to ask what you buy your husband for birthday?

[butimjayigetaway]

Buying gifts for men is difficult. What do they want? My husband likes things like expensive watches, am I meant to save up and get him one? He earns all the money, it would take me a few months to save for a watch for a few hundred pounds... is that worth it or would you need to spend thousands? I know nothing about expensive accessories.

What other types of things do you get your husbands?

We don't do big gifts. I ask him if he wants anything and every time he asks for a packet of inexpensive things for his hobby. Costs about £15 plus I get him odds and ends to make him feel a bit more special.

Budget of around £50 here for birthdays. He'll give me ideas - often gadgets for his camping trips, books, kitchen/cooking related things. He's had a chef's knife and a tea pot in recent years 😄 Usually get him a few unusual beers too.

A new version of something he already has and loves that has seen better days eg his favourite jacket/jeans/shirt/shoes or sports stuff and replace with the same but new.

No worries that he won’t like it. Happy days!👍

No, it's more the idea of them he likes. He does not have one. But I wonder how I would find one he likes? Surely if there was one he liked he would buy it? WHat if I bought one he did not like?

I just don't get it. Why wouldn't we just buy ourselves the things we want? Is it ritualistic?

Is it something they wouldn't buy themselves but would want?

Been together 20yrs, and these are some of the things I've bought him- might have been Christmas or birthdays, and with various costs due to different things going on in our lives:

• Taster learn to fly lesson. I paid for a 4 seater plane, so I could sit in the back too
• Taster gliding lesson
• A sailing trip out of Southampton. Again- I paid for me to go too, but he go to help with the rigging and other things on board
• BBQ tong/tool set and leather type apron
• Winter jacket
• Butchery skills lesson
• Bottle of Japanese whiskey
• A man box- very handy for keeping his nic nacs in

Some other ideas

• taxidermy course (friend did this and stuffed a squirrel. Obvioulsy, this wouldnt be for everyone!)
• Meal out somewhere different like a tepanyaki bar, dans le noir, cabaret or novelty restaurant
• cooking class
• Does he garden? Gold leaf leather gloves are fantastic
• A night vision camera to capture animals in the garden at night

Jewelry, clothes, trainers. But I have a very basic style and would never ever buy myself jewelry or fancy shoes. I do get my own clothes but get cheap stuff. He's styling me up.

He doesn't need me to style him up, he's the stylish one.

Tickets - cricket / theatre / gigs. I get to go to the theatre and some of the gigs so quite self serving! Nice trainers

Previously have got oh...
Hot sauce
Hat
Tshirt
Novelty puzzle/ brain teaser like a Rubix cube
Beard grooming set
Book
Headphones
Trainers
Exercise accessories
Football shirt
Computer game
Experience day
Boat trip (one you drive yourself) and a meal
Tool set
Sharpie pen set
Personalised Keyring
Personalised coaster for mug
Framedcfamily sketch (Etsy)

Normally quite practical things he's going to use!

Oh and made a family tree of his side of family.
Framed last name meaning

I'd love that.

So, would you say I am correct that I should not attempt a watch given I don't have that kind of money?

Tickets for cricket matches. This year tickets for events at Commonwealth Games. Rugby tickets. He loves his sport.

Lovely ideas, thank you everyone.

I wouldn't attempt a watch, they are quite personal and it's a lot of money to spend if it goes wrong.

In the past I have bought DH (who also loves watches) a Smythson wallet, Smythson notebooks, beer/ale subscriptions but now I pretty much just buy Lego. (The larger, 18 plus sets).

My DH is celebrating next week, he's got 3 T-shirts 2 pairs shorts and some aftershave.

The sorts of things I've bought my DP previously are:

• unusual, nicely designed hardback books on things he's interested in, especially when it's something quite niche
• clothes (he has no interest in designer stuff so it's usually more along the lines of a couple of bits from Uniqlo!)
• quirky board games
• a posh whisky glass with his initials on it
• a Nespresso coffee machine (he likes coffee; I don't)
• a watch (but not an expensive one - he likes really minimalist, discreet watches that cost about £150)
• a sterling silver Cross pen
• a subscription to his favourite football magazine
• a retro football shirt
• binoculars
• single malt whisky
• framed prints of things he likes (his favourite holiday destination, a poster of a gig for his favourite band etc)

Increasingly, though, as we get older he's really got most things he needs or will buy things for himself, so he often suggests that rather than a present I get him something like a meal at a posh restaurant or something. For his last 'big' birthday I booked a weekend away in a hotel he's always wanted to stay in, although frankly I couldn't really afford it and was paying it back on my credit card for a bloody long time afterwards. (I didn't tell him that.)

Lego

Typically concert/gig/comedy tickets

I'm very lucky because mine is into Warhammer. They are always bringing out stuff so I just buy him new models or accessories. He also has a 3d printer that I got him for his 30th so I get him bits for that.

One year I got him lots of the Dan Carlin older podcasts that you need to pay for and put them on a memory stick. That went down well and wasn't that expensive.

For Christmas I got DH:

Posh PJs
A book I knew he wanted
One of those posh travel coffee mugs that seals perfectly so you can chuck it in your bag and it won't leak
Jumpers - most of his had holes in
Nice chocolates
Whisky

For his birthday last year I got him national trust membership- can't remember what else.

I actually keep a little note on my phone of present ideas for people and at any point during the year if I get an idea or someone makes a passing comment about what they want I write it down and then I can come back to it. It's bloody useful.

As a PP says, practical things - my partner only likes practical things, he doesn't see the point of anything else. He's getting better at getting me gifts but past presents have included a memory stick and a cover for my tablet 😂. He thinks they are excellent presents.

I bought DP a rare whisky, a picture and we go away somewhere njce for the weekend

Last birthday he sent me his amazon wishlist and I bought about 10-12 items from there. Books, dvds video games etc. He was happy.

Trying to remember what I’ve bought in the past
cameras - compact , DSLR and vintage SLR
clothes - eg cashmere sweater, APC jeans , Paul Smith shirts/tops
Boots
Alcohol - various special whiskeys / rums including tasting sets
subscriptions - coffee, magazine
Vintage fountain pen
Cyclewear and other outdoorsy kit ( ski goggles etc )
Luggage - leather holdalls, backpacks etc
Concert tickets
paintings
Photographs printed and framed from slides
Vinyl records
Vintage glasses ( drinking not spectacles)
expensive aftershave ( Creed & Floris)
A wet shave from a posh London place
Mustang driving day
Proper Panama hat

other random assorted items. I would never choose a watch as he currently wears a Rolex and I could never top that.