Question of the Day, Friday, November 21

Good morning and Happy Friday!   (Looks like we made it through another work week!)

Let's talk about gift cards  

Do you give them? Do you enjoy receiving them? Why or why not? If you like them, which ones would you rather receive? Which ones don't you want?

We give a Dunkin Donuts gift card to my brother and SIL for Christmas. They live at DD; I think they go several times a day for unsweetened iced tea and such. My SIL is never without her iced tea, doesn't matter what time of the day or night it is, she has it. Always from Dunkin Donuts. They love getting that gift card. We give a gift card from a local store to my BIL; he goes there every day from his work for a bit of lunch and he loves that store. The first time we gave him the card, he thanked us several times and now he says he really looks forward to getting that card at the holidays.

We don't mind receiving cards either. Rick loves cards from Lowes and he can always use them for something. I'm a Barnes and Noble fan, so when I get a gift card from there, it never takes me long to use it. My sister gave me a card from Amazon for my birthday....I loved it! Didn't take me long to use it either. My boss gives all of us a nice card from town (the townspeople got together and created a town-wide gift card. You buy the card--whatever amount you wish--and it can be used all through town. It's really nice because it keeps the money locally instead of at the malls). I love that card and can usually find something really nice to use it on. 

What about you? What do you think about gift cards? Yay or Nay? 

A good friend of mine gives me a really generous gift card for a local bookshop every Christmas, and I always love going in and choosing.  Otherwise I don't really receive them. 

Recently I sent my sister one for a local indi movie theatre that has a restaurant. 

You can see I prefer the 'little' places for giftcards.  It just feels a bit more personal.

All our nieces and nephews get Amazon gift cards for their birthdays and Christmas. They're all adults (the youngest is 20) and appreciate being able to buy what they want or need. I love getting them, too, particularly Amazon ones that I can use for my Kindle.

I love gift cards-any store that sells general stuff like Target and then Petsmart.  My vet offers gift certificates and I think it is a great idea.  If I am sure the person will enjoy it I love to give them.  I would not want someone to have to go to a place they do not enjoy to spend it.  My brother gave us Sears and it was kinda hard to spend it being we NEVER go there.

I like giving them if people give me the stores they want them from. Even big department stores, I'm never sure of. Some people are vehemently opposed to supporting WalMart and other big name stores because of their use of sweat shops and such.

I love receiving them, but likewise, I need to specify the stores I want them for. I only buy clothes at a few different places, and I only buy pet things from specific places.

I think this generation would benefit from more bookstore gift cards! I have an online friend whom I've known for ten years randomly gift me $100 at Chapters - I haven't read books in a long time, and I had to use them on text books, but oh the perusing I was able to do just knowing I had that money at my disposal there!

In the past I have given and received gift cards.  I haven't used them tho in many years. 

I get coffee gift cards for cat sitting my neighbour's cats. Very handy to have in the car. No searching for loose change in the drive through. If I don't know what to give, I purchase gift certificates for local non-chain restaurants. A night out, no dinner to cook, and supporting the local economy at the same time.

My guilty indulgence is Starbucks so I like getting gift cards from them.  Other than that I like the more 'generic' ones like Amazon or one from the supermarket I usually go to.  Ones from stores, even ones I do sometimes go to, may lay around for a long time and some do have like an expiration date on them.

I enjoy them; especially if it's to a place I don't normally get to treat myself to something from.  I'm not picky about where; just not Walmart or the grocery store please!  It'll just get used on groceries!  I suppose that has it's own level of appreciation; its just not as fun.  My Mother gives me cash instead of gift cards to Khols because then I can use my percent off things that come in the mail.  You have to use your charge card to get the percent off and those really help!  My mother just usually pays her card off right away there at the register.  

Otherwise Amazon or Dunkin gift cards are always appreciated.  

I don't actually give them TOO often though.  I feel like I can usually find a nice gift for less money.  But I do get them like for our Pastor and my teenage nephew.  I think I may have to do cash for the nephew this year.  He doesn't have access to a computer at home but I'm also thinking he likely can't get to the mall that easy because he doesn't have a car yet.  

