Ladies, How hard is it to buy gifts for the men in your life?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Here is a poll for the Lady Dopers.

I’m wondering how difficult it is for you to buy gifts for the men in your lives. Mrs. Z moans about buying gifts for me, her dad, brother, brothers-in-law and just about any other man in her life. (It was easy for her to buy her lover something tough)

Anyway, if it is why?

I can see where if someone wants some sort of technical thing and there are many variations. For instance, cordless drills. Many men would like a cordless drill but if you shop for one there are many brands and types all with various capabilites and perhaps you worry about getting the right one.

(here is a hint, if it’s “cordless” and makes a noise like “vvvvrrrrrrttt” we’ll like it)

Mrs. Z always asks for a list of things and since I never get things off the list I really don’t enjoy making lists. (of making many lists there is no end, vanity upon vanity all is vanity)

So, tell me about shopping for the men in your lives.

2

It’s just bloody HORRIBLE to buy stuff for men, especially ones you’re not really close to. Anything they want, they go and buy for themselves. And it’s not like they wear jewelry, or enjoy little knickknacks to set around the house, or anything easy like that. Oh, no.

The men I know who actually have hobbies either already have all the stuff they want/need/could use for that hobby, and it’s often much nicer stuff than I could afford to get them. That or they’re sooo into their hobby that they’re really finicky about what they will and won’t use, so I have a hard time picking something out.

And don’t even get me started on buying clothes for men. I’ve never in my life bought an article of clothing for a man that he actually wore without doing at least a little bitching first. It’s always a little too snug, or a little too loose, or not quite the right pattern, or some damn thing.

Oh, and for the record, not all men like cordless stuff that goes “vvvrrrrrttt.” If someone bought Dr.J an 18v DeWalt cordless drill, he’d say, “Oh, how nice” and move on to the next present. If, however, he got a really nice sautee pan, he’d leap around the room in celebration.

3

Some men have no interests and that makes it hard to buy for them. I have no trouble buying gifts for the menfolk in my life (father, brother, SO) and none of them particularly like power tools or are super into “guy things” like sports (well, I mean team sports. My bro does triathlon). I think I’d get more excited about a nice DeWalt cordless drill than all three of them put together.

4

Buying for men is the worst. I have to run everything past hubby because I’ll get the wrong thing if I don’t ask. Nothing is ever a surprise. It sucks.

5

Gah. I never know what to get. This year, they are ALL getting homemade duct-tape wallets. I don’t care if they don’t like it. It’s useful, and I made it myself, and it’s cool to boot.

…but if they like it a lot, I will be happy. I hope they do like it.

Ok, so I DO care. Wanna make something of it?

6

I got my husband a set of slot car racers. I remember him mentioning he didn’t have any as a kid, but “the rich kids” in the neighborhood did. I think it’ll be cute.

He’s also getting:

A Spongebob Squarepants steering wheel cover
A new winter coat
The Game of LIFE on cd-rom
Underpants (from the cat, haha.)

My dad and father-in-law are both getting a book I found called “And the crowd goes wild” or something, about all the greatest sports plays of the century and it has 2 CDs with the broadcasts on them. My brother is getting a crappy polar fleece sweater, but only because he mentioned how much he loved the one I gave him a couple years ago. (Last year I got him Homer Simpson slippers, which he said was untoppable so I’m not even going to try.)

A neat thing you can do for gifts is put someone’s birth year in eBay and see what comes up. I was able to find some old gardening magazines from the year of my dad’s birth and I put them together in a basket of other stuff for him. Quirky and interesting, and not likely anyone else would get the same thing!

7

Well, buy for my hubby would be easy if I could afford a Kubota, a Dodge Diesel Pick-up, a Lazy-boy rocker/recliner, a snow moblie and an ATV.

Since I don’t have money for any of that, it’s very hard to shop for him.

8

Buying for men is easy. Scotch, Cognac, Beer. Always works for the guys in MY family, at least.

9

Ohh yes it’s so hard to buy for my guys. My father I never know what to get, so I try and get him gag gifts along with something useful. This year I’m getting him some Hawaiian coffee if I can find it (durn it… I know in the States you just walk into a grocery store and grab a tin… here we have to search out a specialty coffee store) If I could afford a zodiac for him, he’d go insane. He’s been wanting one for years.

My brother… oh man. He’s got a car now but what to get him? He’s already got it pimped out (he’s 16 what can I say) I don’t know what CD’s he likes… so gift certificates for him.

