Valentine’s Day Gifts: 6 Awesome Tips For Anyone Buying Gifts

T’is the season of love! Or is it always a season of love in your household??

Either way, Valentine’s Day is around the corner and many in relationships are thinking of gifts for their spouses / partners. Some are thinking of ways (instead of things) to show their love. Some even wondering if they should buy something at all!

Well, every relationship involves some form of gift exchange, whether it’s random / unexpected gifts or mandatory like birthday, Christmas, anniversary, or any other event.

While all this is cool and exciting, sometimes the best gifts are those intended to make the other person know how much you appreciate them. Thank God for Valentine’s Day, ey! But also “random gifts” that are given without any ulterior motives or expectations to return the favour.  These work well especially when chosen with a great deal of thought, but without anticipating anything in return.

So how can you make sure you buy great gifts for your spouse or partner this Valentine, or going forward? Here’re my top 6 things to consider:

1. Where you shop

Sometimes we think we can just walk into the shops we usually go to and find perfect gifts for our loved one. But that’s not always the case! In fact, most of the time it doesn’t work that way. You can find all sorts of nifty treasures in a variety of shops. Think about it, gift shops are there for a reason!

Next time you want to buy a gift for your loved one, or anyone for that matter, try browsing shops you don’t normally visit for ideas and you’ll be surprised at the rare finds.

Depending on the type of person you’re buying for, you can find great gifts in antique stores, bookshops / cardshops, 2^nd hand or hospice shops, etc.

Surprise yourself and your recipient next time and try other shops for unusual gifts.

 

2. Let the gift find you!

How many times have you gone out there to buy a present with an idea, and ended up spending lots of time on it because you’re looking for a particular something?
This is all good if your recipient has indicated they want that something. But when it’s simply your idea to buy that particular something, sometimes it’s best to go without any preconceived ideas.

“Huh?”, you say!

Yep. Don’t find the gift, but rather let the gift find you!

Use your intuition and you’ll surprise your spouse (in a good way)!

Another way of letting the gift find you is if you know your spouse/recipient’s favourite store, perhaps get to know the staff in there and when it’s time to buy a gift, ask if there’ve been items they’ve shown particular interest in. If yes, then there you go, the gift has found you!

3. Gifts fund?

Do you sometimes come across items you know your loved one would like but you don’t have the money at that time so you can’t buy it? BUT you later regret not buying it coz it’d have been perfect?? Yeah – it happens a lot!

It’s always a good idea to be ready to buy something should you find it at any given time! Something like a ‘gift buying’ fund tucked away somewhere so that you are never without funds.  If you have joint accounts with your spouse and you know she’ll be able to track or see the purchase before you give the gift, perhaps use/keep cash coz you don’t really want them finding out what/where you spent through credit card statements.

 

4. Don’t overdo it

“He got you a present? Who has he cheated with?”

You’ve probably heard this being said, either in real life on TV. And yeah, there’re those who rarely buy presents so when they do, … people suspect something is up. And then there’re those who buy gifts regularly. When they stop doing so, the other half can start to suspect the attention is elsewhere.

While you may not be either one of these, it’s important to note like with any romantic gesture, be careful not to overdo it! If your spouse receives gifts all the time, it stops being special. Yeah! It becomes the norm!

Put thought into your gestures and thinking how your other half will feel before you take the action is always a great idea. If you know they’ll be surprised and pleased, then go for it. But if they start to think you’re spending too much, or you’re doing it too often, then it means you’re overdoing it!

5. Shop regularly

A great idea to buy great gifts is purchasing all the time. This ain’t necessarily loading your shopping basket when you’re out, but more keeping an eye for things your other half might like especially when they’re not there with you. Or when you’re window shopping or pass by some items, pay attention to what your spouse likes. If they mention specific items they’re looking for, or they take an interest in specific items, then easy for you!  Either purchase it when they aren’t close by or come back later and buy for them. They’ll really appreciate it and will thank you for it.

 

6. Try DIY 

Before you say, “DIY what? DIY who? Me?”, hear me out! Sometimes the best gifts are the ones that show one’s creativity. If you’re a parent, you’ll agree with me – there’re times when your little one makes something and no matter how ugly it may look, to you look it’s the coolest thing, right? Coz of the creativity behind it. Or merely, the thought.

Perhaps next time you feel like giving something, you can come up with your own creation and see how well (or not so well) it will be received.

SO, do you struggle buying gifts for your loved one? Do you enjoy buying or receiving gifts? Do you think the above will help? Keen to hear your feedback / thoughts / comments.

 

Check out my other posts

Unique Gifts for Valentine! No breaking the bank