· 2 min read
The dog gets everything. Buy for the human this time
Everyone buys for the dog. The person walking it in the rain gets nothing.
Gift ideas and advice
What we have learned about choosing a gift that lands: how to read the person, when to spend more, and what to do when nothing comes to mind.
44 articles
· 6 min read
A gift for someone abroad, without the customs bill
Four ways to get a gift to someone in another country, and the one that usually means they pay no fee when it is delivered.
· 3 min read
Eighteen deserves more than an envelope
Turning eighteen is a big milestone, but no traditional gift goes with it. Here are gifts that mark it well.
· 4 min read
Three good things beat seven bits of tat
Under £15 and still worth wrapping. The problem with small gifts is how they are chosen, not the budget.
· 5 min read
Everyone brings a gift for the baby. Bring one for her
The baby gets a fourth muslin cloth. The new mum usually gets nothing of her own. Here are gifts that look after her instead.
· 5 min read
Torn between two gift ideas is a good place to be
Having two good options means you already know the person well. Three questions decide most ties. Friends who know them can decide the rest.
· 4 min read
New baby gifts that aren't another muslin
The baby already has plenty in newborn size. The parents usually receive nothing. So buy something for the parents.
· 4 min read
Skip the over-the-hill joke. They've heard it
A joke card about getting old is not a gift. Here is what a milestone birthday really needs.
· 3 min read
Grapes are a reflex. Comfort is the brief
Most people send flowers and grapes without much thought. What someone who is ill really needs is comfort and distraction.
· 5 min read
A birthday gift's going rate is set by your circle
There is no national rate for a birthday present. The right amount is what your friends, family and other parents already spend. Here is how to find it.
· 3 min read
There is a right number, and it is not the cost of your seat
Everyone searches for this number online, but nobody asks it out loud. Here is a calm answer, with real figures.
· 3 min read
An engagement gift is not a small wedding gift
An engagement is its own occasion, with its own tone and usually a smaller budget than a wedding.
· 2 min read
They've bought the kit. Buy for the ritual
They already have the grinder and the scales. Buy something that goes with their coffee ritual, not more equipment.
· 5 min read
Buy for the two of them, not twice for one
One gift for two people who already have everything they need at home. Buying for a couple is a different task from buying for one person.
· 4 min read
Set the Christmas gift budget per person, then add it up
An average Christmas spend tells you what other people did. A budget built from your own list tells you what you can do.
· 4 min read
Doubling your budget won't fix a gift
The price of a gift says little about whether it will be used or loved. Here is what the research shows, and what to look at instead.
· 6 min read
Paper, cotton, leather - and what to give instead
Paper, cotton, tin. The anniversary list is a starting point, not a rule. Here is what the list is for, and when to ignore it.
· 4 min read
Gifts for a grandma who spoils everyone but herself
She spends on everyone else and says she has plenty. For once, make her the one who receives the attention.
· 5 min read
Teachers keep the card. The gift can be something they use
What teachers actually use at Christmas: a card with one true line, something that gets used up, and a tin the whole staff room can share.
· 4 min read
Gifts for a dad you've run out of ideas for
After twenty years of socks and gadgets, you have run out of ideas. What you know about his life is where the next gift comes from.
· 5 min read
'Don't get me anything' is four different gift briefs
'Don't get me anything' does not mean you cannot buy a gift. It is a preference, and it points to something small, personal and clutter-free.
· 4 min read
The four o'clock whip-round, and how not to buy it
A last-minute office collection usually ends in a rushed gift and a card full of 'good luck'. Here is how to plan it properly.
· 5 min read
She has never once told you what she wants
Mum rarely says what she wants. The answer is a gift that shows you noticed how she lives, not a bigger budget.
· 6 min read
He buys what he wants. The gift is the thing he wouldn't
The gadget aisle and the 'for him' gift set assume he is short of things. He isn't. Four angles that work for the man who has everything.
