We gifted our daughter (when she was a freshman in college) $50 in singles. We got 50 brand new crisp one dollar bills from the bank. This was her “stocking present” at Christmas. We created our own “Santa money band” for it.
Our daughter was very frugal in college, and we felt that she needed to be “in” the spur of the moment events, Ie everyone chips in a few bucks for pizza etc. She loved it!