I’m Seeing Red
May 9th, 2008. Filed under: Finance & Fitness Fridays.In my post about meeting my financial goals for 2008, I told you I was going to think RED to reduce the expense and hassle of Christmas this year. I’ve already started conditioning my family to think red by starting with birthdays. What red am I talking about? Chinese red. Beautiful, ornate Chinese red. It is the tradition of the red envelope. These small, ornately decorated envelopes are for giving gifts of money on special occasions, especially the Chinese new year. They are also used for birthdays, weddings and other special days. The Chinese red envelope system is much more recipient friendly than a gift card. If I give someone a gift card to an establishment I love, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they will appreciate it. Also, if one has a $20 card and buys something for $18.98 that leaves $1.02 on the card. What do I do with $1.02? Do I have to buy something I wouldn’t normally buy just so I can use up that little bit on the card? What if I only have 81 cents on the card? What can I buy in a shoe store for 81 cents? I can’t even buy anything in a dollar store for that! Do I just take the card home and throw it in the drawer with a bunch of other gift cards I can’t use?
The red envelope takes care of all that and more. I don’t know anyone who can’t figure out something to do with cold, hard cash. It can be used in that little cottage business that has all those delightful things as well as in the large chain stores. It can be saved for something larger or even used to pay down a little debt. The thing is, the recipient gets to choose what to do with the gift and they won’t have to exchange something that someone had a brain fart immediately prior to buying it. No more pink for the little girl who loves purple and hates pink. No long scratchy sleeves for the little boy who wants little cars instead of sweaters.
By Christmas I will have the art of the red envelope perfected and hopefully my family will be looking forward to something small but mighty under the Christmas tree. They sure are easier to mail than a bunch of boxes. Hey, I might even get everyone’s gift to them before Christmas.
May 9th, 2008 at 22:31
[…] and hassle of Christmas 2008. (No, it doesn’t have anything to do with gift cards.) Think RED! I will post about my new discovery next […]