And my best friend? Well I have no clue what to get for him.

But heck just about everyone on my list is hard to buy for.

10

It’s such a PAIN for some guys.

I mean, like my dad…he has no interests other than boating, and, frankly, we’ve gotten him anything and everything to do with it already (not much), so that’s out. Plus, he’s picky as HELL about everything. You’re not even safe buying a pair of frickin’ socks. He doesn’t drink, he barely works around the house, he’s not into cars or any sports, and he doesn’t collect anything. He’s into computers, but again, he’s so picky that I don’t know what to buy him that’ll make him happy w/o bitching.

I did well with office knick-knacks for a while. Tried to make them of something he liked, and it seems to have gone over well, since they stayed on his desk at work pretty much forever. But…there’s only so much room on a desk, you know?

I’ve tried taking the route of ASKING him what he wants. He always says “I don’t know” or “nothing.” He seems to be of the “if you know me well enough, you’ll know what to get me” school of thought. I hate to break it to him, but I’m not a freakin’ psychic.

My male friends are somewhat easier. That’s mostly because I buy them stupid things, like a collection of pick up lines or a single man’s cookbook (for the man with only a saucepan!).

My SO…muuuch easier than anyone else. I just listen when he mentions a movie or a book or a video game or a piece of electronic equipment and get it. If push comes to shove, I’ll ask if only to get an idea (and to arrange for a lack of gift overlap with some of our mutual friends).

Me…well, hell, I’m easy. If it’s shiny, sparkly, smells like sandalwood or cedar, has words in it, or is in any way involved with Buffy, I’m happy as a clam. However, I’m also a chick.

11

Men are the** worse**. If they want something, do they have the courtesy* not* to buy it and to drop a few hints? NOOOO! My dad left one hint that I’m aware of - on top of the stack of bills and assorted mail that accumulated on the kitchen counter, he put an advertisement that mentioned a coupon book/discount card for various golf courses across the state. And he was proud of the fact that he’d left a hint!

StG

12

I’m pretty lucky I guess, since it’s easy for me to pick out something for my SO. If it’s something that would be found at Possum Lodge from The Red Green Show, he’s probably going to like it. Even if I can’t afford a top of the line band-saw, I can always buy some replacement blades for the circular saw or order some hard to find router bits and still be in business.

I have four brothers and they each have pretty distinctive tastes as well. The oldest loves anything 50’s, classic movies, Hitchcock, Ellery Queen, and collects American Library books (must have dustjackets).

The two brothers in the middle both play guitar, are computer geeks, and love “I found this in the bowling alley” clothes.

The youngest likes things that make my parents worry, so I just choose something he won’t kill himself or his friends with. Just borderline stuff, where I get the “gee, thanks look” from his Dad.

13

My DH is awful to shop for. He hates all the typical guy stuff. His main interests are Anime and computers, of which I barely know anything. He did have some Jack Kerouac books on his amazon list, so I got him those, a coffee mug, a set of bongos and a black turtleneck. Either he’ll laugh or divorce me.

My dad is worse. His only hobby is competetive shooting. I make him something homemade and donate to charity in his name. It makes him happy.

14

I’m crushed by this thread, as I didn’t know there was a Mrs. Z. :frowning:

Luckily, I have Rebound Guy to help me get past this desperate time. And fortunately, he’s easy to buy for. :smiley:

My dad, on the other hand, is impossible to shop for. If it’s some home-improvement related gadget, he’s already got something better. It’s easier to just get him a gift certificate to Lowe’s or Home Depot and let him pick stuff out.

My nephews are easy to shop for. DVDs and video games, all the way, baby. Brother-in-law gets the Pearl Jam stuff, since no one else will buy things like that for him.

I’m such a “typecasting” gift-buyer.

15

A lot of the men in my life seem to be very hard to shop for. My dad, for example. In my dad’s world, there are two kinds of things – things he would like to have, and things he wouldn’t. You can tell immediately if something is a thing he would like to have, because HE OWNS IT already. This makes shopping rather difficult. I have had good luck with getting him things he already owns – either clothing that is worn out and needs to be replaced (must be same exact brand, size, style, and color), or things that one could feasibly own two of – um, like if he likes a particular tool, I’ll get him another one (same brand, size, style, and color) to keep in his vacation home. The gift is then rounded out with a book (and I got a cool recommendation from another Doper on this one, so I’m good to go for this holiday, whew).

