Best Gift for Mom and Dad, and for Son and Daughter

Its holiday season once again and most of us are now living the happiest and the busiest season of our year. Just imagine how long your gift list is and you will realize that no matter how much planning you have put into your holiday gift giving, youll most likely still have to place a few more gifts under that Christmas tree.

Maybe the most difficult choice when getting gifts are the ones that you will be giving to your loved-ones. You know them really well and you know what they need, that is true, but with the many wonderful and novel gift options that you have, it is by far the hardest choice to make.

Your parents for instance, would most likely just ask you to be with them on Christmas for you to spend that special day with them would be their top Christmas wish. Oh, but what to wrap with a jolly Christmas wrapper and a cheery bow?

What do you think your parents need? Theyll most likely get clothes, accessories, and even food from other friends and relatives. The perfect gift has to be well-thought of, with your parents need in mind. Your Mom and Dad may be living on their own by now, without any of their children with them. Isnt the gift of instant communication with you and your siblings just the gift you can give them this Christmas? So, give them a mobile phone!

Now, dont be alarmed at the suggestion there are mobile units out there that your parents would be able to use with the least supervision.

Of course, you dont want to give them a gift that theyll “ooh” and “aah” over, then, with a look of utter confusion on their face, tell you, “but darling, we absolutely cannot learn how to use this thing properly!”

A basic phone is what they need a phone they can easily operate because if they cannot use the phone, you are assured that the unit will always be left in one of the drawers gathering dust and cobwebs. Get a phone that has an easy to read display, large buttons so that Mom and Dad dont have to squint to see them , clear and loud speakers (so you dont have to yell while you talk to them), and of course an emergency function that they can utilize during any urgent situation.

Thinking about it, a phone like this is also the perfect gift for your young son or daughter. A phone with just the basic, and most important, functions is the best starter phone you can get for your kids. You will be able to rest easy knowing that you can call and check on your youngster anytime, and they can also call or send you a message when they need you.

This Christmas, get your loved ones the best gift that money can buy the gift of mobile and accessible communication. In doing this, youll also be getting a precious gift for your self peace of mind in knowing that your precious family is just a phone call

Holiday Gift Idea for a Birthday Party

Last weekend I was invited to one of my friends birthday party. It was actually a birthday and picnic party combination. The celebration started at 3pm on Saturday afternoon out in one of the nicest local parks. This particular park has a water play area for the kids, a playground, a small lake with ducks, geese and so many other birds.

Since it was a weekend there were a lot of people in the park. Many young mothers were walking around the lake with their children and pushing the strollers getting fresh air for themselves and their babies.

Most of the guests arrived on time, still there were some who came a little late still everyone got to the party one way or another. Late or not the host didnt care, he started dinner as soon as the majority of the guests arrived.

The birthday girls husband received a brand new BBQ grill as a Christmas gift from his wife and was just ecstatic to show off his new toy. Since I knew ahead of time what his wife purchased for him for Christmas she told me – and I also know they just love camping, hiking and picnicking, my present for the wife for her birthday was an absolutely stunning wicker picnic basket for 4 with all accessories included and a lovely picnic blanket. You could just see the glow and joy on her face when she opened that present.

Because they had a camping trip scheduled for the following month for their 15th anniversary, she promised me they were going to take their new picnic basket on that trip. They were both so excited to go on this trip because grandma would take care of the children, so they would be free as birds for a whole week. Imagine, just the two of them, alone on a romantic anniversary camping trip somewhere in the back country.

While our dinner was cooking, the grown ups were talking, some telling jokes and the children got to play games, run around in the grass, splashing water at each other in the water park, and they had too much fun jumping on the huge bouncer that was rented just for them.

