Gift Card Greed

My brother will be turning the big 4-0 in a few weeks.  I already know what I want to get him: a gag gift of forty boxes of sugar cereal and a $40 gift certificate to the local mall to spend on himself.  Of course easier said than done, right?  Well in my world...yes, right.

I have been thinking about his gift for quite some time.  See, I'm not a big gift giver, especially when it comes to birthdays.  Not that I'm a scrooge, we just typically don't do more than spend for the kids and give a call on birthdays.  But the BIG 4-0, that's worth acknowledging in a small way.

You see, my brother is a fitness F-R-E-A-K.  He takes his personal health VERY seriously.  He fears that he will inherit our dad's medical genes.  He has been combating the invisible demons and potential threat of diabetes.  Everything that he does, he does with vigour and physical endurance.  Every opportunity he turns into a workout and he takes his health, fitness and body to the extreme. 

So I wasn't surprised to hear last fall that my nephews were first allowed to eat cereal last summer, the healthy kind of course. 

My brother knows that he has a sweet tooth, one that is hard to control once started.  During a trip to visit them many years ago, my brother was ecstatic to have some of my son's Peanut Butter Crunch cereal.  Or his rare visits to our house and looking at the cereal options. 

So for his birthday, I want to buy him 40 individual boxes of sugar cereal to eat, consume or dispose of at his leisure.  Because afterall, I am a sweet sister.  I am anticipating that the Sam's club mixed boxes will not come in the right amount, so I will be buying extra.  No big deal.

I decided I would personalize a gift card by getting it to the mall near where his family has just relocated.  I got online to learn that mall gift cards are generic.  There is nothing that identifies where the gift card is to also thereby not restricting where he can use the card either.  However, in attempting to purchase the no fee card, there are shipping and handling fees, gift card fees and a processing fee.

The Generic American Express Gift Card of $40.00 value will cost me $50.92. 

I think I will grab a generic card locally instead.  Or maybe I will tape $1 dollar bills on every single box of cereal.  How fun is that?  =)