Now that we’ve established that there are enough excuses for guilt-free re gifting, here are some re-gifting dos and don’ts:

1. Check the manufacturing date. Food items have an expiration date, and so, in a sense do electronics and gadgets which get outdated so very quickly. You certainly don’t want the recipient to know that your re-gift was lying around your closet or pantry for a while before nestling into the folds of wrapping paper. 
2. Be thoughtful. Just because you don’t want that particular bottle of wine you got, doesn’t mean you gift it to you teetotal uncle. And just because you are a rocker rather than a country ballad sort, it doesn’t mean that you give that Kenny Rogers CD to someone who only listens to classical music!
3. Check the gift over thoroughly before rewrapping. You don’t want to give a book that is already dedicated to you, or a coffee machine that has its previous Best Compliments card still attached to it. Honesty is all very well but it is best not to let the recipient know that you’re giving them this purple vase because you got it from someone but you really have no use for it yourself.
4. Check the package or box. If it looks worn or dog-eared, it is not gift worthy.
5. Never re-gift anything that is even slightly used. That is just bad manners. This applies even if you don’t have a gift at the last moment. Even grabbing a bottle of wine or a box of generic chocolates from the closest store is better.
6. Don’t ever re-gift to the giver. Here’s a tip: if you get a gift that you know is destined only for re-gifting, keep the best compliments tag with the gift to help you remember you gave you the gift. That way you don’t ever end up giving the gift back to the one who gave it to you in the first place.
7. Don’t reuse wrapping paper. Seriously now that is just cheap. Besides everyone can tell. Right away.

A survey found that 78% of those asked, thought re-gifting is fine, so if you are a re-gifter, you are in good company… just so long as you follow the above rules of re-gifting.

Here are some unusual gifting ideas for the quirky or the difficult to please individuals in your life:

1. A Piggy Bank that doubles as a décor piece. This can actually be a practical gift for a kid to teach them the rudiments of savings and can also be something that they will happily display on their desk.
2. The adult version of this gift above would be a savings account that you open for someone near and dear to you. You can make the initial deposit into that account and help your friend or relative develop a habit that is pocket friendly. Makes a lot of sense in these lean times. 
3. For those of us who are musically inclined (particularly if a major Beatles fan such as myself), this limited edition print featuring Sir Paul McCartney is a great idea. It is an image made up of 90 of the best songs by the Fab Four.
4. The complete BBC series of Planet Earth is a fascinating collection that anyone would enjoy receiving. This is a classic that is narrated by David Attenborough, a 5 DVD collection that has a running time of 440 minutes.
5. GPS or the Global Positioning System is the ideal gift for someone who likes gadgets. This pin points your position in real time and the maps that are fed into the system tell you the shortest route to get from point A to B.
6. I have probably spoken of this item before, but I think it bears repeating: a flexible, folding illuminated keyboard that connects to the USB port of your laptop or computer. This virtually indestructible item not only rolls up for easy portability, its sealed design also makes sure that it is easy to clean and keeps off the germs.
7. For the germophobe in your life, here is a gift that will really be appreciated: a toothbrush sanitizer.  It may seem a pointless gift to many, but it will be uniquely appreciated by the right person.

So the idea is that if people will send their ‘better halves’ all manner of mawkish gifts, then there is no reason why single people shouldn’t send themselves a gift of two as well! Getting together for a singles party, getting some pampering from a spa or similar, going for a holiday, doing something meaningful like volunteering to help with or donate to a charity can all be terrific ideas for Singles Awareness Day and equally, one can treat oneself to the following gifts –

Send yourself flowers! There is no reason why you have to wait and long for someone else to send you flowers, just go ahead and send yourself a heady bouquet of the flowers that you love best (no putting up with the smell of flowers you don’t like just because someone else thought they were romantic!)

Get yourself this cute little Happy SAD Tee; which you can get for $22 to help you proudly proclaim your singlehood. Alternatively you can proclaim your intention to live it up with this Tee which Says V is for Vodka – Valentine’s Day but with the ‘Valentine’s day’ crossed out and replaced with ‘Vodka’.

If the plethora of cute teddy bears and red hearts on Valentine Day make you gag in disgust, then this one is for you – it says Happy Singles Awareness day and features a little while teddy with a knife driven through its heart and its little red innards spilling out. A bit gory, but it really gets across the point for $25!

And just in case you are inclined to get with something naughty or have hopes of meeting someone really interesting this Valentine Single Awareness Day then this could be just the thing for you – it’s a classic thong featuring a heart with holes in it and the legend “Happy Singles Awareness day”.

Happy SAD gifting all!

Our sense of smell can be very evocative, and can take us back to a time and place in the past or can remind us of a particular happening or person. This makes them a very important part of the whole process of dressing; more particularly dressing up! I don’t feel ready to go out until I not only look but also smell good!

Amongst my gifts were a limited edition Burberry, a Paco Rabanne, a Gucci and an Issey Miyake. I thought of doing some research into what goes into making a great perfume, one that not only smells divine, but also lasts really long. I learnt that a lot goes into creating and buying fragrances, atleast the really good ones. There are various layers to every scent, different ways of applying it depending on the effect you desire, and numerous fragrance families. It truly is a science and an art both!

And coming to the varieties of perfumes, deodorants, colognes, the spray-on or dab-on packaging, with or without alcohol, the options are never ending and thoroughly confusing. A lot of understanding goes into figuring out which fragrance is right for you at what time and for what occassion.

So good luck to you all! Happy figuring out the smell just right for you, the one you would want people to remember you by!

Now I like to keep a nice garden and would like it if my neighbor did the same. So for rather selfish reasons, I thought a garden gift basket such as this one would be a good idea. It includes a hand painted metal planter, a pair of cotton gardening gloves, Banana Boat sunscreen, and assortment of flower seed packets, a stainless steel spade and trowel, and key lime cookies. Not bad for $57 and free shipping.

As people move into a new house, they typically take time to settle in, set up a kitchen and get a regular cooking routine going. So in the meanwhile, a Snacker’s Delight Gift Basket such as this one can be a great and thoughtful idea, to give new neighbors something to munch and snack on as they settle into their new home. This $30 collection includes Feel Good Snack Mix, Cheddar Cheese Straws, Smoked Almonds, Imperial Tea Biscuits, Tropical Real Fruit Snack, Cheese Lover’s Pub Mix, Creme de Pirouline Cookies, a tin of Mixed Fruit Candies, Walkers Shortbread Fingers and Godiva Milk Chocolate Pearls.

For the health conscious giver/receiver of housewarming gifts, a Fruit Gift Basket such as this one would be ideal. This California Signature Fruit Gift Box includes a dozen different fruit, including apples, oranges, Mango and Kiwis.

Another food basket that I particularly liked the look and contents of is this Cutting Board, Meat and Cheese hamper, which includes a cheese spreader, plus Beef Salami, Camembert Cheese Spread, Gourmet Mustard, Toasted Sesame Crackers, California Herb Crunchies, and Torani Biscotti for dessert as well as a cutting board measuring about 12 by 8 inches.

I also liked this Home Cookie Gift Box, that works well for a housewarming gift because of its theme packaging and assorted cookies, in my view, always make for a great gift.   

So go ahead and say Welcome to the Neighborhood in any way you choose! 

As one grows older, their circulation tends to become poorer and they tend to feel the cold more. Feet in particular tend to get icy and I though this electric foot warming pad was great, particularly at the price of 39.99 which is down from $59.99. So gifting toasty warm feet I thought was a great idea.

A lot of small disabilities and infirmities tend to creep up on a person as they age and eyesight is one thing that is quick to be affected by advancing years. This large number size digital clock with a 2.5 inch LED display  will let seniors tell the time without hunting for their specs or having to screw up their eyes. For just 12 dollars, it’s very reasonable too.

I read someplace that the best thing to keep dementia at bay is for seniors to keep using their mind (kind of like ‘what you don’t use you lose’). By stretching and challenging their mind seniors can keep memory loss away. So I thought this 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle would be an excellent gift that will require a lot of mental effort. This is particularly apposite because the senior I have in mind is a retiree and keeps to the house most of the time.

This one will require a lot of effort on my part. This one is not just about buying an mp3 player, it is also about knowing what music the person likes, then finding it and then loading it on to the mp3 player. It’s no use giving a senior person an mp3 player and expect them to find any use for it. This mp3 player on Amazon is down to just $30 from the list price of $120. Anything at an 80% discount I simply love!

Now all I have to do is hope that none of these gifts are too ‘obvious’.

Now one idea that I had was these Flying lanterns which I can launch for Valentines day. These symbolize knowledge and wisdom and are traditionally used by the Chinese to celebrate their new year; but who’s to say I cannot use them for Valentines Day! They fly up into the air and last about 20 minutes traveling several miles and then the flame blows out and they descend to the ground; quite safe. So perhaps I could write something meaningful on each of them and l could launch several! They cost less than five dollars each.

Also I am thinking really practical and non romantic gifts: slippers and a hot water bottle (if you set your mind to it, you can find a lot of interesting things to do with those as well). Now my significant other hates to wear his cold slippers early in the morning so I thought to myself how about some microwaveable slippers to warm his toes! (this one’s for me too; I hate to feel those icy toes). I found these microwave foot warmers on Amazon for as little as $8.99!

I know this hot water bottle is supposed to be for kids, but this is just the sort of thing he will find hilarious, so I thought to myself why not, at $10.95; I probably will go for it!

And my last thought was I will take him book shopping; an actual excursion into a bricks and mortar store where we can browse properly in an attempt to increase the sum of our wisdom! So here’s wishing all of you a Happy Valentines Day with all of your loved ones; have a great one!

These fridge magnets are excellent for all the Domestic Goddesses we know out there; the ones with a sense of humor:  I thought they were all hilarious: “Every day I give my family two choices for dinner…take it or leave it”, “Housework is evil. It must be stopped.” “A clean house is a sign of a wasted life” “It’s not nagging if you wave a butcher knife, dear.” For under $20 for a set of four, you can give these to four different individuals! Alternatively these fridge magnets would do great for your girlfriends in office; again those with a sense of humor!

Now either because you love the president or because you simply don’t, this Obama Wacky Wobbler is a good buy, particularly since is it down from $11.99 to $4.99.

Here I found a bunch of great stocking stuffers, all under $5, ranging from this really cute package of gingerbread cookies, for just $3.19 to different kinds of chocolate, pens, NFL curiosities, novelty pens etc.

Now picture frames make great little gifts for all sorts of people. For close friends and family you could put in a picture of dear child or a favorite friend or relative, and perhaps for a coworker you could leave it blank or put in something funny that will be appreciated. So here I found a whole range of picture frames , all costing less than 5 bucks. This cute little first step photo frame for instance is just $3.50. Also check the hot cocoa gift items here, again for under $5!

I know we were talking about gifts below $5, but this Santa mug for $ 8.99 and all the many other Christmas themed items there were just too adorable not to include here.

So go ahead and have a blast getting goodies for loved (and not so loved) ones. I think I gave you some good ideas here? I hope so!

On the home page the site displays the best deals of the day. For instance there is the Buy.com specialty store deals on Hi def TVs.  These include deals such as a 30% discount on this Toshiba TV, which is $382, down from $550.  Deal throws in free shipping just to add a bow to the ribbon.

There are also various sections you can shop by, so that you have Entertainment coupons which include coupons not only to buy an MP3 player but also for the next Jay – Z concert.

Additionally you have Legal Coupons: do you want a will written? Get it done for just $29. Want to incorporate your business? Have it done for just $169 and so on. And then there are insurance coupons, which will offer you a discount dental plan if you are so inclined, and so on and so forth.

Then if it is a health nut that you are shopping for, you can choose from a range of gifts, from wild salmon, to golf clubs if the person is inclined to physical pursuits of that kind, to exercise DVDs. If you want to get detoxed or gift someone a detox coupon, get it here.

For the travel enthusiast, there are things like 5% discount coupons for rental cars or coupons for the Lonely Planet Guidebook series (for my money the best guidebooks anywhere on the planet BTW).

So all in all I have had a great time browsing this site and getting some good ideas; hope you do too and find the information here helpful.

Now this one may not be for everyone but I do know a certain someone who would simply love this roll up wireless keyboard. The sale page for this roll up keyboard informs you that for $17.99 you can get yourself “wireless freedom” with this 2.4 GHz Wireless Flexible MultiMedia Portable Keyboard, which can be rolled up for easy portability making it an ideal portable keyboard for notebook computers.

OK now for some reason I think back pack laptop bags are way cooler than your common or garden variety of briefcase type laptop bags which can be a teeny bit boring and exec type. Cooler and way more practical as well if you have to take the bus or metro etc. I think it is particularly great for school and college kids and particularly so because it actually leaves the hands free. So I can think of several happy recipients of this back pack laptop bag, with the original price of $39.99 which is available for a fifty percent discount, down to $19.99.

Now I cannot think of a single person who wants to have their camera, iPod, memory stick, portable hard drive and goodness knows what else connected to their computer at all times, who would not appreciate this one: a 4-Port USB 2.0 Mobile Hub. And then there are still some of us who have no USB port in the front of the computer tower who would also really appreciate this one. A bit pricey for $14.99 but I thought it was very sleek and really compact.

Now this is a gift I wouldn’t mind getting myself: Disney Create your own skin. You can get these for your laptop, MP3 player, phone etc and have  a lot of fun customizing your gear and help protect it from scratches and scuffs as well. Here you can be creating your own unique skin by choosing your device or browsing popular character designs and even background color. You can see how you can go about it at the Disney Store here.

I find I have a great time choosing gifts for friends and family so I am going to do some more of this in coming posts; stay tuned!