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  • 10 Birthday Gift Ideas That Cost Nothing


    26 July 2009
    In the current economic climate we are all looking for ways to cut back on the outgoings whilst trying to improve the incomings! Well with most people sending 30 gifts per annum and each of those gifts costing an average of $35 it means that we are spending over $1,000 a year on this area of our budget alone. Imagine the difference it would make if you could send half of those gifts for free. This would leave you with either more money to spend on the other half or to save yourself a whopping $500 each year. Now that is a saving worth putting the effort in for. Below I have listed 10 Birthday Gift Ideas that won't cost you a cent. (I didn't include postage in the above example as some of the 'Cost Nothing Gift Ideas' may incur postage if the recipient lives to far away to personally deliver to)

    1. Find a good online e-card website and send them a really nice online card. Inside enter the following message 'For your gift this year, I have subscribed you to a Joke a Month service for the entire year. Don't forget to check your emails on the 1st of each month!' Set a recurring reminder on your computer to let you know that you need to email your joke. When you receive the reminder, check all those emailed jokes you have received over the last month for a suitable one and send it on. Not only does this cost you nothing but you are also give the gift of laughter which in my book is priceless.

    2. If the live locally, why not organize a Birthday get together for them and a whole bunch of friends at your place. You can set it up as a total surprise without them knowing and then just invite them round on the night using some excuse such as 'I really need you to help me tune in my TV set' or 'I have this strange damp patch in the bathroom I would like your opinion on'. OK, so how are you going to do it for free? Easy, all you have to do is to be organized up front. Firstly you draw a list of nibbles up (max 20 items), then you invite 20 friends assigning a nibble for each of them to bring. Along with this the odd numbered friends bring beer and the even numbered friends bring wine. Pick a few of the extremely eager friends to pop round early to help you decorate and now you have organized a great Birthday bash that will be really appreciated and you haven't had to dip into your wallet or purse once.

    3. Save all those unwanted Christmas presents you receive. Place them in a strong cardboard carton and put them somewhere safe. Once Christmas is over, take them out and assign each one to your Birthday list for the year. You will be surprised how many can be recycled. NOTE - Make sure that you don't end up giving somebody a present of the gift that they gave you for Christmas!

    4. When you are out shopping for yourself and you see something that you fancy buying but you only need one and they are doing a 2 for the price of one deal, have a quick mental scan down your Birthday list and see if there is anyone on there that you could give the second item to. Not only do you get what you want but a friend or relative also get a great gift that costs you nothing.

    5. If you have a friend who loves takeouts, save a whole bunch of deals that you get delivered in the mail, cut out all the offers in the local papers, print out any deals that you can find on the internet as well. Make sure they won't expire before the targeted Birthday! Try to get around 50 to a 100. Make sure you have an extra large Birthday card, write your message inside and pack with all the coupons and seal. When opened all the coupons will spill out creating a great surprise ... and I bet they will use some of the coupons.

    6. Great sources for free gifts are the hundreds of thousands of online competitions that you can enter online. Even if you don't fancy the item yourself I bet you will no somebody that would like it. They are free to enter and don't take that long to do and even your return on entries is 0.5%, you only need to enter a couple of hundred to get yourself a 'Cost Nothing Birthday Gift'

    7. Sign up online for free samples; you will be surprised what you can get. You could go for all make up and pamper products. Maybe get yourself 10 to 15. Decorate a smallish cardboard carton like a shoe box and place all of your freebie samples inside. Label the box with something like 'Chloe's Pamper Box' and hey presto you have a great 'Cost Nothing Birthday Present'. It also works well with a whole bunch of food samples that you can get from online shopping malls and manufacturers, these make a great mini food hamper.

    8. Look through your book collection for ones that you have read, but look like they have never been opened. Alternatively check your DVD collection out for ones that show no signs of having been previously watched. They are only cluttering up the house, they make great gifts, and again, they cost you nothing to pass on. Works well with CD's to!

    9. Check through all you digital photo's on the computer for pictures containing the Birthday boy or girl. Print them out and cut them into different shapes. Collect some rusty colored dried leaves from the back yard and build a collage of the pictures framed with the dried leaves. Using different colored pens add a witty or loving caption to each of the pictures and you have yourself a great homemade gift (always worth extra points) that costs you nothing.

    10. For loved ones you cant beat a really meaningful and heart felt poem. It may take a bit of time to put together and if you are struggling for ideas you can always have a check on the internet for a little inspiration. You can put your poem straight inside the their Birthday card or you could try it with a collage as in point 9 but maybe use rose petals instead of dried leaves (you would need to dry these out by pressing them first our you will find they will go all brown and yucky!)

    Well that's the lot; Even if you don't fancy any of the 10 'Cost You Nothing Birthday Gift Ideas' I have suggested I hope that it has given you a few ideas of your own to help with keeping the outgoings down a little this year.

  • Birthday Gift Ideas For 50 Year Olds - Gifts That Make Sense


    26 July 2009
    A birthday is the most special day in everyone's life. It is a day that calls for celebrations with family and friends. It is a day to celebrate life and it marks the beginning of a new year in one's life. A person moves forward in life with every passing birthday. He becomes more mature, learned and experienced in life. In short, birthdays bring along with it lots of smiles and happiness and is celebrated with lots of cakes, sweets, gifts and heartfelt wishes of all the loved ones and the well-wishers!

    The 50th birthday is considered to be very important as it not only marks the end of half of our life but also the beginning of a new phase of life.

    If you are willing to make someone's 50th birthday memorable, gift him or her with a unique present that can be cherished for the rest of his or her life. Several gifts are available for the fifty years old on-line as well as in the market. You can make a personal choice according to the taste and interests of the receiver and your budget!

    Following are some interesting, sensible gift ideas for the fifty year olds:

    • A Wrist Watch Set

    Wrist watches are the most elegant gifts for both men and women and can be presented on any occasion. A number of stylish and trendiest wristwatches are available now-a-days.

    • Photo Frame

    A Photo Frame with a picture that can remind the receiver of the beautiful moments spent in the past can be a nice gift for someone on their 50th birthday. A wide variety of photo frames are available in the market. They come in different shapes, sizes and colors.

    • At this age, music is thought to be the best companion as it never fades out. Therefore, you can consider presenting music CDs as gifts. You can choose the music as per the taste of the receiver.

    Thus, there are many things that can be gifted to a 50 year old. All you need to do is use your creativity and present gifts that make sense.

  • Perfect Birthday Gifts For Boyfriend - Let Him Know He is Special


    26 July 2009
    It is indeed a very difficult task to find gifts for men. Hunting for a gift becomes more difficult when the gift is to be presented to the special man in your life! The gift should be selected in accordance with the guy's temperament, interests, tastes, and personality. With a little patience, you can find unique and unforgettable gifts.

    Following are a few ideas of unique birthday gifts that can be presented to your 'special man':

    • A personalized desktop weather station would be a great choice for a man who goes to his office regularly or spends most of his time at his desk. There is a wide variety of such desktop weather stations available in the market. Some of them are really unique and come with a clock and a thermometer. Some others also have an electronic barometer.

    • You can also get a star named after him. You can get the star registered and copyrighted for him on his birthday and the coordinates of the location of the star will be provided to him.

    • Along with the gift mentioned above, a book having plenty of tips on how to find different constellations can also be gifted if your special man is a star-gazer.

    • If your guy is a bathroom singer or loves to hear music while taking a shower, you can consider gifting him a shower radio that comes in several stylish varieties.

    • Unique space pens that can write upside down, in the heat of desert, in freezing weather or even under water can be gifted as a birthday present. This pen has a shelf life of 100 years and no gift can be more unique than this.

    To conclude, use your creativity and imagination to present a unique gift to the special man in your life. But, make sure you present gifts that are not only useful, but sensible as well.