Christmas is right around the corner. Have you started thinking about what you’re going to get for your friends and family members? I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately and I’ve taken a good hard look at some of the cool things I’ve seen in the past and put it here for you in this post.
Pre-Packaged Recipes
People always say that it’s the thought that counts, right? It shows that you actually put some thought into your gift when you put it together yourself. One of the coolest presents I’ve ever received were pre-packaged recipes from my Aunt. Each recipe had the perfect amount of ingredients and a recipe card, so no measurements were required. Those are the actual recipes in the picture above – black bean soup and Mexican corn bread. The seasonings were also attached.
Wine and Dinner
Don’t just take her out for dinner. Do something special and make her dinner. Set the mood, put up candles, buy her favorite wine and serve a three course meal. This can be one of the most romantic things you’ve ever done and she gets to sit back and relax while you do all the work. You need to do the dishes too. If she has to clean up anything after this dinner, you’ve blown it.
Something That Won’t Go Into Storage
One of the biggest reasons Christmas is so wasteful is because most of us don’t know what to get friends and family as a gift. Sure, we know they want a new treadmill or an Xbox 360, but we can’t afford to give out things like that. So we walk around Kmart and hope that something in the $20 range will suffice. That wastes your money and those things end up in storage or at a yard sale come Summer.
Instead give a gift that can’t be stored. Get him tickets to a concert or a play. Get her a gift card. Or perhaps schedule something adventurous, such as a rafting trip or a sky diving outing.
Admission To a Marathon
Is the person you’re buying a gift for active or athletic? Buy her a ticket into a marathon or an upcoming cycling event. I really wish I would’ve known about the Tough Mudder before Christmas last year, because my fiance would’ve loved tickets to that. And I would’ve loved a paid admission to any cycling or running event that took place this past Summer.
Something For Every Month of the Year
As long as it’s something he’ll like, consider a gift that will keep giving all year long. For example, my brother would love a monthly comic book subscription. Just about any of my friends would love to be in a beer of the month club. I would love to be in a book of the month club. Give your girlfriend a wine of the month membership and every month when she gets her gift, she’ll be thinking of you!
Other Tips
If you just can’t think of the perfect gift, one of the best tips I can give you is to search her social networking profiles. Check her Twitter or Facebook profiles. Dig deep and search for things she talks about and places they’ve been. These can be clues to restaurants she likes or her hobbies.
One of the worst things you can do is to think of yourself. Don’t be selfish. I’m guilty of this one myself. My fiance wanted to take salsa dance classes with me a couple years ago. In hindsight, it would have made a perfect Christmas gift, but I just had no interest in it, even though she wanted it so badly. It turns out that I ended up taking classes with her later anyway. I wish I did get for her for Christmas instead of her having to beg me to do it. The smile on her face the whole time was a gift to me.
These are great ideas, I think smart runs in the family. I wish I had read it before Christmas though.
Thanks Sharon! There’s always next year 😉