DH is easier, because 1. he gives me a list, 2. there’s always some books he’s wanting. I come from a non-list family (oooh, but then it won’t be a surprise, they all claim), but I’m coming around to his family’s way of thinking. They’re big on the gift list, and I confess it makes it much easier.

Plus, the ultimate fall-back Christmas gift for guys is Legos. Everyone secretly wants a set of Legos for Christmas. When in doubt, I get this gift set for a man:

  1. A sweater (solid color, not bright, non-itchy)
  2. A book (on a topic of interest to the particular guy)
  3. Legos

And Zebra! I owe you an email!

16

I’m just glad my mother’s the sort of woman who’ll either buy a gift for my father for me or tell me what she thinks he’d want. She does the same thing when it comes to shopping for my brothers as well.
My SO says, “I’ll like it as long as it’s from you,” and well, that just makes things more confusing… I decided to be sentimental and give him a feather blanket that I’ve had for most of my life, only I’m making a new cover for it with hand embroidered Celtic knot appliques sewn on it. Such a crafty girl am I… well, that and it’s cheaper than buying him a gift.

17

I think voguevixen slot car racer idea is the best christmas gift idea ever! (ok the booze is good too, but how bout some porn?)

Seriously, I apologize for all the times I would not give hints and for being dull and not have any interests. I will not apologize for hating sweaters.

Skerri I’ve mentioned her several times.

18

delphica, you surprise me yet again. Legos. Brilliant.

I am an easy guy to shop for, mainly because I tell everyone not to get me a damn thing for Christmas.

Only one person ever asks me what I want for my birthday: My wife, which is silly because she knows all I want is beer. Nobody else has gotten me anything for a birthday in … several years.

My mother is amazing at getting me Christmas gifts, though. She somhow always manages to find a video I don’t have or some other thing. Last year she found (I don’t know where) a gorgeous GIJoe t-shirt that’s gotten rave reviews every time I’ve worn it.

I have said for years that if someone absolutely must get me something, just give me money.

I have told my family about this on behalf of my daughter as well. She’s 1. What the hell does she need? Give her money so we can put it in her bank account for the future.

She’s probably going to hate me.

19

Do you know how many guys there are to buy for in my family? I have 3 brothers and a dad. Mr. genie, also a guy, has 4 brothers and a dad. Aaaarrghgh. I live for the day when we all have kids and can agree not to buy for grownups any more.

Luckily, mr. genie can get several things for some of these guys. He knows what kind of computer parts/books to get. One brother is getting married a couple days after Christmas, so he’s getting his wedding quilt and liking it. We usually get something big for my in-laws together, like, say, furniture. But this year they get a quilt, too. So we’re doing marginally OK there.

But then there’s my brother the Latin/Middle High German scholar. The other two brothers-in-law who are really kind of jerks. What to do?

Mr. genie himself isn’t too bad, once you get past the fact that a) he’s not used to getting presents at all and can’t say what he wants and b) has a tendency to go buy what he does want, leaving nothing for others to buy for him. But I have thwarted him this year and gotten good stuff. Ha ha.

20

I’ve gotten around my dad’s hard-to-giftness. The trick with him is that he has pretty much everything he needs, and he’s been on a 25-year kick to get stuff out of the house. Luckily, he loves pastries and breads and jams and syrups, so I put together a gift box of good-quality bread mixes, jams, etc. He likes that because it’s something to do, something do eat, and it doesn’t clutter up the house for very long.

Mr Gazer, OTOH, is a big fat pain to buy for. Well, for me to buy for, because I like to get “wifely” or “special” gifts for him – i.e., no run-of-the-mill books, CDs, or DVDs. I figure anyone can look on his list and get him a book, so I let my parents and grandparents do that. The other problem is that most of the non-book items are really expensive, so I also can’t get those for him. Last year, I had used up all my reserve ideas, so he got a bunch of Legos. Which he loved, but I can’t do that again this year (if only because we don’t have room for more Legos!).

This year, he’s getting one of those mini fridges that you can plug in next to the couch or computer. I have a coupon and a gift card, so I’ve made it affordable! Yaaay!

Father-in-law is about the easiest man I know to buy for – he’s got a zillion hobbies, and I know what he has and doesn’t have, so that’s easy.

Brother is easy, too, because I get him nice literary books, from one English major to another. :slight_smile: