To ask....what on Earth do you buy your DH for Christmas?

[Vicsleighbob]

Middle aged man with no hobbies. Not into 'foodie' type gifts, already owns too many clothes. I'm at a complete loss this year. What are you all buying your OH's?

Tickets to Arsenal (He's a fan)

For him to go with whoever he wants (I'm not into football)

Mine wants a watch /timer/gadget for when he's sailing. I've told him to get what fits his needs and I'll wrap it.

I make a photo album of our year using one of those online sites that allows you to create beautiful albums, and it's a Christmas day ritual to relive the year when he opens it. It takes hours, so it's a real labour of love but then it's there as a permanent reminder to both of us of everything that happened - and he didn't have to put any of the work in. I also make him a calendar using twelve of the best photos of our children and ourselves from the previous year, printed with all the dates I know about for the year ahead - birthdays, school holidays, book groups and so on. This year I'm also giving him some really high quality down pillows - he's always having trouble sleeping and our pillows are a bit sad and lumpy. Plus the usual chocolates, books, shirt and a few tools from a site called Workshop Heaven, which is an excellent present source for people who love their kit.

Nothing. Far too much spending going on as it is. I won't buy him a gift he doesn't want for the sake of it.

Mine is getting a day’s experience at a birds of prey centre, so he can meet a condor and a vulture.

@puzzledlady
Inspired by your whipping siphon gift! I think my husband would love one. Can I ask, which one are you going for?
Also, which size? I’m tempted by a 1litre one as it’s only a little bit more than a 0.5litre one but I think a litre one always requires you to use 2 canisters. I don’t know anything about them so I’m just trying to work it out. Any advice would be appreciated!

@DroningOn I want some of these slippers too, but keep hoping for a sale somewhere.

TKmaxx had them but I was too late and now all that is left are the smaller and larger sizes. If your partner by any chance has sidze 12+ then they still have some I’m stock

www.tkmaxx.com/uk/en/search?q=Mahabis&sort=publishedDate-desc&facets=stockLevelStatus:inStock&page=0

Motocross gear usually

Nothing this year. We agreed to not get Christmas presents for each other, but get some nice foodie treats to share instead. I’m feeling a bit conflicted about it, tbh, but it saves some time and stress trying to think of things to suggest to each other! It’s going to be a very low-key, chilled Christmas.

We're not spending the moelney on gifts, instead we're enjoying a rare child free night and going to enjoy purselves.

We agreed last year we have enough "things", so instead we bought gifts for the local dog shelter. We will probabaly do the same this year, but I am soooo tempted to buy him William Shatner's Christmas album

Another no-hobby DH here. I got mine a copy of book/CD “the world in a 100 objects” by Neil McGregor. Neil McGregor was the director of the British Museum, and he has the gift of the gab. DH listens to the CD on his way into work, with each object being a 45 min episode. It’s highly entertaining as well as fascinating - DH loves it.

We went halves in July on tickets to a gig and a nice hotel at the end of January. Other than that, the obligatory bottle of nice whisky for him and flowers for me.

We tend to buy something for both of us and a token from dd. This year we got a coffee machine in March that is our combined birthday, Christmas and anniversary presents.

To whoever was asking about the Aeropress...

Best £30 I have ever spent. I bought DH his about 6/7 years ago and it’s been used almost daily since then. I don’t drink coffee so most of the time he’s only making one cup. He needed a new 1 cup cafetière and I took a punt on an aeropress instead. So glad I did. Have since bought one for my mum who says it’s the best gift she has ever received as she uses it every single day. Loads of friends have also bought them after staying with us and using ours.

It barely even needs washed at all - a quick rinse under the tap with a tiny bit of washing up liquid on the sponge and you’re done in under a minute.

As for making 2 cups - you can either do one, empty the “puck” and start again (I’d just run the filter but under the tap and quickly dry it for a new filter paper) or put in double the coffee and water, and put half into one cup and half into the other. DH would make up to 3 cups with it - he reckons it’s still quicker to do that than do the cafetière. Once he’s at 4 cups the cafetière comes out.

Re: the filters. I have read such mixed reviews about the metal filters that I have never bought one and my mum hasn’t either - we just stick with the paper ones. They are compostable so he just pops the coffee puck straight into the food bin with the filter still attached and he’s good to go - no waste.

I know it sounds like I work for aeropress or something - I promise I don’t! Like I said - I don’t even drink coffee but DH and many of our friends are real coffee snobs and that thing is universally loved!

I will say that coffee is to be finely ground for use in it - it’s fine for DH because he buys his coffee from a local coffee shop who will grind it to whatever consistency he wants (or he can grind it himself). My mum doesn’t have a similar shop near her so buys pre-ground stuff in the supermarket and it’s been a bit hot or miss trying to get one finely ground enough

Whatever he asks for. And vice versa. None of this guessing business in our house

How boring! He never knows what to buy for me, we once stood in Waterstones and I pointed to a book and said 'Whatever book you buy me I don't want that', very clear I thought. On the morning of the 25th there it was, 'Oh, I remembered you'd mentioned it!
One year we, I, decided that we would buy and wrap our own present from each other so the surprise was in what you gave rather than what you received. Even then he had trouble buying for himself!
One of the best I ever bought was a flight simulator experience, he loved it and it wasn't too far away, Wowcher etc often have them.

DH likes gin so I've bought a cocktail making kit, a good bottle of vermouth, angostura bitters and a couple of cocktail glasses. He can ponce about making cocktails and I'll get to drink them - we will be Jerry and Margo from the Good Life!

PlayStation VR, move controls and a few games. A lyric print of his fave song. A pair of pjs. David Bowie postcard collection from V and A museum and a fold down artist easel.

DH is getting some blu-rays, a hand warmer, a chillys water bottle, a grow your own bonsai tree (that I will inevitably end up looking after) and some post it notes to help him remember things!.

Me and OH do xmas presents a bit differently. We wait until after xmas, and there's inevitably something we were hoping for that we didn't get so we buy each other those things (and normally in the sales too!).

So, for example one year there was a bag I really wanted on my Amazon wish list which none of my family bought for me, so I asked if he'd get that for my xmas present. He really fancied reading some new books that year and hadn't received any, so I bought him those.

It works well for us :) But perhaps not so well if you enjoy surprises!

@Nonomore2 I saw loads of Mahabis at Homesense (the homeware arm of TK Maxx). Do you have a branch near you ?

@Nonomore2
If you sign up to their newsletter you get quite a lot of discount codes.
I got his online for 25% off.

@TamiTayorismyparentingguru
@thedevilinablackdress

TamiTayor that is superb, thank you so much for all the detail! I don’t really know what to do for the best. I was thinking of getting an Tassimo until I read the posts about the Aeropress.

Do those people you know who love coffee and have their actually prefer the taste to coffee from a machine? Or do they feel a machine take up space and needs expensive pods which makes it less useful?

Because there’s two of us, I’m wondering if a cafetière would be better, but I’m not sure? Maybe a metal one as I’ve broken glass ones in the past! I like the idea of the Aeropress (and they look easy to clean) but I wonder if it’s a faff to make multiple cups at once?

We're not doing presents for each other any more but will go halves in on a night away and activity of some sort instead of Christmas/birthdays.
Harry potter studio tour is first on our list.