My dad´s 70th birthday and I´m absolutely broke

Eve_Dublin

Really hope I get some responses. It´s my dad´s 70th birthday next month and I´m absolutely stoney broke at the moment. I´m flying home for it from Spain and the flights already cost me most of what I have in my account. Has anyone got any ideas of what I can get him? My budget is about 50-60 quid. That´s the max I can spend. Help. This is stressing me out. I can think of nothing. He loves sport (especially Rugby), politics, history, books, food, drink.....

Thanks so much guys!!

Cathmandooo

Whereabouts in the country is he? You could bring him on a day out, research all the free things like museums etc, bring him to nice gardens, have a picnic organised, bring him to the beach / coastal area for a walk, take loads of photos and maybe have a picture frame bought and sneak into a photo devlopers to get a photo of the both of your developed to give to him the next day? I bet he'd be chuffed!

spurious

Write a list of some of the good times/laughs/funny incidents/great trips/happy days you remember with him.

Write them down in a card.

Slaughter a bottle of wine while you both (or all, if there is extended family) talk your way through them.

campo

spurious wrote: »

Write a list of some of the good times/laughs/funny incidents/great trips/happy days you remember with him.

Write them down in a card.

Slaughter a bottle of wine while you both (or all, if there is extended family) talk your way through them.

Personally I would buy a really nice frame and then put a picture of you and your siblings in it maybe a old picture that he would not have seen in a while write out a nice message in a card and he be delighted with that.

The pressies that come from the heart are much better then the ones that comes from the pocket

helimachoptor

Could you get him tickets to the o2 challenge match in the Aviva Leinster/Ulster Vs Connacht/munster?

Cathmandooo

helimachoptor wrote: »

Could you get him tickets to the o2 challenge match in the Aviva Leinster/Ulster Vs Connacht/munster?

That's a great idea

You can buy tickets here. They cost €11 each I think.

Or if that date doesnt suit you could organise an Aviva Stadium Tour http://www.avivastadium.ie/index.aspx I bet they'd be very accommodating to you if you told them it was for a 70th birthday, maybe suggest them putting up a happy birthday on the big screen?

deelite

Or you could get him a copy of the newspaper from the day he was born - not sure how you go about that though

Eve_Dublin

Ahhhhhh too many great idea my head is going to explode!!! I´m actually going to give them all a go. Thanks so much guys....keep the ideas rolling if anyone has anymore.

Really, thanks again!

Eve_Dublin

Cathooo wrote: »

That's a great idea

You can buy tickets here. They cost €11 each I think.

Or if that date doesnt suit you could organise an Aviva Stadium Tour http://www.avivastadium.ie/index.aspx I bet they'd be very accommodating to you if you told them it was for a 70th birthday, maybe suggest them putting up a happy birthday on the big screen?

Ach! Just realised he won´t be in the country for it. I love the idea of the newspaper though...

Edit: turns out he was born on a sunday and Irish Times not printed that day :-/

BostonB

I'd say he'll just appreciate the effort you are talking to get home for it, and spending sometime with him. Do a family tree or something, or plan something another time.

branners69

You could put a video together using photos of his life to date.

I did this for both my parents on their 70th and they loved it. You just need a standard laptop and as many photos as you can get your hands on. I used windows movie maker, used the Magic Moments song ( remember the one from the Quality Street ad?). You can then drop it onto a dvd!

If he is into Rugby, is there a Rugby magazine you could buy him a years subscription to?

Best of luck!

i.need.a.job

a scrap book with pictures of his life, family and children. newpaper clippings, memories.. write something to him. get family to sign it. if he has grandchildren, put their handprints in it, anything you can think of. this will be cherished gift and will be there for years to come.

Greaney

Coming from Spain??? Why not some local vino??

I used to buy my dad little sets of 1/4 bottles, he really appreciated them

jos28

I'd go for a combination of the suggestions so far. Bring home the cheap vino from Spain, spend the day with him doing some of his favourite things and end the day drinking the wine and watching the dvd that branners suggested you make using windows movie maker. I am sure your Dad has a house full of stuff and the best present you could give him is to spend some time with him. I have made those movies for lots of family birthdays and they get a great response.

Eve_Dublin

Thanks to everyone for all your suggestions. I don´t really have time for compiling a scrap book as I´m not in the country for long....it´ll be a flying visit and actually my brother compiled a DVD of all the old family photos we havea few years ago. Great idea though.

I think the bottles of wine and spending a day with him idea are the ones I´ll go with. Maybe buy some tickets to a play or something for that weekend. I´ll look into the Rugby magazine subscription as well and some of the other ideas you guys put up here.

Thanks again everyone! Very much appreciated.