When I was a child, each of my mother’s five siblings would send me a check for $5.00 for my birthday.  I deposited the checks into my savings account.  Those birthday checks plus a couple of summer jobs while I was in college paid for a trip to Europe the summer after my junior year.

I thought about those checks the other day while searching for birthday cards for Peter and Jeremy.  I am particular about birthday cards, and I had to go to four stores before finding acceptable ones.

The cost for the two cards I bought was $13.98 plus tax. 

Remember when $5 covered a day in Europe?