How to pay back my parents creatively.

March 18, 2009 7:16 PM

It's payback time.

My parents lent me a small amount of cash so I could fix my car/keep it running, quite a while back now. I'm sure they wrote off the AU$1200 as a bad debt, thinking they'd never see it again.

Unbeknownst to them I'm in a better financial position and ready to hand the cash back. Any ideas of a quirky/fun/surprise way to do this? I thought of stuffing a pinata with $10 bills. But surely you have other ideas?

posted by WayOutWest to work & money (14 answers total)

A pinata filled with dollar coins would make a bigger splash. (As long as you promptly replace them with a check, so your parents don't have to deal with rolling and depositing them!) However you choose to do it, I'll bet your parents will love it.
posted by MsMolly at 7:21 PM on March 18, 2009

Wad up a bunch of fifties and smear them with oil. Bring them in an old coffee can and say "Hey, they finally found out why my car was acting up. Check out what was in the transmission!"
posted by echo target at 7:23 PM on March 18, 2009 [4 favorites]

Get them a nice gift of some sort that is also a container; maybe a jewelry box for your Mom, or a new wallet for your Dad, or both (don't get either of these things if they don't need these items, unless you can afford to buy exquisitely nice versions). Put the money in the container.

The gift is a nice surprise; having $1200 (or $600 each) inside is an amazing surprise.

Other container ideas: beautiful hand-made wooden boxes; cookie jar; handbag/purse; anything with pockets; iPod case; laptop case; tool box; cordless drill case (men can be hard to shop for; I'm brainstorming here); picnic basket.

And, of course, Easter is coming up. Or whatever the non-Christian/pagan/fun equivalent is. You could always make a basket filled with candy and include something like hollow plastic eggs.
posted by amtho at 7:26 PM on March 18, 2009 [2 favorites]

How well off are you? You can do a bit with the 1600 (I like the coffee can idea), but can then turn around and say, "If you'd like this money, it's yours with my thanks. Or, I'll donate it, plus another 400 to a charity of your choice. You helped me out when I needed it, and I just want to follow your example."
posted by robocop is bleeding at 7:27 PM on March 18, 2009

Crash at their place for the night and sneak it into their respective Purse / Wallet while they're sleeping.
posted by cheaily at 7:37 PM on March 18, 2009

Australian dollars? I'll assume therefore that you and your parents live in Australia.

Draw up, or have a friend fake up the appropriate letterhead, then write the following letter:

"Dear Mr and Mrs WayOutWest
"The Australian Government is providing $12.2 billion to assist households, help create jobs, and support economic growth in 2008-2009. This package is being provided as immediate tax relief, transfer payments, and in some instances, cash in hand.
"Your household has been selected, as a known provider of economic relief to hard-working Australian motorists, especially motorists undergoing hardship in your immediate family, as a recipient of the Government's special one-off supplementary bonus.
"Yours sincerely,
"Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia.
"PS. Vote Labor"

Sign it, fold it, then put $1200 in old fifties in the envelope.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 7:52 PM on March 18, 2009 [14 favorites]

Buy the closest thing to a Hot Wheels version of your car, stuff the check in the trunk, and mail it to them. (The trunks still open on those things, right?)
posted by phunniemee at 7:53 PM on March 18, 2009

This sounds really fun. I hope they can get a kick out of it.

I wonder, though, if you've considered all the angles here. My family has provided things for me—some big, some small; some planned, some spontaneous—which they'd never let me pay them back for, even though they totally deserve it. It was a gift, or an investment in me. If I insisted on paying them back, it wouldn't go over well; it would feel like I was turning down their generosity.

Obviously you know your parents better than we do; if you're confident they're thinking of this as "bad debt," then I hope you enjoy your fun payback time. :) If there's a chance they have different ideas about it, though, you might want to consider just playing this as a straight up adult, having a conversation with them explaining that you want to pay them back, and see where it goes from there. This could save you a lot of trouble if they don't want it. And I bet they'll be just as thrilled with how you handled yourself, even if it's not quite the same as busting open a piñata of money.
posted by brett at 9:18 PM on March 18, 2009

Further to my suggestion, here is what the Prime Minister's official Government letterhead and signature look like. You want the one that says "Prime Minister" not "Office of the Prime Minister".
Obviously I am not your forger and this comment is in no way intended to encourage you to undertake any kind of misrepresentation or illegal activity.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 9:40 PM on March 18, 2009

Hey brett, I appreciate the thoughts.

I honestly think my parents will take this in very good humor and as an added bonus will be pleasantly surprised. Of course they will say I didn't need to pay them back, but I have no doubt they'll appreciate me doing so.

I've gone for a take on the Stimulus package letter suggested by Fiasco da Gama.

So thanks to everyone who took time out to answer.
posted by WayOutWest at 9:43 PM on March 18, 2009

If you have kids, or young siblings, you might simply ask them if you can open a college fund for the kids. But otherwise I'd say personalize Fiasco da Gama's idea. I'd avoid messy splashy stuff like pinatas unless their into that sort of thing.
posted by jeffburdges at 3:57 AM on March 19, 2009

Get them a nice gift of some sort that is also a container

I do this sort of thing for wedding gifts all the time--a vase, a nice set of glasses, a pitcher or mixing bowl--and then fill it with wadded up $1. It's always hilarious to watch them open it, and more than one couple has thanked me for the cash, which they used on their wedding night or honeymoon because in the whirlwind of plans, they didn't think to get cash for things like bottled water, snacks at the airport or whatever.

Your parents will love whatever you do!
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 5:46 AM on March 19, 2009

this is awesome. i paid my grandmother a similar debt and wish i had been more creative with it now. :)
posted by gretchin at 2:55 PM on March 19, 2009

I have seen this on TV. Whatever you put the money in, will end up misplaced, and you'll have to go on some wacky adventure to retrieve it.
posted by QueerAngel28 at 8:05 PM on March 19, 2009