Money Matters
labro
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
NMMR: Gifts for a new grad (but not what you think)
DH and I were talking last night about my MIL. She's set to graduate in May with a bachelor's degree in human services. She's doing an internship this winter/spring with a local charitable group and I think ultimately she wants to get into a program manager type of role for a charity or some sort of other outreach kind of program. She's completed school while working full-time so she'll graduate without student loans and DH and I would like to give her something special to recognize her achievement. She's obviously worked for years and my MIL and FIL are pretty frugal people anyway and don't really do/buy super nice things for themselves. She's not super tech-savvy but I'm not opposed to a good tool like a tablet maybe? Or a very nice messenger/laptop bag? Help me with some ideas?
Re: NMMR: Gifts for a new grad (but not what you think)
Best graduation/starting work gifts I have ever gotten include:
-Rowenta garment steamer - best gift my MIL has ever given me, besides my husband.
-Office emergency kit - includes a small sewing kit, deodorant, nail polish/remover, lint remover, lip gloss, black/brown shoe polish, breath freshener, floss, fashion tape, feminine products, advil, tums. My BFF put this together for me when I graduated from law school years ago, and I still use it. It's all in a fancy kate spade holder that's cute.
-Nice diploma frames - they are $$$, and I never would have spent that much myself
Other things that I bought myself to make my life easier:
-iPad for travel
-Ergonomic office chair
-Ergonomic keyboard
-Really schmancy space heater with a remote control
Things people gave me that I have never used:
-Briefcase/large laptop bags
-Blacks Law Dictionary/other books on building my career
-Nice lamp for the office - I have never plugged it in
-A fancy pen (I don't know what the point of these are)
-A holder for my business cards. I have received like 4 of these now.
I'm expecting my LLM diploma to show up any day now, and I probably won't frame it because I'm really too cheap. Not going to lie, I'm kind of hoping that's something I receive as a Christmas gift this year from somebody....!
Obviously it varies by person, but I have never really found a good use for these.
When I have to take work home I just stick it in a redwell and carry it. If it's a ton of work my office has rolling suitcases for documents that I can borrow. These are much easier for travel than any other carrying case I've tried. They fit under airplane seats too.
Business cards go in my phone case. I prefer red pens to black or blue ones.
I used the Black's law dictionary for legal scrabble a couple of times in law school, but that was really it.
That's an interesting point about travel. I suppose it could depend on what job my MIL picks up and if she'll end up travelling semi-frequently. She's had a verbal offer from a large group and I don't recall the name right now. I'm trying to get something into the budget now so DH doesn't balk at the expense when we're closer to April/May.
I just want to send a round of applause to your MIL. I love seeing "later in life" graduates achieving their educational goals.
I read a Dear Abby letter that I still remember. A 89-year-old woman wrote in, to support another LW who was debating going back to school in her 40s, that she had started college at 78. She had spent her life raising a family and keeping the home fires burning. Then, at 78, decided she wanted to get a doctorate (I forget in what). Didn't even have a Bachelor's yet. So she started school. Some of her family/friends told her she was crazy. She'd be at least 86 before she was done. Her reply to them was, "I'll be 86 anyway." She signed her letter with Dr.
.
Sorry for the tangent! I've just always loved that story and found it inspiring. Your MIL also sounds inspiring.