10 years of marriage and Gift buying still freaks me out.

[vash]

gah..i hate buying my wife gifts. she is impossible.

this year i feel kinda lucky. we have a Peru (in winter) trip coming up. i'm taking the opportunity to outfit my easily frozen wife with some layers to keep her warm.

BUT: she jumped the gun, and ordered Merino wool already..so i am one layer down already! i noticed a down vest showed up for her this past week..if i wait any longer, i'm gonna be screwed AGAIN..NO!

i'm thinking a great puffy jacket and a soft shell. merino+ puffy +softshell in that order can handle a lot of cold. i already ordered flowers and a bath bomb gift box..(dont ask).

ME? i'm easy..yesterday on the dog walk she said, "i dont think we can get you a new truck this holiday." ( i had no clue that was even on the table)

"i dont need a new truck, mine is still great"
"well, what do you want?"
"how about a .22 rifle?"
"that's it? go and get it"

i knew instantly i blew it..i could have gone bigger..way bigger.

[gatotom]

Good luck on thinking it gets any easier with time. After 42 yrs, I have no clue, I am a deer starring in the headlights.

The bailout is always the crisp big bill in a card.

[Cajundaddy]

It just gets worse over time. 35 years and still... I-have-no-idea. The one thing that has appealed is experience gifts that we can do together. Concert tix, weekend getaway to wine country etc.

[vash]

i was hoping after many many years...we just look at each other and grunt..or slighty tip our heads at each other to communicate..and the gift buying just stops all together.

[flatbutt]

"When" I do actually have an SO I usually go with the trifecta...really good chocolate, something made of silk and jewelry. But the fact that I'm still single should give pause to anyone considering my advice.

[GH85Carrera]

My dad was telling me that after 50 years of buying gifts for birthday, Christmas and anniversary he had long ago run out of ideas. I am only at 25 years and out of ideas.

We are both at the point in life where if we see something we want, we get it. No need to wait for a gift. The local jewelry pusher mails my wife Christmas cards with a $50 gift certificate. Damn devious, he has nothing for $50, but it is just a start. And she is not a jewelry addict as bad as my addiction to tools. I tease her that when she walks into one of the nice antique stores they yell her name like Norm in Cheers. They do know her by name.

We are at the point that we get something for each other, but mostly we agree on a price range and get something we want for ourselves. If I happen to slip over budget, well, no big deal.

[ckelly78z]

After 29 years of marriage, she buys what she wants when she wants it, which leaves me scratching my head for ideas, I want her to be able to open up several gifts on Christmas morning and be surprised.

[legion]

It only gets harder the longer you are married. You run out of ideas. You second-guess the ideas you do have. You take fewer risks with gifts. That brilliant idea you had last year can't be redone for at least a decade. That little thing you always do now seems tired and lazy.

I've been married 13 years and with my wife for 19 years.

I do have one idea that I'll do one of these years, but it's a one-off.

[Amail]

We've been married 31 years last November, and I used to have the same problem. Not anymore. I've got a note called Diana Christmas shopping on my phone. Any time throughout the year when she sees something she likes or I get a good idea, I open the app and jot it down. It really makes gift giving at the end of the year a lot easier.

[T77911S]

almost 30yrs and I am DONE!!

her birthday was the 4th, she got a galaxy. so I was going to buy her a case and kybrd.
the day I was going to order it she is sitting on the couch with her new case!!

I said that's it. I cant get you anything because you buy what you want anyway. its been coming to this for quite a while now and I have threatened it before.

she tells me what she wants and I tell her to go get it.

[911 Rod]

We both have everything that we need.
She asked me not to buy her stuff just because it has a cat on it and I replied "okay, then don't buy me anything I don't want. Or am I too late?" I'll pay for that comment.

[Seahawk]

Unfortunately for you, you are not me

I have the ultimate secret gift-buying weapon: A grown daughter who is very close to her mother!

She starts working the Christmas and birthday trotlines a few months out...it is a beautiful thing.

If your wife is close to her Mom, start there...or with a sister?

[legion]

Originally Posted by Amail

We've been married 31 years last November, and I used to have the same problem. Not anymore. I've got a note called Diana Christmas shopping on my phone. Any time throughout the year when she sees something she likes or I get a good idea, I open the app and jot it down. It really makes gift giving at the end of the year a lot easier.

I do this too, but I rarely end up with enough ideas at the end of the year to match what she bought me.

[T77911S]

Originally Posted by Amail

We've been married 31 years last November, and I used to have the same problem. Not anymore. I've got a note called Diana Christmas shopping on my phone. Any time throughout the year when she sees something she likes or I get a good idea, I open the app and jot it down. It really makes gift giving at the end of the year a lot easier.

I cant do that. if she mentions it that is her way of saying she is going to buy it.

[ted]

I'm here for wife gift ideas.
mine bought herself a tablet for Christmas, I know she's not getting another cat.
She gets me the same thing every year, another year of race cars.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by vash

i was hoping after many many years...we just look at each other and grunt..or slighty tip our heads at each other to communicate..and the gift buying just stops all together.

For Cindy & I it has...we just pretty much buy what we want throughout the year...ignoring the guilt trip that the Christmas TV ads try to lay on us.

We can afford to pretty much ignore the whole thing. Both sets of parents gone, daughter living far away, so we do send her $$$.

[PorscheGAL]

After 20 years together, we don't exchange gifts and haven't for most of that time. I sometimes wonder when our son finds someone to spend his life with, will they duplicate that or will he need to be retrained to care about gifts?

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

Unfortunately for you, you are not me

I have the ultimate secret gift-buying weapon: A grown daughter who is very close to her mother!

She starts working the Christmas and birthday trotlines a few months out...it is a beautiful thing.

If your wife is close to her Mom, start there...or with a sister?

CHEATER!!!

No fair. Foul. Damn good idea, just no way to implement that.

[oldE]

41 years here. I am looking at the earring tree I made her for our second Christmas. She didn't have enough earrings to fill it. Now there are miniature drawers (which I also made) full of them, plus larger cases of necklaces, so any more jewelry is out.
My fall back these days are her hobbies. Water color painting supplies bailed me out a few times. She rides horses, so that has provided mare than a few ideas.
On the other hand, she tells me I can buy nothing for myself in the month leading up to Christmas. (Hope she got me the new guitar case!)

Best
Les

[BE911SC]

Over two decades of marriage and I demand detailed lists every Christmas. I stopped guessing in the first year of my marriage. Works great.