Another great tip for saving money on presents this year is not to ask people what they want. It sounds a bit selfish, but think of it this way: If you ask someone what they want for Christmas, and they tell you, then that’s exactly what they’re going to expect from you. If their request is out of your budget that puts you in a very uncomfortable place. It also means they will know exactly how much you’ve spent on them. And where is the surprise in that? Where is the joy – for either of you?

Instead, have a good think about that person and their likes and dislikes. Then get online and try to find an unusual gift that suits that person – something unexpected. An example could be a vintage or antique item that no one’s ever seen before. This gives the impression that you’ve spent a lot of money, when perhaps you might have got a fantastic bargain. More importantly, it shows you’ve spent time thinking about the person receiving your gift – and that means a lot.

Fun gifts also tend to be much cheaper, but have an advantage over other gifts. They make everyone laugh on the day, and can end up being the talking piece of the season. If you end up with a choice between a gift card, and some kind of entertaining novelty gift, very often the novelty gift will be the better choice as people will remember it for it’s humor, rather than that slightly disappointed feeling many tend to get when they’re given yet another gift card.

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Most men are either adventurous, sporty types or would like to be adventurous, sporty types. Any gift that encourages this trait is usually welcomed and admired. ‘Experience’ presents, though over quickly, create memories that last forever. There are flying experiences, camping and trekking experiences, boating experiences and racing experiences.

As far as sports go, you could buy your man sports equipment for his own use as well as sports-related books, videos and memorabilia.

And, nearly all men love gadgets. In particular, the most recently released gadgets. I think its safe to assume that anything electronic and handheld is sure to be a hit.

Don’t forget the Great Outdoors. A gift card at a boating-fishing-camping type shop will not only get your man out of the house when he goes to redeem his gift, but it’s also likely to encourage him outside to do the things he really loves later on.

Remember, many men find themselves trapped by the nine-to-five in this busy world of ours, so any gift that allows our hard-working boys a bit of fun all to themselves will be valued as an excellent Christmas gift.

Here are some other ideas:

- Subscription to a sports magazine

- A tour on a Harley

- Gift card at a hardware shop

- Cigar and Scotch gift pack

- Tool set

- Fishing gear

- Book of Grill recipes

- A box of coffee samples

- Golf gear

- GPS device

- A Wine subscription

If you need to buy a holiday gift for a child this Christmas keep these following tips in mind.

• Pay attention to age guidelines on toys. Don’t buy toys out of the child’s age range and you should be right.
• Ask the child’s parents for advice. They will let you know what the child’s interests are and could probably save you from buying something the child may be totally disinterested in.
• Don’t buy a gift that requires the parents to buy additional accessories.
• Small children don’t yet have any perception of brand names. So if you can get away with buying a cheaper model wooden trainset, for example, you’ll be able to buy significantly more items for the same money.
• Gifts that are both fun and have educational value are likely to be more highly prized over simple collections of plastic toys. Children of any age are excited by learning and rarely see the difference between learning and play, so take advantage of that wonderful fact and help expand a young mind.

If you would like some more direct ideas, this list should help provide some inspiration:

• Art and craft materials – go to a dollar shop and stock on up everything.

• Play toolsets – screwdrivers and hammers and wrenches, just like Dad’s workshop

• Books! Not just picture books, but non-fiction too. Ask the child’s parents for ideas: dinosaurs, dancing, bugs, space and stars.

• Audio books – great for the car too!

• Science projects.

• A locking diary or a locking ‘treasure’ box.

• A train set.

• A jewelry box.

• A musical instrument.

Let this list serve to get you started. Happy shopping.

Without simplifying it too much, I think the process goes a little like this:

1. Man wanders into mall without a clue and chooses something he sees another bloke buying – or finds another random woman of the same age and asks her for advice.

2. Man chooses something he likes, believing she will like it too.

3. Man gives up and buys bubble bath and chocolate.

This last option has proven to be so popular that cosmetic industries have gone to enormous lengths to further this conviction in men’s minds. According to all the articles you’ll read on the subject, women love bath oils. But take a look in any bathroom all over the country, and what will you see? Jars of the stuff sitting on the edge of the bath collecting dust. Who has time for a bath these days? Certainly not the busy women of the world!

Lads, women are always most impressed by a gift that shows how thoughtful you were in choosing it.

If you put bubble bath under the tree for her, she’s going to know exactly what that means. Instead, you need to do some serious thinking about what she likes to do in her spare time. What interests her? Figure that out, and you’re set.

