Anonymous
Post 06/02/2025 09:35     Subject: s/o gift cards: I am asking again if I can just give cash

Anonymous wrote:Everyone is different. If you look on the teachers aubreddit they all seem to just want cash. I saw a post where the teacher said she depends on end of the year gifts to buy groceries all summer. Then the teachers here want handwritten notes and think cash is an insult.


Wow - that teacher isn't very bright. I had a parent like this. A job where most income came during the summer, spent it all and then the utilities would get turned off during the winter.
Anonymous
Post 06/02/2025 08:51     Subject: s/o gift cards: I am asking again if I can just give cash

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Yes, but I find it weird and give gift cards.


Ugh, please don’t. I hate gift cards. I have a stack of probably 30 of them. They never get used, get sorted to the bottom of purse, eventually taken out and added to the growing pile. My 7 yr old plays with them now


Spend them or regift them.


That’s the thing, it passes the burden onto me to remember to put them in my purse, remember what stores they are for, remember to use that specific card when I happen to be at that specific store. Or I have to take to the time to look up organisations that will take them as donations, drive there to donate. I just don’t want to be bothered at this point. Spending my $10 Coldstone gift card just isn’t on my list of things to do
Anonymous
Post 06/02/2025 08:37     Subject: s/o gift cards: I am asking again if I can just give cash

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Yes, but I find it weird and give gift cards.


Ugh, please don’t. I hate gift cards. I have a stack of probably 30 of them. They never get used, get sorted to the bottom of purse, eventually taken out and added to the growing pile. My 7 yr old plays with them now


Spend them or regift them.
Anonymous
Post 06/02/2025 08:34     Subject: s/o gift cards: I am asking again if I can just give cash

Anonymous wrote:Yes, but I find it weird and give gift cards.


Ugh, please don’t. I hate gift cards. I have a stack of probably 30 of them. They never get used, get sorted to the bottom of purse, eventually taken out and added to the growing pile. My 7 yr old plays with them now
Anonymous
Post 06/01/2025 20:51     Subject: s/o gift cards: I am asking again if I can just give cash

Whatever teacher complains about gift cards should come to my school. I've never gotten a gift card from a parent. My last pay check is at the end of June and July and August are hard for me, even with summer jobs. I'd love a gift card to anywhere!
Anonymous
Post 06/01/2025 19:07     Subject: s/o gift cards: I am asking again if I can just give cash

Anonymous wrote:I would not since the teacher has a personal connection to your child. Trader Joe's giftcards have been universally well-received.


I do amazon as not everyone shops at Trader Joes, Target, and some of those stores. On Amazon, they can take the gift card and exchange it for another gift card if they want. I never go to Trader Joes.
Anonymous
Post 06/01/2025 19:06     Subject: s/o gift cards: I am asking again if I can just give cash

Yes, but I find it weird and give gift cards.
Anonymous
Post 06/01/2025 19:05     Subject: s/o gift cards: I am asking again if I can just give cash

How can anyone think a gift card is anything but "cash that you can only spend at one place"?

Give cash. Everyone appreciates cash. Everyone.

Anonymous
Post 06/01/2025 17:56     Subject: s/o gift cards: I am asking again if I can just give cash

I would not since the teacher has a personal connection to your child. Trader Joe's giftcards have been universally well-received.
Anonymous
Post 06/01/2025 16:52     Subject: s/o gift cards: I am asking again if I can just give cash

It’s fine to give cash. As the previous person said: don’t agonize, just do what you can.
Anonymous
Post 06/01/2025 12:32     Subject: s/o gift cards: I am asking again if I can just give cash

OP,

Most people are decent and take any gift in the spirit it's meant.

The Western world does not think actual bills is an appropriate gift. They are only appropriate as a tip. In Japan and other Asian cultures, bills are perfectly acceptable for Holidays and special occasions but only if clean and packaged in dedicated envelopes. In Japan, where I come from, there are specially decorated envelopes for each occasion. You can only use new bills. It's a very codified system.

Don't agonize over this. Just do what you can.
Anonymous
Post 06/01/2025 12:28     Subject: s/o gift cards: I am asking again if I can just give cash

Everyone is different. If you look on the teachers aubreddit they all seem to just want cash. I saw a post where the teacher said she depends on end of the year gifts to buy groceries all summer. Then the teachers here want handwritten notes and think cash is an insult.
Anonymous
Post 06/01/2025 10:41     Subject: s/o gift cards: I am asking again if I can just give cash

Worrying about corporations, dude, it’s just not that deep. Cash is beyond tacky. Cash is what you give to a babysitter as a tip, or a neighbor who is a graduating senior. Don’t worry about it, just give a nice gift card and be done with it.
Anonymous
Post 06/01/2025 10:40     Subject: s/o gift cards: I am asking again if I can just give cash

Do whatever you want. Someone will always have a problem with it. Ignore them.
Anonymous
Post 06/01/2025 10:34     Subject: s/o gift cards: I am asking again if I can just give cash

Like the teacher on here, I hate gift cards. They are an obligation to spend and companies know they are free money because people lose them, forget about them or buy more to top out the full amount.

Can I just put money in a card for teachers? Nothing outrageous. $20 and a nice note from the kid?
Is there any wording "Thank You!" to make it that it's a thank you to them for being great teachers and partners to us or just let it speak for its (tacky) self?