Help me plan a Brewster's Millions Birthday.

July 27, 2009 9:35 AM

So it's my wife's birthday soon. She's quite picky when it comes to gifts, and likes shopping, so I'm giving her some cash for her birthday. Only thing is, this seems a bit lame/dull/lacking in thought, so I need a way to make it interesting, and, inspired by the 80s movie Brewster's Millions, I'm thinking about attaching some fun conditions/rules governing the spending of said cash. Now I need help coming up with said rules.

A bit of background: she's just lost her job, and it's her 30th birthday, and she's said she doesn't want me to make a fuss with a big party. All of which makes me think a day out shopping would be just what she needs to cheer herself up, especially when she doesn't have to worry about the cost at the end.

However, I really don't just want to give her a card and a few notes on birthday morning - it'll just seem like I haven't put any thought into things. Hence the idea of the "Brewster's Millions" birthday, where there will be some conditions to spending the cash which will hopefully result in an exciting day, and something cool for us to catch up about when we go out in the evening (I'll be at work all day, you see, and I can't get out of it).

As in the movie, I want these to be fun and challenging, and I think you, denizens of Ask, can probably help me come up with these rules! (or tell me if this is a goddamn stupid idea and I should just do something else)

So far, I've come up with:

1. All the cash must be spent - every last penny. (I'll be giving her an odd amount).
2. One thing must be from a store she's never previously been to.

Over to you...

posted by anonymous to Human Relations (20 answers total)

Gift certs or cards instead of cash; that way it's broken up/chunked, and you can require her to access them in succession, like a scavenger hunt or when certain conditions are met. Hide them around the house with riddles or clues for where to look for the next one.
posted by rahnefan at 9:42 AM on July 27, 2009

This works better with non-US money, but making stuff out of bills can look nice: roses, origami, "money pads"

You could also include some of these bills on a website like "where's george" and (I think?) put notes on that site that she could access when she typed the bill's serial number in, maybe clues.
posted by jessamyn at 9:52 AM on July 27, 2009

At the end of the challenge, you should have her meet you at a restaurant for a private dinner, at which you will have 1 small, physical gift. A framed picture, a small piece of jewelry, a trinket that she can and will keep forever.

The quest sounds fun, but you should really make a point of a simple but memorable gift.
posted by cptnrandy at 9:55 AM on July 27, 2009 [3 favorites]

Get all the cash in odd notes/coins, like two dollar bills and half-dollar coins.
posted by backseatpilot at 9:56 AM on July 27, 2009

Ask a few female friends about their favourite places to shop where you live. Ideally, see if you can get recommendations of little-known/off-beat shops or streets. You could then stipulate that at least five/10/whatever pounds/dollars/whatever must be spent in that street.

She might not end up doing it, but it could be a good way of enhancing the shopping experience by going to new places and checking out new stuff.

Also, I know I have recommended this site before (and it was recommended to me by a mefite, so I'm sharing the love) but www.kiva.org do gift certificates, and i think that's about the best gift money can buy.

have a fun time planning it, and I bet she will have a great day!
posted by greenish at 10:14 AM on July 27, 2009

Only spend $1 the first day
$2 the second
$4 the third
etc....
posted by Confess, Fletch at 10:17 AM on July 27, 2009

Buy something not on sale
Buy something +50% off
Buy something you must first haggle on.
posted by gagoumot at 10:18 AM on July 27, 2009 [2 favorites]

You could always give her a mini-scavenger list that has adaptable adjectives: Something blue (or her favorite color), something shiny, something sweet, something funny, something fantastic. Then when you give her your little present, label it as "something x" (e.g. a pretty little box with a letter from you in it could be "something full of love").
posted by julen at 10:20 AM on July 27, 2009 [2 favorites]

Gift certs or cards instead of cash

Please no. Gift certificates/cards are pain in the ass with too many rules and sneaky fees and they are no more "creative" then giving cash (I think they’re less creative.) What's the point of saddling your recipient with an expiration date and corporation-favoring terms and fees?
posted by applemeat at 10:21 AM on July 27, 2009 [3 favorites]

Cash is way, way, WAY better than gift certificates. Even for this game, gift certificates are too restrictive. The point of a gift cert is to make it look like the giver went to more effort with the gift than stuffing cash in an envelope. You're already covering that with your stipulations. Also, part of the fun of having birthday cash in hand is that you can spend little bits of it here and there on treats you otherwise wouldn't (for example, in this situation I would happily indulge in a delicious drink/snack from a little cafe or kiosk during all the shopping, which is something I never do normally). Not to mention the frustration when you can't find something at the store your gift certificate is for, but the shop just down the street is having a massive, spectacular sale and all you want to do is buy a zillion things from there instead--but can't.

