No, For Real, a Gift Card Can Be a Great Gift 0 915

Why Gift Cards Make Ideal Holiday Presents

If you’re feeling pressured by the holidays, you’re not alone. People across the country are wondering how to survive the season with their finances intact after almost two years of economic challenges.

It makes no sense to buy pricey gifts based on pure guesswork because you have a good chance of striking out. Most of us receive at least one perfectly nice holiday gift every year that we have absolutely no use for.

If you try to return unwanted gifts for cash to spend on something you actually want, you may be thwarted by a lack of a receipt and bargain-basement post-holiday clearance sales.

This year, why not eliminate this frustrating state of affairs by investing in gift cards? They’re not cheap, but they ensure that the recipient will get something they actually want.

You’ll feel better, too. Expecting yourself to please everyone with the perfect gift is stressful. The season is hectic enough without all the holiday shopping, wrapping and shipping. If you order gifts online, you still risk shipping delays, and you might get stuck with damaged goods or the wrong merchandise.

You can buy gift cards at your local grocery store and avoid all the rigamarole. Kroger, for example, has over 200 different gift cards with values as high or as low as you wish. In a best-case scenario, you could complete all of your holiday shopping at one store in under an hour.

Some gift cards, like those from Starbucks, come nestled in festive holiday sleeves, so you don’t even have to wrap them. You can also buy gift cards online and have them delivered via email in mere minutes. Here are five examples of gift cards that you can’t help but love:

Holiday Gift Cards for People on Your List

1. Free Money

MasterCard and Visa cards can be used anywhere in the world to buy virtually anything. With this option, you really can’t miss. Who doesn’t like free money? These cards are ideal for people you don’t know very well. However, even your best friends are unlikely to complain if they receive one.

2. Dinner for Two

Your favorite couple probably has a favorite restaurant, and many restaurants now sell their own gift cards. However, you might have to visit the restaurant to get the card. Your local grocery will have oodles of restaurant cards for popular eateries like Olive Garden, Red Lobster and the Bonefish Grill.

Many restaurants offer bonuses during the holidays. For example, if you buy a $50 gift card, you might receive a bonus card worth $10. If you purchase a restaurant gift card, try to include enough for taxes, tip and parking. It’s no fun to get a gift card that requires you to spend money.

3. High-end Baby Gear

Expectant parents on your list will appreciate this gift card. There is no such thing as too much baby gear, especially for a first child. The contemporary and exceptionally well-designed Mima Moon 2G High Chair provides safe and comfortable seating for your child from 0 to 10 years old.

The plush Coral XP car seat has a lightweight inner layer that transforms into a soft baby carrier you can strap over your shoulder. There are other accessories ranging from classy changing bags to high-tech fold-up strollers.

4. Therapeutic Massage

Is there anyone out there who wouldn’t love a healing massage right now? After an exceptionally challenging year, we could all use one. What makes this gift so special is that many people would love a massage. However, they’ve never had one because they consider it a splurge and a luxury they can’t afford.

The Zeel gift card can change all that. With this special gift, the recipient can request the services of a certified, licensed massage therapist almost as easily as ordering an online pizza. The therapist arrives at the home complete with a massage table, and the gift card recipient provides the sheets.

5. Meals on Demand

A freshly prepared meal delivered straight to the front door is a sure bet for a great gift. It’s even better when all the costs are covered. A DoorDash gift card can be used at over 310,000 restaurants in over 4,000 U.S. cities.

DoorDash dinners are perfect for those times when you want a good meal but can’t deal with cooking. DoorDash gift cards can be delivered to the recipient by email in minutes. That makes them perfect last-minute presents.

Gift cards present an infinity of options for hassle-free holiday giving. Forget rushing from store to store, and spend that time enjoying your loved ones.

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This App Will Pay YOU to Eat Out More Often 0 1533

nevernotamazing.com seat app

It used to be that you had to know a guy, who knew a guy, whose cousin was friends with some dude who could maybe hook you up with a table at a super-hot restaurant. These days, though, apps like OpenTable or Resy make it stupidly easy to book a reservation last-minute at a ton of top-notch spots. But it turns out there’s an app that helps you do that and pays you for showing up for your reservation. 

Seated, which makes it easy to book tables at top restaurants in a number of cities, actually incentivizes you to eat out more by paying you back when you do. It helps you can earn up to 30% of what you pay for your meal (at participating restaurants) in gift cards and credits to a variety of stores, brands, and services. Essentially, it’s like using a great rewards credit card without having to sign up for one.

It works like this: Download the app, search for a restaurant, and book a table. Then, when you’ve finished your meal, snap a pic of the receipt, upload it to the app, and within 24 hours, your reward will be digitally deposited into your account.

Since Seated has been around for a couple years now, the rewards offerings are pretty robust, and include gift cards and redeemable credits to the likes of Amazon, Lyft, J. Crew, Apple, Starbucks, Lululemon, and more. So, for example, if you spend $100 on a meal out at a participating restaurant that’s offering a 30% reward, it could potentially earn you a $30 Amazon gift card or Lyft credit. 

The app currently lets you book a reservation for restaurants in New York, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Atlanta, and has plans to launch in five other cities around the country soon. Also, it exclusively lists eateries with a four star or higher Yelp rating, and based on browsing its New York offerings, many are popular spots.

There is some fine print to consider, though. It’s worth noting that 30% is the maximum reward you can receive, and that the percentage fluctuates according to a number of factors related to how full or empty the restaurant expects to be on a particular day/time. Also, each establishment has a minimum that must be met in your total itemized bill in order to qualify for a reward (so double check that you’ve ordered enough to meet it). 

But, hey, if you’ve been looking for a reason to try out some hot new spot in town, this may be it.

H/T Thrillist and Esquire.

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