When you can’t afford a present, give your time instead, matched to something the person needs, such as a night of babysitting, a home-cooked dinner, or a chore they keep putting off. Write it on a coupon with exactly what you’ll do and by when, and book the first session as you hand it over.
Your time is also the easy answer for a relative who says they don’t want anything, because help with a real job takes up no shelf space. A coupon that says only “good for one favor” is the time gift most likely to go unused.
That coupon leaves the person to pick the favor, find a time that suits you, and then ask for it. Asking can feel like imposing, especially for a parent or grandparent used to doing the helping, so the coupon stays in a drawer. A time gift gets used when you’ve already decided what it is and when it happens.
Start with a real need. A quick question to their spouse or sibling can turn up the job they keep putting off, from raking leaves to setting up a new phone. For parents of young kids, the need may be a night out, and for a relative who no longer drives, rides to the doctor or the grocery store.
Then write the coupon with what you’ll do, how many times, and the dates or a deadline. “Dinner for four on the first Sunday of each of the next three months” works, and so does “babysitting from 6 to 10 p.m. on any Saturday in the next six weeks.”
A grandson who gives his grandparents a coupon for four Saturday mornings of yard work, two hours each, is giving them eight hours of help. Gardeners hired through Taskrabbit average $45 to $60 an hour, so the same eight hours would cost them $360 to $480 to hire out.
Book the first session as you hand the coupon over, and put every date on your own calendar with a reminder the day before, so you show up when you said you would.
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