I'm not a big fan, I don't like to have to remember to bring them along, and with a few exceptions they have been for places I don't shop. So I have to go to the place and try to find something to get with the card, I don't like shopping, grumble grumble….

BUT last year for Christmas we gave our teen daughter gift cards to two of the malls here. It worked well for her and us, she could find shoes (or whatever) that she needed, and buy them, and I didn't have to be involved. Also, she could get something to eat or drink if she needed and didn't have any cash.

She thought she lost her wallet (was misplaced), and we called the malls and they immediately stopped the cards and issued new ones for us, so that was pretty great. Also, she gets to manage the money, she has to ask herself (not me) if she REALLY needs that new lipstick? 

I sent my mother a gift card for Indigo Books. She loves to read, but rarely makes time to browse for new books and I thought that would give her an excuse. That was back in March, and she still hasn't been...Oh well!

My brother and sister in law gives me gift cards from Bed Bath And Beyond and although I love housewares I never seem to find anything I want in there. And usually end up reluctantly buying something I really don't want or need. I don't have the heart to tell him I do not like that store. On Mothers Day they gave me a gift card to have  a massage which I haven't used yet. Their thought was I am a stressed out single Mom and they wanted me to go and do something  just  for me that didn't involve my daughter.The only time I went for massages was 14 years a go

after being rear ended as part of physical therapy that auto insurance paid for. It's just not something I do, so it sits in my wallet.

My old boss gave me 5.00 gift card for Starbucks and that card sat in my wallet for a couple years before I finally went to Starbucks to spend it.

I like recieving  Walmart or Target  gift cards because If I don't  need anything special just for me I can always put the card towards groceries.

Every year for Christmas my church gives the single parents 100.00 Walmart gift cards. The year before last was my first one and let me tell you the surprise when I opened that envelope! Never in my life have I been given a gift like that who wasn't a family member! Last year I spent mine on a Kuireg coffee machine.That is something I wouldn't have spent that kind of money on w/out that gift card. I am so glad I did because I love it.

Today I ordered all my daughter's christmas presents online at Walmart to be shipped to my home free (I do that every year) and I am now thinking I should have waited  until I get my gift card from church. That card is not really meant to buy something extravagant for myself but to assist with Christmas shopping.

My daughter earns extreme bucks at church for attending, bringing her bible, and memorizing the months bible verse. When she earns 25 extreme bucks and it is the first sunday of each month she receives a 5.00 Target gift card. Sadly she has not earned one for herself in awhile but each month has to turn it over to me in payment for one time racking  up a 30.00 bill for apps  on my I Pad.  

I have started giving Target or Walmart gift cards (15.00) when Anna is invited to birthday parties. I know those will get spent. But I always worry that if I get someone a gift card it will not get spent and that is like throwing away money.

I have done the same thing with a Best Buy gift card.  I have occasionally bought large ticket items there like a laptop but I don't regularly go to Best Buy to get small things.  It's been probably 4 years since I have been to 

Best Buy.

Let's talk about gift cards  

Do you give them? Do you enjoy receiving them? Why or why not? If you like them, which ones would you rather receive? Which ones don't you want?

i usually don't give gift cards, but i will re-gift a gift card that i'll never use. like i received an itunes gift card for my birthday. i don't have a computer or any other devices that i can use for itunes music. but my brother and SIL have an apple computer, so i'll be re-gifting them the itunes gift card along with an assortment of homemade baked and canned items (that are my usual my gifts) for christmas.

i do enjoy receiving gift cards, but only if they're for stores i'll use them at. any gift cards i'll never use myself get used for re-gifts. note:  gift cards are really the only item i'd use for re-gifting. i prefer cards for stores where i can choose from a variety of items what i'd like. i also like grocery store gift cards. the cards i don't want are for stores that i wouldn't have a use for any of their items. i think it's best to know the stores and kind of things people like to buy and then give people gift cards for those stores.

Good Idea to regift them I never thought of doing that.