The golden rules of gift buying.

When it comes to giving gifts, it’s hard to get it right – you either have the knack or you don’t.There are two things that are worth keeping in mind when you are buying a gift. The first is to remember that you are buying for someone else and not yourself and the second is that research has shown that the presents that are the most appreciated are the things that we use most regularly in our lives.

For example, that would mean giving a health nut a new juicer, a regular magazine reader a subscription and a keen cook a new knife.It’s worth remembering these tips whenever occasion demands that you are out hunting for presents for someone.
The most highly pressured gift buying time and situation has got to be when men are buying presents for their girlfriends and wives – particularly birthdays and anniversaries.

Why is it worse for men?
Possibly because the majority of women will have marked the day out in their diary for a while and will have put some thought into what to do to mark the event.On the other hand, many men will remember at the last minute and panic buy.
As far as anniversaries go, flowers are a great bet for a gift, perhaps with a bottle of champagne, perfume or hand-made chocolate truffles. But before you speed dial the flower delivery to send anniversary flowers, it’s worth remembering that as with all things, less is more.

So instead of buying a huge bunch of cheap scentless flowers, why not spend time over the flower delivery and get some more expensive and tasteful – perhaps even exotic and unusual – flowers.A bit of thought into how you send anniversary flowers makes all the difference. Ditto with any accompanying gifts: don’t buy chocolates if your wife is dieting or watching her weight, don’t buy perfume if she doesn’t wear it and, above all, don’t buy underwear that doesn’t fit…
Especially if it is too small!