And always keep in the mind the basic Don’ts when choosing gifts for women:

- No matter what her relationship to you is, NEVER buy a woman a kitchen or cleaning appliance unless she has specifically asked for it – and even then the risk factor is still high!

- Many lovers believe that racy underwear will score them points with their girl at Christmas time. Guys, you might be lucky, but please remember that a gift like this is more for your benefit than hers – and whose present is it anyway?

- Rings always have a hidden meaning of some kind. If you do decide to give a ring for Christmas, make sure you’re prepared for the consequences.

- Perfume: this option varies across cultures, as there are a number of cultures where the gift of perfume is considered highly offensive. Make certain you know your woman’s feelings on the matter first.

No one ever said you have to spend $50, $100 on each person. Often big Christmas budgets like that lead to quite thoughless presents. SOmetimes, if you know you have a hundred dollars to spend, and the lastest video game is exactly that amount, then there’s your decision made for you. But what does that demonstrate to the person who receives that gift? Sure, they might really like the video game, but how much thought did you really put into that choice? On the flip side of this, if you only have $20 to spend on each person, you’re going to have to really plan your gift – and that will show. The level of thought and care that you put into the gift is always valued most of all by the recipient.

Here are some gift ideas that won’t break your budget.

1. Young children have no idea what the lastest big, plastic, toy sensation from ToysRUs costs. And as everyone knows, most young kids have far more fun with the box it came in than the toy itself anyway. So take advantage of that. Find a box and visit the dollar shop. Fill the box with all the cheap fun you can find for your budget. You’ll probably end up with about 10 different items, and the kid receiving it will feel like you’ve given them a treasure trove.

2. Get baking. Women in particular love this type of gift – so do most grandfathers! You can bake cookies or cakes, Christmas puddings or fruit cakes. Wrap them in cellophane with a beautiful big bow and you have a gift that satisfies the tummy as well as the heart.

3. Gift baskets or hampers also make cheap Christmas gifts. Theme them around the person you are buying for and they’ll know that everything in the basket was specially chosen for them. Gift baskets can be as cheap or expensive as you want to make them, but simple ideas include: a Pamper Hamper (with bubble bath, organic face cream, aromatherapy oil), a Chilli Lover’s Heaven (five kinds of chilli sauce and a recipe or two), Chocolate Delight (chocolate bars, chocolate sauce, chocolate anything), a Candle Collection (various small candles of differing scents and an oil burner). The options are endless and limited only by your imagination.

4. Image collections make great gifts for grandparents. Find your best pictures of the children and use an online scrapbooking service to create some memory books.

5. Offer yourself with coupons. It sounds odd, but if you have a particular talent and someone you know has a particular need, print up some coupons on your computer and slip them into a Christmas card. You can offer to babysit, clean their house, cook them dinner, change their oil, cut their lawn, paint their fence, cut their hair, do their tax.

What happened to that resolution? There’s still time to act on it and save yourself the madness of the pre-Christmas hordes. With a little planning and a lot of doing, right about now, you will soon find yourself in an enviable position on the sofa with all your presents wrapped, while those less organized around you brace themselves to face the crowds. But it takes action, organization, and some good advice. And here it is:

The Planning Phase

1. Make a list. List everyone you’ll be buying presents for – adults as well as children.
2. Set an overall budget for your entire Christmas shopping. Then divide and apportion this amount between the number of people on the list, so that you set a spending limit for each person.
3. Spend some time thinking about potential gift ideas for each person. Think about each person’s likes and dislikes, their personality, their hobbies, and try to come up with two or three ideas for each person. This is time consuming, but certainly saves on panicked decisions later on.

The Buying Phase

1. Start online first. You’ll often find better prices online, and if there are gifts you are absolutely certain you’ll be buying, save yourself the time and the hassle by grabbing them online first.
2. Troll around toy sites or places like Amazon to help you find your other gift options. Perhaps you’ll be inspired by other things that these sites suggest to you, or perhaps you’ll refine a gift choice after reading customer reviews.
3. Once the bulk of your shopping is done online, head out to the mall for everything else.

The Final Phase

Get those presents wrapped, and depending on just how good you’ve been, either hide them somewhere around the house, or place them under the tree. Then sit back and enjoy the lead-up to Christmas without all the stress of last minute shopping. You could even start planning next Christmas!