I got so carried away talking about these wonderful holiday gift ideas like a wicker picnic basket for 4 and the fun weve had that I completely forgot to talk about the food. Dinner included marinated grilled chicken, Cesar salad, grilled giant shrimp, homemade potato salad, hamburgers on homemade buns, pies and so much more. All was so fresh and tasty, the meats were juicy and the pies. Oh my! The pies were yummy! My favorite was the banana cream pie with the whip cream on top. Our birthday girl mother must have worked all night on those pies.

Our birthday girl was given so many presents and her husband was such a sport about carrying all those gifts to their car while we helped with the cleanup and the leftovers. The party was scheduled for about four hours but because all the guests had a blast it lasted much longer and Im glad to say, the park was left so much cleaner than it was before the event.

All in all it was fantastic! Everybody had an awesome time and the kids did not want to stop jumping on the bouncer even after the Sun went down. I am certain I will be back next year for this party if I get invited.

Gift Selection Planning Helps in Cost Saving

With the cost of living increasing by the day, all of us look for ways to cut down on the expenses. Whether it is car insurance or any other necessity item, we try to avail discounts. In the midst of tight budgets, importance of gift planning has increased too. No matter what occasion it is, planning for the gift well in advance does not just save last minute nerve but your hard-earned money too. Gift planning is the buzzword if you wish to avoid burning a hole in your pocket.

Homemade gifts are one of all time favorites, are easy on pocket, and add a personal tinge to gift. After all the idea is to make the receiver feel special, not break the bank. You can keep the interests of receiver in mind and prepare some homemade gift for him/her. The gift will surely bring a smile on the receivers face.

One of the most effective ways to save money on the gift is shopping in the sale. Whether it is someones birthday, anniversary of the thanksgiving, buying the gift before hand can be useful. Especially for Christmas gifts, buying gifts from the off-season sale can help in saving a great deal of money. And the best part is that you will not have to compromise on the quality for buying affordable gifts. Just because it is an off-season sale, one is able to get gifts at cost effective rates.

Giving a gift hamper is affordable option too. Hampers are ideal for birthdays and baby showers. You can buy them from the market or can assemble them yourself too. Keeping the preferences and needs of receiver in mind, pick necessity items, and get it packed in a beautiful basket. Hampers not only help in saving money but are also considered as smart gifts as you are gifting all the items that would be well used by the receiver. Gifting discount coupons is also a good option. Whether apparel discount coupons or restaurant discount coupons, they would be useful for the receiver. Restaurant discount coupons can be used by the receiver to treat his friends and family too. With gift planning, you can buy cool gifts for any occasion without spending too much.

Wedding Gift List Etiquette

Gift list etiquette can be confusing and conflicting – partly because wedding gift lists are a relatively new phenomenon. We’ve answered some of the most common questions which couples ask about wedding gift list etiquette.

We’re not sure about having a gift list because we don’t want our guests to feel obliged to buy us a gift. What should we do?

Guests understand when couples get married it’s because they love each other – not because they’re looking for wedding gifts! If you decide to have a gift list you can choose your wording carefully to ensure that your guests don’t feel obliged to buy a gift. For example, a popular phrase to use is “It’s your presence, not your present, that we want!”

Even if you don’t want your guests to buy gifts for you, you’ll find that most people still want to give a gift as they feel it’s the right thing to do – and they want to mark the occasion with a gift. Without a gift list to guide your guests you could find yourselves inundated with gifts which you don’t really want. If you really don’t want any gifts for yourselves, why not consider charity gifts? Or you could ask for tree gifts which will grow and mature (just like your marriage!) as well as offsetting carbon emissions.

Should we send details of our gift list with our wedding invitations?

When couples started using gift lists it was not accepted etiquette to include details of a gift list with a wedding invitation. However, as gift lists have become increasingly popular, times have changed and so has the etiquette. It has become much more the norm – and it’s simpler – to let guests know where a gift list has been set up and saves guests trying to contact the bridal party to find out. It’s highly unlikely that guests will take offense. Most gift list companies can provide you with invitation inserts which you can send to guests.

