Cash is Impersonal, Give a Customized Gift Card to Show Them You Care

Have you ever gotten cash as a present and felt like the person giving it to you put no thought or effort into even considering what kind of gift you might like? It's the thought that counts, and while I appreciated the gift I also felt that the giver didn't truly care about what I might actually be interested in. Now put yourself on the other side. We've all been there... you have someone that you want to get a present for but you really don’t have a good idea what they would like. You want to make sure they'll get something they'll like, but you're afraid you'll give them the equivalent of a booby prize in their eyes. With a personalized gift card you can add a real personal touch to both show them that you are interested in what they get, and want to make sure they get what they like.

When cash is so impersonal, what makes a gift card any better? It all comes back to ‘it’s the thought that counts’. When you’re giving cash as a present the person doesn't know what’s inside of your head. Did you think about it for days but come up with nothing, or did you hardly give it a second thought? They won't know, but when you give a gift card you can make a more personal connection. One of my favorite places to pick up a custom gift card is Amazon for not only their wide variety of items but the customization you can have on your gift cards. You can choose a particular gift from the Amazon site that you think they’d like and actually have that specific item included on the card that you send. Even if you get it ‘wrong’, the person getting the gift knows that you actually put some thought into this gift and weren't just taking the easy out. If you have trouble thinking up of a specific gift, you can always check out the top gifts at Amazon to get the ball rolling.

Even if you don’t know something specific that they’re interested in, you can still drill down into what they like. Amazon has a bunch of different categories on the site with gift cards tailored to that specific area. Earmark the card from Electronics, Clothing, Books, Tools, or something else entirely. You can choose from over one hundred images, or get even more personal and upload your own photo. They have built in cropping tools that will let you focus in on what you want, and you can have one setup in moments.

One of the problems that people have when giving gifts is that several can fall in a short period and you find yourself scrambling for cash one particular month, but then have three months where you don’t have to give gifts for anyone. This can really take a bite out of your cash flow, but if you’re fighting to stay on a budget you can bite back. Although they’re still called ‘gift cards’, you don’t need to send an actual card to someone. In the digital world we live in you can send a custom gift card to someone through email or even through a social media website like Facebook.

Here’s where the budgeting comes in. You can delay the date that the gift card is sent if you do it electronically. You can pay for it now when you have cash, and have it delivered months down the line when money might be a little tighter like around Christmas. Have it delivered to their email a week ahead of time and they can have the actual gift sitting with the others on their birthday. This can work great for birthday and other holidays, but it’s not perfect for Christmas where children are involved and delivery delays can occur. Either get it to them well before Christmas, or just tell them you’re giving them money for Boxing Day sales… some people might enjoy the hunt more than the gift.

While sending a photo can add a personalized touch, you can go a step further by adding video to your card. While that might sound a little daunting at first, Amazon has made it downright easy… you don’t need to deal with the video portion at all. What you do need is pictures of the people you want to add to the video. From those pictures you’re going to let Amazon know where the faces are and upload those to the movie player. Once that’s done you take those faces and tell the site what video you want to add them to. It will only take you a few moments to do, and ending up with your favorite family members dancing to the German polka is a great way to make them smile when they open this electronic gift card up.

Sometimes you don’t want a digital solution; you need a more interactive touch. If you’re involved in a secret Santa, or going to an actual gathering of some sort like a birthday party, you may not want to show up empty handed. You can get gift cards that are either mailed to you or you can print one out yourself. There are also boxed options where you have something a little more substantial to give to someone. The boxes themselves are decorative and don't need to be wrapped or changed in order to be presented as a gift... although adding names and a note would give it a more personal touch. The only downside of these more physical options is the fact that you’re locked into specific denominations, but it can also help you stick to a budget.