The real message of a gift card: I did the very least

[texaskdog]

I am a guy I love the idea of shopping for myself.  My Christmas "gifts": $100 bonus from work (bought my wife a gift with half, put half in savings), $100 from mom for us (wife talked me into putting it into savings), $43 cash from wife, $50 from mother in law, $25 I had a Target gift card and I hate Target so she took it and told me to spend cash, so I had $118 to go online and buy whatever I wanted.  (and did not win a dime with 4 fantasy teams grrr).   Awesome Christmas!

[texaskdog]

The American culture is to just buy something when you want it anyway, and generally it is all about the kids anyhow.

[kurumi]

Think of all the gifts (decorative candles, etc.) that almost no one would buy for themselves, but do buy for others because you have to buy something... and the recipient is "oh, thank you, that's so thoughtful!" while pondering how long they'll need to keep it and when they can regift it.

[formulanone]

Think of all the gifts (decorative candles, etc.) that almost no one would buy for themselves, but do buy for others because you have to buy something... and the recipient is "oh, thank you, that's so thoughtful!" while pondering how long they'll need to keep it and when they can regift it.

There seems to be a whole aisle dedicated to "gift sets" at many retailers...I always think of it as the Obligation Aisle.

On the other hand, we won't have to purchase mugs for the next twenty years.

[texaskdog]

Just beware of those damn groupons that kind of expire.  we still have a stack left.

[Pete from Boston]

Just beware of those damn groupons that kind of expire.  we still have a stack left.

I got a handful of excellent deals from Groupon. It did not make up for the hours I spent reading the lousy ones. After a couple of years I quit both Groupon and LivingSocial and never missed either.

If you're really interested in a half-price meal, you can always download those apps wherever you are and see what's around.

But I also felt like they put artificial market pressure on small businesses to offer outlandish deals that often bit them in the ass.  Sure, I can soak any number of local restaurateurs any night of the week, but do I need to? Not really.