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Fun Monthly Thank you gift ideas?

Ceetar Jan 02 2020 11:20 AM

My parents loaned me a chunk of money to pay down a credit card. I was trying to ask them if I could just set the bank to send them a check and they said "talk about it next time" which was Thanksgiving and holidays and clearly they were ducking it. So, I'm brainstorming ideas I can send them monthly with a check as sort of a recurring thank you. Just something 'new' to try. maybe one of those meal kit services has fun/interesting food to try? Something like that. You guys have any ideas?

kcmets Jan 02 2020 11:27 AM Re: Fun Monthly Thank you gift ideas?

Some kind of monthly beers of the month club subscription? Oh wait, that's what we'd like... never mind...

Ceetar Jan 02 2020 12:18 PM Re: Fun Monthly Thank you gift ideas?

lol. maybe though. Just curated by me. My parents are usually interested and willing to try new beers, even if they don't really drink that much. but like a 4/6 pack of 'hey, this was interesting try it' might be what I do.

Lefty Specialist Jan 02 2020 12:55 PM Re: Fun Monthly Thank you gift ideas?

Those 'meal delivery' services where you have to prepare and cook the ingredients yourself are a LOT of work.

Ceetar Jan 02 2020 01:34 PM Re: Fun Monthly Thank you gift ideas?

yeah, figured. I don't think they (She) is against that necessarily if it was something new/fun perhaps.

Edgy MD Jan 02 2020 02:37 PM Re: Fun Monthly Thank you gift ideas?

Grandchild photos and drawings never fail, do they?

Johnny Lunchbucket Jan 02 2020 03:03 PM Re: Fun Monthly Thank you gift ideas?

Lefty Specialist wrote: Those 'meal delivery' services where you have to prepare and cook the ingredients yourself are a LOT of work. Almost all of them turned out to be dreadful businesses as well, as customers discovered that although the idea was OK, this wasn't the way they actually wanted to eat or shop all the time, so the churn was head-spinning, and forecasting demand was next to impossible. Even the products rolled out in stores failed, with massive rates of spoilage. You should send that stuff to your enemies not your friends.

Frayed Knot Jan 02 2020 03:19 PM Re: Fun Monthly Thank you gift ideas? Edited 3 time(s), most recently on Jan 02 2020 08:07 PM

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: Almost all of them turned out to be dreadful businesses as well, Just looking up BLUE APRON (only because it was the only one I could name) on Wikipedia turned up: - On June 29, 2017, Blue Apron had its initial public offering of 30 million shares of class A common stock (ticker APRN) priced at $10 per share; it is the first U.S. meal-kit company to go public. - Since going public, Wall Street has cut Blue Apron's stock price in half, and by October 2017, prior to its next earnings report, the company announced a company-wide realignment, 6% of employees laid off at both the corporate offices and fulfillment centers, estimated to be a couple of hundred jobs. - On November 30, 2017, Blue Apron announced that Brad Dickerson would be replacing Salzberg as CEO - As of March 26, 2018, Blue Apron has lost 81.4% of its market value since its initial public offering. - On August 2, 2018, Blue Apron, announced the total number of customers who paid for a meal delivery had a decrease of 24 percent during the second quarter of 2018 compared to the previous quarter, and the company also indicated total orders had slipped by 23 percent. - In April 2019, Brad Dickerson was succeeded by Linda Findley Kozlowski as the new CEO of the company. However, Dickerson remains the company's adviser for an undisclosed period of time. So that's plummeting company value and the work force and the customer base, plus three changes in CEO over a 1-1/2 year span. Not a financial expert but those don't seem like positive trends to me.

Double Switch Jan 02 2020 03:38 PM Re: Fun Monthly Thank you gift ideas?

If their bank and your bank use Zelle, you can simply transfer money into their account whenever you can/want to. All it takes is the email or phone number attached to their bank account to do this. I do this with some of my family members. It's literally instantaneous and it's slick. No checks, which if they really don't want you to pay them back, they won't deposit anyway. Should mention that you can send a little note with the transfer such as "Thanks again for being great parents."

