Family Gift Ideas and Tips on How to Make a Special Birthday and Anniversary Chart

Making a list of everyone you plan to give a Christmas gift to should be the first step in any Christmas planning exercise. This is so important because it gives you a reference of all the people you should keep in mind while you are shopping and also gives you an indication of the total number of people you intend to buy gifts for. Having this knowledge is important for setting your gift buying budget.Just like your Christmas list where you plan your Christmas gift budget, so it is for the rest of the year. How many times have you been told of a birthday or anniversary at the last minute and you had to rush around to get a card or gift or both.Unlike Christmas holidays however, birthdays and anniversaries are spread throughout the year. It is most likely, if you are a working family, you will be at work for most of these special days. It is with these special mid-year dates in mind, and the fact of a busy household, that I suggest you make a date list of birthdays and anniversaries. Not just any list that you keep in a drawer and then forget to look at.I recommend a kitchen wall chart, one that all the family can see and keep up to date with, a white board would be ideal. Of course you may have to educate your family to look at your chart every day.A little trick here is to have your family help in the construction of your chart. Get each member to contribute their own birthday dates and special days they wish to remember, such as concert dates or exam dates, this action alone should encourage them to look at your wall chart every day.It can be a huge problem for working parents to get to the stores or shopping malls in mid week, adding to the pressure of deciding what gift is best suitable for the recipient. With this in mind and the use of your yearly wall chart, you will be able to plan ahead and maybe shop online. You can have your gifts delivered to your door, thereby cutting out the necessity of rushing round the stores and last minute shopping.

Online Shopping has become more and more popular over the last few years. Another benefit is that online stores are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can shop online any time of the day. Shopping online these days has also become more secure; there are many very trustworthy online stores. Having said all that, there is still a need for caution. There are many bargains to be had online but you must be careful who you trust, especially when it comes to shipping and postage charges.What type of gift to purchase?In general, parents have a good idea what their children would like as a gift, whether it be Christmas or birthday, however buying gifts for older family members such as grand parents may need a little more planning. To help with this, I have put together a selection of gift ideas.1. Golf Gadgets for golfing parents and grandparents are always popular gifts, something to help with golf course management, such as a Golf gps or Laser Range Finder. These electronic golf gadgets are really great for both women and men who play golf. Some of these amazing golf gps units can find you and the course you are playing on, anywhere in the world.2. An e-Book Reader is another great gift idea; I’m sure any member of the family would love one. You are able to store thousands of eBooks and documents to be read at anytime, anywhere, in any language. For this reason eBook readers are top of every gift list, in many households, in many countries.3. Another great gift is an electronic computerised pad or tablet, easy to carry and easy to use, or the new Play Book, similar to the electronic pads and tablets, especially good for intellectual gamers, you can even buy some cool games to go with it to enhance your gift.4. Digital Cameras are usually everyone’s favourite gift; they are one of those gifts that all family members would love to receive. Children love to take photographs of friends, especially at parties. Moms and Grandparents tend to keep family records in picture form, whilst dads love to take pictures of that huge fish they caught. Maybe not!5. Hobbies for active grandparents such as, Golf, Hunting, Fishing and Camping. You will find great fishing tackle and fishing accessories online, that would be great as gifts, as well as golf, hunting and camping equipment. All can be found on the internet, bought and delivered to your door.Gift Ideas for Mom or Grandma:I mentioned some gift ideas above that would also suit moms and grandmas. Golf aid gifts, if they play golf, eBook Readers, e-pads, tablets and play books, and even digital cameras, these are all great gifts that anyone would love to receive. However there are a few other items that Moms and grandmas may prefer.1. Jewellery for instance. All women from teenagers to grandparents love to wear fine jewellery, maybe a beautiful necklace or bracelet, these are always great gifts for women.

2. Another great gift for moms and grand-moms are the sleeved blankets. Imagine mom or grandma lounging on the sofa with their e-book reader, cosy and warm, once the house work was done of course.3. Laptops or electronic tablets, already mentioned earlier, are great gifts suitable for any family member, or if they have one already, a nice laptop cover or even a laptop bag.4. Moms and grandparents love to keep photographic records of the family, so a multi photo electronic picture frame would be a useful gift. Or a really nice photo album so that all the family photos can be logged and recorded.5. Women love Perfumes; this is usually the favourite gift for women whatever age. If you intend to buy perfume as a gift you must find out what perfume is preferred. Many a dressing table is cluttered with unused perfume bottles because the wrong one was bought and mom or grandma are to nice to say so.All these gift ideas can be found online with information and technical details so that you can compare models and prices. Shopping online these days is a better, stress free, secure way to shop, especially if you are a working parent. Remember you can search the internet 24-7 and have your gifts ready in time for all your special occasions, even sent gift wrapped, direct to the recipient. Be sure to plan your yearly birthdays and anniversaries using your kitchen wall chart.