Coming up with a great gift idea can be a difficult or extremely easy process. Some people, even when money is not an object, may have a hard time finding a thoughtful gift for a friend or loved one… while others may be able to think up extremely thoughtful gifts even on a shoestring budget
When trying to think of the perfect gift to buy, it helps to actually stop for one second and think about what the person likes doing. What are their favorite activities? What are their favorite hobbies? What could you give them that can help them with the current problem that they’re having?
Personally I think a great gift is something that fits the receivers personality while sometime conveying a bit of the givers personality. However, forgetting yourself for a minute, you cannot go wrong by giving a good thoughtful gift, because it will convey that your thoughtful person!… That you care about the person you’re giving the gift to, and took the time to think up something that they will put to good use.
Just by the fact that you’re reading this far says that your thoughtful person, so congratulations! I don’t think a lot of people really stop and carefully consider what sort of gives they’re giving or whether the even be used for all to the person receiving them. There is the old cliché “it’s the thought that counts”, but how many times have you got a gift that just plain just wasn’t of any use to you? And you wonder if in fact this person has any idea of who you are at all.
So when buying a gift there are I think three important considerations:
Is the gift something that the person is interested in? On the surface this may seem like an extremely obvious question to ask, but sometimes I think that people give gifts that are more expressive of their own personality rather than that of the receiver. While it may be nice to give a gift to somebody based on a hobby that you yourself like, and hopes to open their eyes to something new, I think this type of gift has more potential to sit on a and go un-used. So if you go this route, you might want to include the receipt and make sure that it’s returnable or refundable in case the person is not interested. Instead, I think the better route is to think about the other person first and consider the activities and topics that they like. Once you’ve contemplated this, you can make a list of five hobbies, book topics, sports, four games that the person enjoys. After this, finding a gift should be a piece of cake.
Will the person put this gift to use? Some gift is always better than none, what do you really want the person to think to themselves “it’s the thought that counts.” So when buying a gift simply consider what are the chances that the person will actually use the gift on a regular basis. If they do use it regularly, it will be your thoughtfulness that they think of every time the use it. Isn’t that worth a little extra thought?
Is it within your budget? It is nice to buy people expensive gives I suppose, but keep in mind, and inexpensive but very thoughtful and very useful gift can probably be just as good or better than something expensive yet completely useless! And why bankrupt yourself just to give a gift? Remember you may set a precedent too for other gifts if you buy something too expensive. Be as generous as possible without being too generous.
Keep in mind these are just some general guidelines and there are always exceptions. You may find a gift that is totally unrelated to anything that person is into yet is very interesting, unique and useful.
And if you can think of anything at all, cold hard cash or a gift certificate to a bookstore or music store along with a funny card can be good, depending on how well you know the person. These aren’t the most imaginative gifts, and they won’t be remembered or stand out in the receivers mind, but hey, $25 bucks or a facsimile thereof is ok by me anyday!
