No kids?
My wife grabbed those, never to be seen again 
Dog food, chew toys, but definitely not pussy 
Somehow I thought someone would chime in on how much they won or lost on mahjong
I guess I should thank my in-laws ā they still like the tradition of my wife giving them a hong bao, but then give it back after dinner. My father-in-law also usually gives us $3200 each (including kiddo), so after the little cousins we netted around $7k this year.
Iām down about $300 on gua gua le, but one of these years Iām going to hit the jackpot 
Exactly what I thought. I didnāt think it would be about the ridiculous amounts of money people are throwing at in-laws.
Iām so glad that I donāt do this bullshit.
I did lose a bunch of money when I forgot to put in some stop losses and by BTCPERP position got liquidated
Rather you than me. No local family for me, so I didnāt participate. 
Why do the given/received amounts vary so much from year to year? Given that everyone is aging at the same rate, donāt recipients/donors need to die or be born for the amounts to change?
I remember in China that the hongbao amounts for the weddings, births, etc. of friends and colleagues should gradually increase over time, so each person is supposed to give slightly more than they received last time, paying attention to the lucky/unlucky number nonsense. No idea whether that also applies to the CNY hongbao. Is it the same here?
Grandma died last year.
Niece was born.
Our daughter was born.
$168 in ē“
å
from a friendās parents, $550 from beating friendās dad and brother in éŗ»å° 
Not massive numbers but profitable nonetheless!
We refuse to play part in the emotional kidnapping and take nothing and give nothing. Gotta put your foot down in the beginning or youre screwed. I did lose a few thousand in mahjong this year though 
Out: $33,400
In: $2,600
About another 10K for chipping in to the NYE dinner and gifting to building staff and relatives.
Sounds like the oldsters are profiteering 
Indeed. Funny that there is another thread about how Taiwanās government should pay people more to have kids. It sounds like all you have to do is wait until they get jobs and you get a payout every year. The downside is that they apparently live with you well into their 30s, based on the Taiwanese women I have met.
My question is, why is the government helping au pairs come here?
Why arenāt the government for example subsidizing a Taiwanese to be an au pair, so that families arenāt priced out. But this would ensure those au pairs arenāt being exploited as well.
The difference between the obscenely low wage for a Filipina caregiver and Taiwanese minimum wage (let alone the going wage for a Taiwanese person with the qualifications of the Filipinas who get the jobs) is quite large. That would be a massive subsidy.
We didnāt bother dealing with massive crowds moving down south this year so got out of giving the hongbao to all the kids. But I did net $600 in Texas hold em poker last night.
I gave a total of NT$2,000 to two kids I used to tutor. Their mom (my friend, someone who has helped me immensely over the years and the only reason I gave any hongbaos) brought over tang yuan and red bean soup. I am not complaining. My neighbor gave me an expensive looking pumpkin that I will probably cook (bake?) tonight. I avoided the fake family/not inlaws this year because all they do is drink and smoke without ever going to bed for three days and then decide itās time to go on a road trip with five adults shoved into too small of a car. No hongbaos for them and none for me!
I have a net loss of NT$2,000 but with a mental state thatās much better than previous years.
We gave 1600 to each parent. Not sure where your wife is getting her info 
I guess my family is more lower class. Give less, get less
Howās this work? Just curious, donāt mean to pry.