Fman99 Jan 02 2020 08:58 PM Re: Fun Monthly Thank you gift ideas?

There are lots of other "_______ of the month" clubs besides beers. I'm sure you could get them a monthly coffee, or hot sauce, or something else, as a monthly thank you.

kcmets Jan 02 2020 09:39 PM Re: Fun Monthly Thank you gift ideas?

I think it was on Everybody Loves Raymond; they sent Frank and Marie a friut-of-the- month gift and Marie's unappreciative negative reaction was, "Who does that?!?"

Lefty Specialist Jan 03 2020 06:02 AM Re: Fun Monthly Thank you gift ideas?

Double Switch wrote: If their bank and your bank use Zelle, you can simply transfer money into their account whenever you can/want to. All it takes is the email or phone number attached to their bank account to do this. I do this with some of my family members. It's literally instantaneous and it's slick. No checks, which if they really don't want you to pay them back, they won't deposit anyway. Should mention that you can send a little note with the transfer such as "Thanks again for being great parents." I've resisted these 'easy transfer of funds' apps. I don't want to wake up to find that a troll in Kazakhstan has drained my bank account. That's just me, your mileage may vary.

Ceetar Jan 03 2020 07:44 AM Re: Fun Monthly Thank you gift ideas?

Lefty Specialist wrote: Double Switch wrote: If their bank and your bank use Zelle, you can simply transfer money into their account whenever you can/want to. All it takes is the email or phone number attached to their bank account to do this. I do this with some of my family members. It's literally instantaneous and it's slick. No checks, which if they really don't want you to pay them back, they won't deposit anyway. Should mention that you can send a little note with the transfer such as "Thanks again for being great parents." I've resisted these 'easy transfer of funds' apps. I don't want to wake up to find that a troll in Kazakhstan has drained my bank account. That's just me, your mileage may vary. Zelle is basically an interbank transfer, so this isn't Venmo or Paypal or whatever as it's through the bank, which of course, has it's own app too, so I guess you never really know. It doesn't feel like you hear much about people getting their Bank of America app hacked and having their money drained the way you do with people getting their instagram password hacked? anyhow. appreciate the ideas. My mother's redoing her kitchen so maybe I'll just have the kids bombard them with "Mimi's Kitchen" type decorations and the like.

Centerfield Jan 03 2020 08:32 AM Re: Fun Monthly Thank you gift ideas?

Do they live close? What parents, and especially grandparents, value is time. Take them to a ballgame. Or go to lunch. Or go out for a round of golf. It'll be appreciated far more than random monthly fruits that may or may not be eaten.

Ceetar Jan 03 2020 10:24 AM Re: Fun Monthly Thank you gift ideas?

close enough. I mean, I do all that stuff anyway. just trying to figure out some little token really. Maybe i'll just pick up some random exotic/interesting fruit/chocolate/beer/etc somewhere that I see. I did mail my mother some delicious Indian mangoes for Mother's Day.

metsmarathon Jan 03 2020 02:13 PM Re: Fun Monthly Thank you gift ideas?

you could get them a one-year membership in the jelly of the month club. that's the gift that keeps on giving the whole year.

Ceetar Jan 03 2020 02:21 PM Re: Fun Monthly Thank you gift ideas?

they're more of a marmalade type of folk.

Double Switch Jan 03 2020 03:42 PM Re: Fun Monthly Thank you gift ideas?

Lefty Specialist wrote: Double Switch wrote: If their bank and your bank use Zelle, you can simply transfer money into their account whenever you can/want to. I've resisted these 'easy transfer of funds' apps. I don't want to wake up to find that a troll in Kazakhstan has drained my bank account. That's just me, your mileage may vary. This is not an "app" for a third-party transaction. Check it out at your bank (which, if it's Bank of America, is part of your online services). I briefly had PayPal when I was selling some stuff on eBay but quickly lost patience with it. It was inefficient and also harder to shed than an AOL account. I hate writing checks and avoid any situation requiring one. I feel far more at risk with a piece of paper floating around that the recipient can screw with at will without my knowledge or "forget" to deposit and I have to monitor that until whenever. As for mileage, mine could not be better. Just a suggestion, which was your request.

kcmets Jan 03 2020 03:54 PM Re: Fun Monthly Thank you gift ideas?

