My mom was right: “never buy your man a sweater“. So definitely no more shirts OR sweaters OR scarfs this year :-). In 90% of the times I got the wrong size and had to return or exchange them but still they were never his favorites, with the exception of a couple shirts that happened to be the right color, size AND style.

I’ve got 5 months to figure this out! And I can’t say too much because he’s going to read my article anyways 😃. I will tell you after his birthday. I guess I’m making myself really vulnerable now because buying gifts is really N-O-T one of my strengths… ha ha!

What’s going to be different this year is that I’m going to pay more attention to the things he likes. PLUS, he’s an extremely practical guy so whatever I’m going to buy must:

Solve a specific problem…
Have real value for money…, OR
Have high entertainment value.

I’ll share my ideas for gifts that I believe are generally a better alternative to fashion items. So although I can’t buy these anymore I hope they are useful to you while I’ll keep looking for more ideas for myself. These are items that he already bought and likes very very much OR I overheard him talk about them with his friends OR are still in his amazon wish list… 😃

Here we go! I’m pretty sure you are going to like some of them as much as I do, especially the ones I’ve already tried! 😉

Oh, and my last piece of advice! As much as your man likes books DON’T buy it for him. Let him get the books or his male friends, otherwise he might think that YOU THINK he’s not as good as he could be if he read the book. 🙂 You got the idea!

So, for a fancier gift here goes my number one idea:

#1.  The JBL wireless portable speaker. Anna and Sofia had a blast when uncle Igor brought over his slightly larger waterproof version. So much fun! The first one is just as great though!

#2. Zoomable 3 Modes Super Bright LED Headlamp That’s my brother in law, trying the headlamp. 🙂

#3. J-pillow Travel – must have!!! This is a winner and it’s really the only pillow that will not slip off, will not hurt your neck and will actually let you sleep.

#4. Wireless Headphones. It’s really helpful when you are at home doing all kind of things and not having to be tied to your phone all the time.

#5. Swiss knife. Not just for men though. It’s a helpful tool to have on road trips. We have one and it’s even helpful at home since it’s small enough to keep it in my kitchen and not having to get my husbands toolbox just to tighten a screw.

#6. Folding portable guitar stand. 

#7.  Water Resistant LED Tactical Flashlight. 

#8. Car maintanance high quality Car Wax Kit, or other car maintenance products which serve different purposes like color restoration and care compound and paste wax. Trust me – if your man likes to care for his car he will definitely appreciate these :-). I have no doubt!!!

#9. Swimming Goggles (with Lifetime Replacement Guarantee). These come with Bonus Year Plugs which I thought is really nice.

#10. More to be added… 😉 (if I find more great ideas).

I would have mentioned the idea of booking an adventure but I personally prefer to do this together rather than surprise him with something like that.

As for our wedding anniversary I am tempted to get these noise reducer year plugs for both of us! It’s for those parenthood days when you want to let the kids be kids while maintaining your sanity :-).

Don’t we all hate the panic shopping two days before anyone’s birthday?! At least I’ve been there many times. Planing ahead feels great and saves us unnecessary stress and spending.