If you're taking her out for dinner, one of the conditions could be that she purchase something that she will wear to dinner that night. That way it could be clothing, jewelry, shoes, socks, whatever. Gives you something to talk about but isn't -too- restrictive. Another one is to buy something she's wanted for longer than x months. But unless you're giving her a lot of cash, having stipulations on different items that must be bought could be problematic (in that, maybe she wants one expensive item--but then she could get creative with making one item satisfy all requirements).
posted by Polychrome at 10:26 AM on July 27, 2009 [1 favorite]

If you know her favorite store, you could have one of the sales assistants in on it, ready for her when she gets there with whatever stipulations you come up with.

I'd second the whole "meet at a restaurant" aftewards and give her a personalized memento/token gift like a framed photo or whatever.
posted by stratastar at 10:50 AM on July 27, 2009

When people give me cash for my birthday, I invariably spend it on paying bills, buying necessities, etc. I mean to buy something nice for myself, but I generally spend at least part of the money on something responsible.

So, in my book, rule number one should be that she can only buy things she wants, but not things she needs. Also, she can only purchase things for herself, not for you or for the kids (if you have any). The gift of a good old-fashioned shopping spree is most excellent, so long as the shopper doesn't spend all the money on groceries and boring, serviceable clothes to wear to work.
posted by brina at 10:58 AM on July 27, 2009

But unless you're giving her a lot of cash, having stipulations on different items that must be bought could be problematic (in that, maybe she wants one expensive item--but then she could get creative with making one item satisfy all requirements).

You could add incentive clauses to make her creative: if an item fulfills more than one condition, you will give her a massage, or a clean bathroom, or make dinner.

You can also try to make sure she spends the money on herself if you think she might need help getting in the spirit. Like, no more than 20% of the total amount can be spent on an item that will be used by the household.

I think your idea sounds like fun.
posted by gladly at 11:01 AM on July 27, 2009 [1 favorite]

You could make it extra sexy.

Say, travel to the boutique at 1234 Birthday Lane, where you must purchase yourself something to wear after dinner.

And when she gets to 1234 Birthday Lane, the boutique in question is a chocolate shoppe...

Or "Go here to purchase something red and velvety." and it's a wine shop.

Wordplay like that will make it fun--give her, with your descriptions of where she's going, the wrong idea about what she's going for.

That could be fun---could also result in her, not knowing the name of her destination, getting very lost.
posted by Darth Fedor at 11:31 AM on July 27, 2009 [2 favorites]

Go shopping with her! That would be pretty cool.
posted by alon at 12:05 PM on July 27, 2009 [1 favorite]

A friend of mine did something similar to the scavenger hunt suggested above except he went to a bunch of different stores and got the staff in on the scavenger hunt as well.

So he gave his girlfriend a gift certificate and a note with hints for her purchase. When she found the item at the store and paid for it the clerk gave her an envelope with another gift card and another note. Repeat for 6 more stores and I believe it ended at a restaurant as well. She really enjoyed the treasure hunt.
posted by troll on a pony at 12:44 PM on July 27, 2009

How much money are you thinking about spending? A mini- "travel getaway" would really blow her mind, and create memories for a lifetime.

According to Orbitz, a Friday-Monday weekend trip from New York to Paris is $375 on Air Canada. Even an Amtrak ticket to a fun attraction in a neighboring state would be fun.
posted by aquafortis at 12:54 PM on July 27, 2009

I can't add anything except what a wonderful idea this is. She will certainly know how much she is loved.

Good for you!!
posted by John Borrowman at 2:30 PM on July 27, 2009

my dad often gives cash to me and my sister, and younger kids in the family. he once taped all the bills together and rolled them up, placed the roll in a little box, and cut a slot in the box. the little kids enjoyed pulling out the (very long) roll of money. he also gave me a large plastic hollow ball which was filled with many crumpled up bills of varying values (which i enjoyed organizing and counting). these suggestions are more about presentation than what to do w/ the money, but i thought they were kind of sweet and could apply.
posted by sucre at 3:18 PM on July 27, 2009

seconding brina's suggestion that a stipulation should be that she buys things she wants. i know that you said she recently lost her job, but if you are able to pay the bills and generally get by, i think you should ensure she uses the money on fun stuff.

when i was younger and my mom and i would redeem frequent-buyer points at Shoppers Drug Mart, the only rule was that we couldn't buy things we needed for the house. no toilet paper, no cleaning products, no batteries, etc. it made the shopping trip much more fun!
posted by gursky at 8:15 PM on July 27, 2009