Am I the only one who can't give cash as a gift?

Sounds like in your family, it isn't done.

I will say we often don't use the $ my inlaws give us until we find the right thing. I will also say there are gifts they've given that I have never used as well, so...

I think if the giver knows the person we'll and truly doesn't thing they will appreciate the cask, then definitely don't give it.

I do wonder why gifting someone who obv5has some money issues cash would be a problem. They could probably use the money more than a gift.

I just realize, as of yet, I've never given my kids cash. It doesn't seem like a gift to me since I always gave them cash for whatever they needed.

I do give them gc to earing eating places. Usually about $250 at Christmas and $100-$200 for their birthdays. I don't know why I do that

My son hates getting cash as a gift, even the tooth fairy had to bring a toy. I think he was born that way.

I hate giving cash, but finally gave in this year for our teen grandkid's birthdays. Our oldest is saving for a car and I know he won't blow it on something else!

Based on what I bolded, it sounds like you are referring to adults in your family. The adult siblings in my family haven't gifted each other anything in years. It must have been around the time the grandkids starting coming along that we all agreed to stop. 

My parents evolved from writing a check to DH & I and giving something physical to the kids, to writing a bigger check for me to buy something for the kids and the rest was for DH & I. MIL gives cash to the grandkids, not the adults.



We gift DS gift cards for his favorite fast foods (In-n-Out, Panda, Chipotle, etc.) because he truly values that as a gift. He will rarely uses his own money for food and cash goes into the bank, but he loves having a wallet full of gift cards.

DD has loved gift cards from the time she was old enough to go to the mall on her own. Sometimes she will give very specific gift suggestions and we get to buy her clothes/shoes she has picked, but mostly she wants the gift cards to have the shopping experience as part of the gift.

For weddings, we gift cash more than 50% of the time. Of the 2 weddings this spring, one got cash and the other will get a gift card.

I am a gift card or cash giver.

I love receiving gift cards and cash.
I love to receive gift cards to my favorite restaurants/take out. For me eating out/picking up take out is a splurge. Having a gift card to pay for eating out, lets me splurge more often.
I love receiving cash, so I can use it on something I want. Like scrapbooking supplies or home decor.

From my perspective of the other side of the story or situation, in regards to receiving a tangible gift. 
I humbly say, the proverbial "it's the thought that counts". I do appreciate that a giver has thought of me. I always am polite and thank the giver for the gift.

BUT....I can't even begin to say how many gifts I've received throughtout the years, where no actual thought of "me personally" as been given.
Meaning......
The giver gives a gift to the receiver that THEY the giver likes, loves, wants, etc... with no consideration to >> will the receiver like it, use it, etc...
The giver gives the same gift to all. (cupcake stand, meatball cooker, brownie pan, tire inflator, spaghetti cooker, cheap box of cookies-chocolates-tea bags-etc...
The giver buys based on price, any $20-ish item will do.
The giver gives a token gift >> throw blanket, candle, mug, etc... How many of these will one person use?? If I kept these three items(blankets-candles-mugs-tea cups-etc..) from over the years/decades I would have about 400+ of various sizes-shapes-styles-colors-etc... 
The giver gives an inexpensive version of something. (I have been the recipient of many a cheap cosmetic kit (65 piece combo eyeshadow-lipstick-cheek color) all on many shades/combos of colors. I have been the recipient of many "scrapbook kits or bag full of random cheap scrapbook items, sticker sneeze or hideous patterned papers".

The above is just an example of things I have received, none of which I will use, need, want, nor do they match my home decor color scheme. 
I graciously say thank you, then it gets donated, re-gifted, tossed, etc...
In my opinion, for me....it's money wasted, and I think to myself I would have had rather have $5.00 cash or gift card to apply to something I would use or want....instead of $10,$20, $50, etc worth of a tangible item that I am not going to keep.

I have received things that I've wanted, and am grateful to those givers who select the gift knowing that I would love it, use it, want it.

Humbly saying...More often that not, I receive hodgepodge assortment of random gifts that I do not want. Hence the reason I prefer to recive gift cards or cash.

Not only do we not give cash in our family, we don't regularly give gifts (birthday/Christmas) outside the immediate family, except for MIL who is our kids' only living grandparent. We stopped doing gifts for brothers/sisters/nieces/nephews (by mutual decision) years ago, when they outgrew the "any random toy" stage. I know some people put a lot of value on the giver spending time/finding a thoughtful thing to give, but in a time and place where we are mostly trying to stop accumulating stuff, receiving one more thing twice a year, no matter how thoughtfully sourced, can feel like a burden.

The only things I do send cash for are weddings and graduations. I just Venmo'd my graduating niece and she was thrilled.

I only give cash to the 15-23 age group, otherwise I give an actual tangible.

I feel like an unused/unwanted gift is, essentially, a pile of wasted money. I'd rather that cash go toward something the recipient actually wants.

I have no problem giving cash or gift cards. I try to package them creatively, though. For example, we gave my MIL a Nordstrom gift card for Mother's Day. I made a pretty holder that attached to a personalized garden stake and put the stake in a pretty pot of flowers.

I tend to give gift cards after the receiver is about 15. Exceptions are my parents and my in-laws.

We're not a big cash giving family - DH's family loves gift giving and unwrapping is a ceremony.

On my side, we only give presents to the children - my siblings and I stopped exchanging when the grandkids outnumbered the adults. Before that we exchanged names at Thankgsiving.

Yes to all of the above. My MIL was the queen of useless gifts and it pained us that she spent good money on stuff we really couldn’t even use. It was such a waste. There are so many things that I want that I can never justify spending household money on so I just don’t buy them. If I have gift money or a gift card, I can spend that without guilt on the stuff I specifically want for me, or I can save it up for / toward something more expensive that I would never buy for myself.

When requested I've given a list of my wants to someone, only to receive nothing on the list. I was told those aren't really gifts.

I remember many years ago, one of the things I really wanted was a swiffer mop with the replacement pads. I couldn't afford to spend that kind of money on a "fancy" mop. I had a cheap walmart sponge mop back then. I had also asked for a bag of pistachio nuts. Didn't receive either, because the giver said >> those are not "real gifts". 

This is something we have struggled with as well. We don’t keep many things that we don’t love or use, it’s a mental and physical burden on us and we don’t want to create that burden for someone else. But we also love picking out something for someone that we know they will love. We do try and gift experiences when we can. And if we’re not sure what someone wants, we do our best to find out what they really need. And I’ve made it very clear over the years when gifting and giving things away, that we give things for them to use and enjoy, and if that is not the case (or is just no longer the case) to please, please exchange or donate the item as they see fit.

I didn’t used to like giving cash or gift cards because it seemed so impersonal, but then I thought to times in my life where those gifts really brought us joy or lent a helping hand when we needed it. So in those types of circumstances (examples: young and don’t often have spending money, adult when money is tight and gift certificates to fun places forced us to treat ourselves, saving for something specific) we will consider cash or gift cards. Personally, I feel it is much better than getting them a physical gift just for the sake of getting them a physical gift. 

When my daughter was little my Mother in law used to always buy her dolls. MIL loved dolls, she collected them. No matter how many times I told her DD didn’t play or like dolls that is all she ever got. DD would have loved to go to Toys r us to pick out something.