Community Chat

[beach-mom]

My children went to a lot of these not that long ago!

They always gave a check. These are usually very large affairs, with elaborate gifts to the recipient and elaborate "goody bags." My children came home with gifts I would actually give at a birthday party!  Even if there is a box or something, a card with cash might get mixed up. If you give a check, there is no question who it is from! 

DD went to an elaborate sweet sixteen at a country club. There was a box for cards. About a month after that, one of the staff was arrested. Apparently during another party he somehow moved the box for cards and while doing so went through the cards and took the cash out. 

[Marp]

---

@GiantsLover wrote:

Postal Money Order works best and is traceable if lost or stolen.

Also  you can cash any check at a check cashing store as long as you have in your posession to show the cashier your Photo ID motor vehicle drivers license  or motor vehicle non driver photo id card, and also bring with you a few already paid bills that display your name and address and are marked as paid like a gas bill, electric bill, cable bill, or department store paid bill, etc.

---

All well and good for an established adult but I've yet to meet a 13-year-old with the documention mentioned  to cash a check at a check cashing store.

[Bri369]

My children have received checks as gifts.  They can deposit them in their accounts through the mobile app or right at the bank.

[Bri369]

---

@Marp wrote:

---

@GiantsLover wrote:

Postal Money Order works best and is traceable if lost or stolen.

Also  you can cash any check at a check cashing store as long as you have in your posession to show the cashier your Photo ID motor vehicle drivers license  or motor vehicle non driver photo id card, and also bring with you a few already paid bills that display your name and address and are marked as paid like a gas bill, electric bill, cable bill, or department store paid bill, etc.

---

All well and good for an established adult but I've yet to meet a 13-year-old with the documention mentioned  to cash a check at a check cashing store.

---

This

And I'm not even sure they would cash a personal check.

[Carmie]

---

@sunshine45 wrote:

i would think that MOST people put check or cash into a card and not just hand it to the recepient or the parent. or a decorated box placed in a safe area.

once the person is opening the cards probably at home, there are easy ways to record the gift inside. you can have a separate paper OR what i prefer to do is to write the amount on the back of the card and then go through them to send thank you notes.

whenever someone gives me a check as a gift, i actually write " thank you" on the check (usually in the memo section, sometimes on the back) and then call or write a thank you note in addition.

---

If you write "thank you" on the check, the giver will probably never see it.  Banks do not return checks anymore.  You just get a monthly statement showing the check was cashed and sometimes, you don't even get that.  You have to view your statement online.

Of course, you can request to see a copy of the check or view it online,  but unless there is a specific reason to do that, no one does.

[sunshine45]

---

@Carmie wrote:

---

@sunshine45 wrote:

i would think that MOST people put check or cash into a card and not just hand it to the recepient or the parent. or a decorated box placed in a safe area.

once the person is opening the cards probably at home, there are easy ways to record the gift inside. you can have a separate paper OR what i prefer to do is to write the amount on the back of the card and then go through them to send thank you notes.

whenever someone gives me a check as a gift, i actually write " thank you" on the check (usually in the memo section, sometimes on the back) and then call or write a thank you note in addition.

---

If you write "thank you" on the check, the giver will probably never see it.  Banks do not return checks anymore.  You just get a monthly statement showing the check was cashed and sometimes, you don't even get that.  You have to view your statement online.

Of course, you can request to see a copy of the check or view it online,  but unless there is a specific reason to do that, no one does.

---

@Carmie

i still write the "thank you" on the check. have been doing that for years.

i always look at my cancelled checks online.....front and back......and do it daily for both my personal and my business accounts. i like making sure that the person or business that it is written to is actually receiving the check.

actually, recently discovered that i entered a check wrong on a deposit i made at the atm and noticed it the next day when i went in to check my account.

[Kachina624]

---

@Shepherd wrote:

I'd give an AmEx gift card. Cash is better than a check. Checks are seldom used today and raise suspicion in some.

---

@Shepherd.  Seriously?  Nobody has been too suspicious to not accept my checks.

[SharkE]

Don't expect a thank you card. I gave a gal a 100 dollar Cuisinart bread machine in Oct. Asked her in church if she liked it "oh yeah thank you". Ok.  few wks later I asked the brides mother "did do doe use the bread machine" she goes Oh yes she likes to work in the kitchen, ok, then, finally I said "well, I wondered since I never got a thank you". LOL

still waiting................

No more gifts for that families kids. Wasn't raised right.

[beckyb1012]

---

@Bri369 wrote:

---

@Marp wrote:

---

@GiantsLover wrote:

Postal Money Order works best and is traceable if lost or stolen.

Also  you can cash any check at a check cashing store as long as you have in your posession to show the cashier your Photo ID motor vehicle drivers license  or motor vehicle non driver photo id card, and also bring with you a few already paid bills that display your name and address and are marked as paid like a gas bill, electric bill, cable bill, or department store paid bill, etc.

---

All well and good for an established adult but I've yet to meet a 13-year-old with the documention mentioned  to cash a check at a check cashing store.

---

This

And I'm not even sure they would cash a personal check.

---

When my son was too young for an account in his name only and received checks I would just sign his name on the back then mine underneath and deposit into my checking acct.  Got him the cash out then gave it to him, minus whatever he wanted to put in his savings acct. Never questioned once.

[reiki604]

I have always given checks for a Bar Mitzvah in a multiple amount of 18.