the red envelope idea! It makes the money special and yet flexible. I wonder if we can popularize it…

Do you know if they sell these envelopes in the Chinatown area? It just hit me that one might be able to acquire them locally.

By: Lily

Lily — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 13:59:23 +0000

I’m totally with you on this one. This year I couldn’t bring any big items back from my parents’ house since I was already pretty close to airline baggage limits. So my parents gave me cash (albeit in a white envelope), and that’s the most helpful thing they could have done.

I think some people would not like the practice of giving cash, since even when you give gift cards, at least you put some thought into which store to get the card from. But I completely value the freedom of choice you offer people when you give them cash as gifts. They don’t have to shop at one particular store, buy a certain thing to stay under the limit, or pay more money out of pocket in order to completely deplete the card.