· 3 min read
Her birthday is one day. The gift has to work on all the others
'For her' says who the gift is for, but nothing about her. Start with how she spends an ordinary week, and the birthday gift becomes much easier to choose.
· 3 min read
The wedding list is the couple telling you the answer
You can buy a gift that is not on the wedding list. Here is when that works and when it does not.
· 3 min read
£20 buys 'how did you know?' or landfill
At around £20, choosing well matters most, because the price cannot make a gift look impressive.
· 4 min read
The anatomy of a gift that says 'I get you'
The three qualities that make a gift feel personal (fit, effort and meaning), and how to check for each one before you buy.
· 5 min read
You're still being assessed. Gift accordingly
Warm, but not too personal. Well chosen, without trying too hard.
· 5 min read
The 5 gift rule counts the presents. It can't choose them
Want, need, wear, read keeps a pile of presents in proportion. It says nothing about which present fits the person opening it.
· 4 min read
Leave the people you love until last
Gifts for fifteen people in one afternoon, with no panic in the third week of December. Start with the people, not the shops.
· 4 min read
They own every tool. Buy for the seed, not the shed
Garden tools have been improved for two hundred years, and a keen gardener owns the ones they trust. Buy something that goes with the gardening instead.
· 4 min read
Never guess a reader's next book
A book is a risky gift for someone who reads a lot. The things they use while reading are a much safer choice.
· 6 min read
Everything in the Secret Santa drawer, and how not to add to it
Most Secret Santa gifts at £10-20 are thrown away by January. Here is how to spend that budget on something they will keep.
· 3 min read
Nobody reads a gift more closely than your best friend
With most people, choosing a gift gets easier as you get closer. With a best friend, it feels harder.
· 3 min read
The house is theirs to decorate. The gift is yours
They have boxes everywhere and clear ideas about how their new home should look. Here is what to give them.
· 4 min read
Everyone's bringing sweets. Bring something they'll remember
Sweets and diyas are the safe choice, but people often forget them. Here is what to give at Diwali if you want your gift to be remembered.
· 3 min read
You know her taste by heart. It still doesn't tell you what to buy
You know her taste very well, and that is exactly what makes choosing a gift for her hard.
· 5 min read
You know four things about them. That's plenty
A colleague, a new partner's parent, a name pulled out of a hat. Three or four signals go further than you would think.
· 3 min read
The gadget drawer is already full
Do not buy a gadget. Here is what a confident cook does not already have.
· 3 min read
He says he needs nothing. Your brother is wrong
Brothers often get a joke gift or a voucher. Here is what works when you know him well.
· 5 min read
They own everything. Buy the thing they'd never think of
When someone can buy anything they want, another object rarely pleases them. What works is a gift that shows you were paying attention.
· 3 min read
There is no such thing as impossible to buy for
'Impossible to buy for' is usually one of four different problems. Here is each one, and what to do about it.
· 3 min read
Gift ideas won't help you. Gift matching will.
More gift ideas won't help. The right gift starts with the person, not another list. Here is why matching works better than browsing.
How to choose a gift
How to get from knowing someone to knowing what to give them: what to notice, what to ask without giving the game away, and why a bestseller list is a poor guide to one person.
Start here: there is no such thing as impossible to buy for24 articles
Gifts for an occasion
Advice for particular days, from Mother's Day to Diwali: what is traditional, what tends to land and how far ahead to order. The occasion pages give the dates.
Gifts on a budget
What to give at each price, and when spending more is worth it. A small budget does not make a small gift when it is chosen for the person.
Gifts for family
Parents, siblings, grandparents, in-laws and the relatives you see once a year: how to buy for the people you know best, and for the ones you hardly know.
Gifts for a partner
For the person you share your life with, from a first Valentine's Day to an anniversary ten years in. What matters is how specific it is, not how much it cost.
Gifts for friends
Best friends, new friends, friends who live far away and the colleague who leaves on Friday: how to pitch a gift to how close you are.
The research
What the research on giving says, and what it means for the gift you are choosing now.