10 Christmas Gifts for my Husband

My Husband is so hard to shop for on any occasion. Most things he wants, he buys. The other things cost more than I make in a year. My budget this year is $75, so here are some gifts for a man like mine:

1.Portable iPad Speaker Dock

source: Brookstone

I actually got this for him last year for his birthday. It's great because you can use batteries or plug it in. The price is reasonable, too.

2. Lacoste Eau de Lacoste Noir gift Set

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

source: Macy's

 

3. Michael Jordan shoes

source: Foot Locker

 4. 59Fifty, Black on Black or White on White fitted baseball hat

Source: Lids

My husband has been wearing these for years, and usually buys a new one every year or two.

5. Call of Duty Ghost

source: Game Stop

He already has a few version of this game so I know the chance of him liking this is 80% or more.

6. Apple iTunes gift card

source: Apple

My husband listens to music a lot and it is usually coming from his iPhone or iPad.
7. Team jacket

source: Dick's Sporting Goods

8. Armor All Complete Car Care kit

9. Shot glass

source: Amazon

Oddly enough, all the shot glasses in the house are mine from before we are married, but I don't do shots. It's about time my husband has some for him.
10. Keurig

source: Keurig

Okay, I know these are more than $75, but maybe Black Friday there is one on a good sale.

Christmas Savings Club - October Edition

Join the Club at Family Balance Sheet

Yeah! My last deposit will be in the bank, next item is to cash out! It only takes a few days to get my money so I will wait until the week before Thanksgiving to transfer the funds. I also have the option to put the money on gift cards and increase my funds. I doubt if I am going to do this since I haven't decided where my money will go and I don't know how long it takes to receive the gifts cards. I'm super excited about the holidays. My plan for Nov and Dec is to hide my one and only credit card so I can get out of the holidays without extra debt. I just need to pay the fee for my doctors visit and I will feel a lot better. I would feel awesome if I could sell the step 2 princess bed I've been trying to sell all month.

This year the day after Thanksgiving is an automatic paid holiday at work. I also have scheduled the week before Christmas off, which I'm sure we will travel so I will have to make sure to budget this in as well this year.This will also mean visiting my husband's family. I'm not sure how to handle this and I might have to rearrange my budget to fit in more presents. I think it should be my husband who buys presents for his own family, since we have separate accounts and I pay for my own family. We will see how that goes, but I'm not showing up without something!

Family Balance Sheet is also having post all October called 31 Days to Find $1000. Here are some ways I plan to get some extra cash my way:

Coupons - I barely use coupons, but this month I will sure take anything I can get to save some dough.
Turn in Cans - pop cans and bottles, wine and beer bottles gain $.05 each which can add up.
Say NO! - say no to my kids when they want something extra, say no to Starbucks, say no to the vending machine, and so on and so on.
Consignment Shops - I have a leather jacket I never wear, also a bunch of kids toys. I find it is easy to get rid of things at the consignment shops then on Craig's list.

Shop Around - My husband only goes grocery shopping at Walmart and it drives me crazy. I am going to look at sales and try to cut down on the grocery bill which I hope will influence him to pay down more debt.

Fridge Envelopes

For my daughters party some years ago I made this craft. I thought it would be great for the kids lockers, but they wanted to play more then they cared about the crafts. Since then I have had them on the side of my fridge and find them very useful. The one on the left is full and disorganized but I use it for small papers I don't  want to lose such as business and appointment cards, receipts, small photos etc. The one on the right holds my box tops for education and if we collected pop tabs for Ronald McDonald (if we drank pop out if cans) then I would have collect them in here. One day I will be super organized, but in the mean time this is what works for me.

Father's Day Ideas

So Father's Day is coming up on June 19th, 2011.  I have two things in mind for my husband.  The first one is a scrapbook of his family, his past, and things he loves.  We just visited his family and I was able to get some old photo's from his childhood. Unfortunately there are not a lot of pictures from his childhood because he moved a lot, his mom didn't take a lot of pictures, and his family went through a house fire.   The next one will benefit me as well.  Since he left his hometown he has wanted a workout bench. When we were back home his brother-in-law had one and he mentioned how much he liked it.

Some other ideas would be:
coupon book for massage, favorite dinner, one of his chores, etc.
dinner and a movie
give him a book, CD, or DVD he was wanting

or check out gifts.com for more ideas