<p>In the spirit of giving…I figured I’d start this thread, hoping there are suggestions for gifts.</p>
<p>I’ll start. </p>
<p>I bought DH six months of the Craft Beer of the Month Club for his birthday.</p>
<p>First “winner” gift I’ve come up with since his Northface fleece!</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.kiva.org/”>http://www.kiva.org/</a></p>
<p>A donation in their name to KIVA. I do this every year to all family members and the amount they can lend increases as a result.</p>
<p>We do events instad of things. Theater tickets, great dinners out, trips. Gave Mom train ticket vouchers for travel to grandchildren. </p>
<p>My mother used to give my husband a mixed case of wine every year. She’d call up one of our local liquor stores, give them a money amount (it worked out to the $10-15 range per bottle), and we had a nice selection of every day wine. </p>
<p>I like giving those precision cut car mats to someone with a new or new to them car. They are cut specifically for the car model and year so they fit perfectly and really help contain the snow and slush. They cost about $100 so not for everyone on your list.</p>
<p>Yep…winter mats. They are wonderful. I have them in my car!!</p>
<p>We gave a membership to AAA to my in-laws once they started driving back and forth to Florida every winter. We renew it every year. They have used it many, many times.</p>
<p>We are giving our kids (and ourselves) a trip to Lambeau (from the east coast) for the Packers/Lions game this December. They’ve only been to September/October games, but you are not a true Packer Fan until you’ve attended a December game. </p>
<p>Take my car to get an oil change! That’s a good gift.</p>
<p>My dad has been getting the Fruit of the Month club from Harry and David. He really likes it, and brings us any extras. We did do Wine of the Month for him, but he didn’t like that as much, because his choice in wine is kind of narrow.</p>
<p>I was looking at this:
<a href=“Best Beer & Wine Subscription Services For Gifts - Thrillist”>http://www.thrillist.com/drink/nation/best-beer-and-liquor-of-the-month-clubs-thrillist-nation</a></p>
<p>as I know he likes scotch and whiskey, I might do that for him. He wants virtually nothing, and he likes the fruit. The craft beer is early on this list, and normally my spouse would be interested, but we are trying to lose some weight and beer is off the table for now.</p>
<p>I would say if you knew what charities someone was involved with, you could donate in their name. But honestly, I do end up giving gift cards quite often, the Visa or Amex kind, and then the person can do what they want with it. It’s kind of tacky, but I don’t want to spend hours looking for something and find out they don’t want it.</p>
<p>Coupons for “dates” with older relatives, like taking them to the mall or to lunch or dinner or even to the city or a play, might be appreciated. </p>
<p>Similar to wine gift above, I get. My uncle a bunch of specialty beers. </p>
<p>I take my loved ones out to a nice meal and have a chat chat hong up. If they’re female, may buy them some nice lingerie from Macy’s. Hard to have too many nice panties and many of us don’t buy nice things for ourselves (these everyday items do need to be replaced periodically anyway). </p>
<p>I do a lot of tickets or evening experience - I’ll drive and take my parents to dinner and a show.</p>
<p>My favorite gift from my kids (who had very little money at the time) was a request that they come to The Seattle Symphony Messiah with me. I bought tickets and took them to dinner at Purple afterwards and their gift was to willingly dress nice, take Christmas photos together and generally be scintillating company and act like they were having a good time. It was a wonderful gift! The next year they took me to Beethoven’s Ninth under the same system.</p>
<p>I love gifts of experiences and time shared. These seem ideal and gave always been appreciated more than STUFF in our experience. </p>
<p>Ah, Saintfan, you reminded me of our beloved family tradition (no begging needed), to go to the Black Nativity then out to dinner. We were just crushed when they pulled the plug last year. We have many good memories though and the choir is running its own production of a Christmas play-not as good but anytime Pat Wright sings is worth it.</p>
<p>We pretty much have given up on giving gifts to anyone we’re not with on the holidays, and then only children. Other than that, just food gifts or gifts to a non-profit. My favorite is Heifer International. In the final months of her life, my Mom LOVED picking out farm animals to give to people in developing countries. She LOVED it!</p>
<p>Both of my grandmother’s lived very long lives. One was just past her 101st birthday when she died, she was fairly healthy and lived in her own home until just before the end. She had a small house and more than what she needed. One thing she did not need was more clutter, she had 100 years worth of that.</p>
<p>She loved it when I started picking out a Heifer animal for her every year at Christmas. I picked a different animal every year. She sometimes would tell me what animals to NOT pick because they were smelly or nasty (in her opinion). It was a game or discussion we could have and gave us something to talk about.</p>
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<p>I guess I’ve been living in New England too long and have become a Puritan. I’d be incredibly embarrassed if a friend gave me panties. </p>
<p>I give panties only to sisters and they are modest ones in brands like vanity fair, which I like but never splurge on for myself. ;). My sisters never seen offended. </p>