Money for Chanukah?

amother

Amethyst ↓

Wed, Dec 05 2018, 8:20 pm

amother wrote:

Did any of you receive money or a cash card from your students ' parents for Chanukah? If so, what'd you use the money for? Necessities? Or a gift for yourself?

I like to put the money away into savings - I find Chanuka and Purim add up to nice chunks of money and seeing my savings grow in a chunk is a good feeling for me.

seeker

Thu, Dec 06 2018, 12:28 am

It depends.

I never get a whole lot because I'm not a classroom teacher, it's not really protocol to tip therapists, but from time to time someone does.

If it's cash it just kind of melts in to whatever other cash is in my wallet. Which is a very nice thing, because not having enough cash on hand is not a very nice thing.

I have gotten debit cards a couple of times, like a Visa or Amex gift card. I would like people to know that there is no advantage to that over cash (unless, of course, someone gave you one and you're regifting it which is perfectly legit.) Because at the store, they don't let you just pay part with the gift card and part with your own money the way they would with store gift cards. You have to, I don't know, magically get the exact right amount in your purchase? It's a bit of a bummer. On the other hand, I DO use them on "extras." BH I'm not painfully tight on funds but I do budget carefully. When I get a gift card, I can get something for myself without affecting my budget at all. What I pay on my own credit cards goes straight onto Mint.com and gets accounted for.

This year I bought myself a couple of splurges with my own money because they were things that I had been wanting for a while and could technically afford even though it still felt like a splurge. So when I got a cash gift I considered it almost like retroactive reimbursement for the thing I already bought myself Smile

(like "Yay, looks like I really could afford that thing I already bought after all!" Now I can stop feeling guilty.)

rgr

Thu, Dec 06 2018, 10:09 am

seeker wrote:

(like "Yay, looks like I really could afford that thing I already bought after all!" Now I can stop feeling guilty.)

If the gift card total is too low for what you are purchasing, you can use the gift card and then supplement with a credit card, or cash, no problem.

(On a side note, some ppl like to buy gift cards as gifts for the benefit of miles and cash back you can get when you buy them with credit cards)

amother

↑ Amethyst

Thu, Dec 06 2018, 1:14 pm

amother wrote:

I like to put the money away into savings - I find Chanuka and Purim add up to nice chunks of money and seeing my savings grow in a chunk is a good feeling for me.

I'll add that I save gift cards as well (the universal ones) until they reach a nice amount. right now, I'm saving up for a bosch mixer tho that will take a few years.