If you don’t feel comfortable including your gift list information with invitations and you’ve got a wedding website, this is a great – and discrete – way for guests to get the all-important details about your wedding and your gift list. All couples who register with Nearly Married get a free wedding website which they can add lots of info and pictures to and their gift list is automatically integrated into their wedding website.

Should our evening guests be given details of our gift list?

If you don’t expect your evening guests to give you a gift, don’t include information about your gift list with their invitations. If you’ve got a wedding website this is a great way for them to find out if you have a gift list, without having to ask.

Is it OK to ask for money for general use or our honeymoon?

Many couples already have the traditional household items which were often given as gifts such as toasters, kettles, towels and bedding. That’s why couples often feel that it would suit them better to ask for money which they can use towards something special, such as their honeymoon. If you’re saving towards a deposit on a house, furniture or a new kitchen and would appreciate money towards that why not ask for contributions on your gift list? It is becoming far more the norm for couples to ask for money – but our advice is to let guests know what the money will be spent on so that your guests feel that they’ve contributed towards a specific item rather than giving money which could be spent on household bills or your entertainment expenses! The Nearly Married gift list service lets you customise gifts of money with your own gift name, description, price and picture so you can ask for anything you want!

Alternative Uses For itunes Gift Cards

Itunes cards are a popular gift right now, I am always receiving itunes cards as rewards at work, for filling out surveys, even my grandma gave me a itunes card for my birthday. Everyone thinks its the perfect gift and for some people it is, after all who does not like music, movies and television? While everyone would agree that they at least love some form of media not everyone is into the digital format itunes delivers media in and of course not everyone is into the whole concept of paying for their music, movies and television shows. After all there is plenty of indie music out there for free, streaming websites also offer a good deal of free music from popular bands not to mention that thing called the radio. For television you can always watch shows for free, with a dvr that is nearly standard on cable boxes these days you can even record your favorite shows to watch later. While movies are not free there are services like Netflix that provide them for a very low cost. Some people reading this article may now be thinking that I am ignorant of the thousands of bit torrent and file sharing sites out there. Of course this is another reason, possibly the biggest reason why people may choose to sell their itunes gift cards. Why use their itunes card at all when they get their media for free? Most people dont and the itunes cards just sit around gathering dust for years. Thats why I have come up with some alternative uses for your itunes cards.

The first alternative use and most lucrative is to simply go online and sell the card. There is a website that will let you sell itunes gift cards, they will give you cash for your unwanted itunes credits. It is the easiest way to sell your itunes cards and it takes only about 5 minutes to turn your card into cash. It is important to note that in order to sell your card it must not have been previously loaded onto your itunes account. If you load the card on your account the balance will be stuck on your account forever. We still have a number of alternative uses for the card if you have already put it on your account so be sure to read on.

If your balance is already stuck on your account and you own an iphone, ipad or mac computer you can always use your credits to purchase software apps. There are literally millions of apps available so you should be able to find something you like. Even if you can not find an app you like consider investing in a productivity app or purchase a issues of a magazine you like. Still not convinced this is a good use of cash? Then read on for our final suggestion of alternative uses for itunes cards.

Consider donating the balance on your itunes account if you do not want to cash in or use it on some media or an app. How can you donate your itunes balance? Just look for an app or song that is donating all proceeds to a charitable cause. There are always lots of options available as developers and musicians aim to promote their music by attaching their product to a worthy cause. Also you can try to think of any friends or family members who may have developed an app or put their bands single on itunes. Why not help them climb the charts and put a little bit of money in their pocket? Of course Apple takes its cut on every transaction but this does not detract from the good created by your charitable donation.

Many people leave their gift cards sitting around for years, some get lost, some even get thrown out. If you are not using the card do something with it! Look at your itunes card as an asset that is wasted capital if its just sitting there unused. Sell your gift cards, buy something nice, invest the money, and donate to a worthy cause. Dont let that asset sit ideally by, do something with your itunes credit today.