Paypal is everything but inefficient imho. AOL, dang you ARE old!! haha

kcmets Jan 03 2020 04:15 PM Re: Fun Monthly Thank you gift ideas?

And how hard can it be to 'shed' an AOL account? You stop paying them, you're 'shed.'

Double Switch Jan 03 2020 04:25 PM Re: Fun Monthly Thank you gift ideas?

Paypal is everything but inefficient imho. AOL, dang you ARE old!! haha My experience with PayPal was one of those "YMMV" and my mileage stank. Blame eBay or blame PayPal. I dropped both. Yes, I am old. But - there still are people who have AOL. What's wrong with them?

kcmets Jan 03 2020 04:37 PM Re: Fun Monthly Thank you gift ideas?

Just ribbing you. This place is largely funded by PayPal users and your bad mouthing it is potentially bad for business. I've used both eBay and PayPal since the 14,400 baud modem days without one complaint. Mileage? Maybe you're looking at the kilometer numbers and are confused. AOL? If I have to explain it it's no longer funny.

kcmets Jan 03 2020 04:40 PM Re: Fun Monthly Thank you gift ideas?

Francis (FX) Healy uses PayPal! You know better than FX Healy?

Double Switch Jan 03 2020 05:27 PM Re: Fun Monthly Thank you gift ideas?

Just ribbing you. This place is largely funded by PayPal users and your bad mouthing it is potentially bad for business. I've used both eBay and PayPal since the 14,400 baud modem days without one complaint. Mileage? Maybe you're looking at the kilometer numbers and are confused. AOL? If I have to explain it it's no longer funny. If this is what you consider "bad mouthing," then you need to toughen up a little. There are more than a few "petty grievance" nurturers here and clearly I am the outlier. I have no idea who FX Healy is and don't care enough to look it up. What say I just call this little experiment done with and trouble you all no more.

kcmets Jan 03 2020 05:44 PM Re: Fun Monthly Thank you gift ideas?

I think you're overreacting.

LWFS Jan 03 2020 07:06 PM Re: Fun Monthly Thank you gift ideas?

Murray's does a GREAT cheese-of-the-month thing, something like $175 for 3 months. If your parents are adventurous snackers and/or love Japan, this is good (we got gifted this a few years ago, and it was pretty damn fun).

Ceetar Jan 03 2020 10:10 PM Re: Fun Monthly Thank you gift ideas?

Murray's does a GREAT cheese-of-the-month thing, something like $175 for 3 months. If your parents are adventurous snackers and/or love Japan, this is good (we got gifted this a few years ago, and it was pretty damn fun). That's pretty neat actually. Not sure if they're that blindly adventurous, but maybe I am? wait, who am I shopping for again? the trend these days seems to be paypal for people you don't know, venmo for people you do? Venmo's got a maybe slightly scary public facing 'social network' feel to it. I can still see the public notes from two jobs ago from people paying each other back for lunch orders. (makes that sorta thing pretty easy) and like, I paid for the local town fundraiser for a christmas wreath with it. I hate writing checks too, I'd mostly stopped but now have to do it for daycare every month and ballet studio doesn't take CC for some reason either.

kcmets Jan 04 2020 11:16 AM Re: Fun Monthly Thank you gift ideas?

One thing about Venmo I find odd in the short time I've had it is it gives you some history of who's paid who in your contacts. I don't care, just don't need to know my friend's son reimbursed her for a hockey stick.

Ceetar Jan 04 2020 09:08 PM Re: Fun Monthly Thank you gift ideas?

this isn't fascinating? [attachment=0]Screenshot_20200104-230417_Venmo.jpg[/attachment]