Budget presents for a friend and kids (newly seperated)

[PaulaSue]

I want to suprise her and send it secret Santa but keep it at $50 or so. Her kids are 10 and under.

What would you want? Need or not?

 

[Ladyw/theTramp]

What about a gift card set for the movies... like tickets to the movies and $$ for concessions?

Maybe something for them to do together would be nice!

 

[Marionnette]

I want to suprise her and send it secret Santa but keep it at $50 or so. Her kids are 10 and under.

What would you want? Need or not?

A big complaint of newly separated moms is that they dont get time for themselves. No more tag team parenting. The stress of dealing with the needs of running a household and taking care of the kids all of the time can be very draining. Why not give her a gift certificate to get her nails done (or some other pampering) along with the offer to take the kids off of her hands for the afternoon or evening? You can give the kids a gift certificate good for one afternoon with auntie paulasue. Then do anything from take them to a movie to baking cookies at your home. Believe me, your friend will love you for the gift.

Oops. Just realized that you wanted it to be a secret santa. I guess my suggestion wouldnt work too well for that!

 

[HeatherC]

Does she have Netflix? This may sound crazy, but what about a Roku box? If money is tight for her, she may not want/can't afford to pay for cable tv. With this box, she could just use Netflix for $8.99 a month and they can all watch thousands of shows, movies, lectures, documentaries via instant streaming. If she already has Netflix, I think it is a great gift for a family. They are about $60.

I am thinking of doing this for a friend who is a single mom and who already has Netflix. She wants to cancel her cable because it is so expensive. Around here basic cable is $13 a month as opposed to $65 for just expanded basic. This alone would save her over $50 a month and the selections are huge.

May be a little unusual, but sometimes it is fun getting something totally unexpected and out of he ordinary.

 

[PaulaSue]

Never heard of the thing with Netflicks but she is living with an Aunt so I think Aunt covers the cable, etc.

I would love to help out with the kids but she moved approx 5 hours away.

I LOVE the idea about the movie tickets and easy to ship....

 

[sharonmickey]

My neighbor gave 3 tickets to the movie theater plus a gift certificate for ice cream after the movie. It was a great gift. As a newly single parent (at the time) I never went to the movies. My children and I had a fun night with no expense to me.

Perhaps include a gift certificate for pizza or to a nearby restaurant too. Or an inexpensive toy for the kids.

 

[Kika]

Another single mom chiming in here:

I think a gift card for the movies (or even a restaurant) is a great idea. This way she and her kids can treat themselves to a night out.

 

[Jill in Chicago]

I would go with a simple grocery store gift card or a Target card.... that way she can buy exactly what she wants. By covering some of her basic needs hopefully she will have a few dollars left for some wants: the exact candy her children love for the holidays, ingredients for their favorite dinner, a frivolous dessert for their school lunches..... that kind of thing.

When my husband was out of work a number of people sent us gift cards from Secret Santas. We cried. This is such a gift you are giving!

When she asks if it was from you give her a mild look of shock and say, "Of course NOT! It was from Santa!" and then stick to your story.

On top of that I would offer up some free babysitting from you. Call her. Be firm. Tell her she HAS to pick a time and you will come over, and prepare dinner for the night. NO opting out. Tell her it will be her time to do what she wants. She won't be apt to feel bad about this as it isn't costing you "anything." Say, "We have to eat dinner too. No big deal."

 

[kimkoz]

I'd say if she's living with an aunt then she will probably really enjoy something out of the house. I'm sure it upsets her that she's sharing a residence. Movies are great. You can go to the dollar store and get a bucket, and fill it with tons of candy and goodies then get GC. If they are all girls, then maybe a nail GC and they can all go and get pampered.

If you do get movies GC I always buy mine right at regal in the mall. I have one of those regal cards and they earn points. Last year I bought two $15 gift cards and automatically it printed a free movie for me so I also gave that to the person. Not sure what you get for what amount but worth racking up the points.