Gift Ideas for Men

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Kris’ Take:  Women always want to know what to get their man for holidays, I’ll do the best I can to provide some general ideas that may help you out.  You’ll have to gauge your guy to make sure these fit with his personality or career, but I think this will be a decent start:

• A nice watch (Laura got me a very nice one and I loved it!)
• A new briefcase (This is better for businessmen so get this if it’s needed, or if it’s better than the one he has.)
• A nice suit (Men like looking good for their women, so if you had him a suit that you say is hot, he’ll probably like it.)
• A better phone (These have become integral to businessmen)
• New shoes (I wear my shoes until the sole is gone, Laura doesn’t let this happen to me anymore.)
• A nice wallet (Nothing worse then a businessman busting out his gray nylon wallet with blue trim.)
• Cologne (This is kind of a last ditch effort unless the guy doesn’t shut up about it.  Laura had to skew the truth for a whole year about a cologne I liked.  She kept telling me she didn’t like it so I wouldn’t buy it so she could get it for me.  She actually loves the stuff.)
• Something from one of his hobbies or (I hate using this idea, but it’s safer if you’re unsure of what to get) a gift certificate to one of his favorite hobby stores.
• If he needs or uses tools a lot you can speak with a home improvements store employee about what tools are nice for his trade.  They can make recommendations on things that can make the job easier, or just upgrade what he already has. (Be sure to keep receipts just in case.)
• Things for his vehicle like satellite radio, GPS, or various decorations to enhance the look.  (Men typically like their vehicles a lot, and getting things to enhance the ride or make it look nicer are usually a pretty safe bet.)
• A sentimental gift like a picture frame with your names engraved (As long as your man doesn’t smash beer cans on his head.  Laura did this for me and it sits upon my desk, I really like it.)
• A vacation. (A little more pricey but fun for you both!)

Those are my ideas for now.  As I think of more I’ll be sure to add them, and if you have any ideas or ones that really worked out well leave them as a comment and I’ll add those too.

Undivided Attention!

Kris’ Take: All the world needs is love, love, love — Love is all you need. WRONG! Okay, so the Beatles were onto something but they should add another word in there; Attention. Yes it’s true, if you love someone you should give them attention, but it doesn’t mean it is required. And this happens to be a big problem in many relationships: A lack of attention. Guys are notorious for this, whether it be work, sports, or electronics in general. It seems like they’d rather be married to those things than you right? I sympathize on this subject just because I see it happen all too often, and it can wreak havoc on relationships and end marriages. Ladies, the only advice I can give is to try and talk about it. There’s no magical cure unfortunately.

Men, please pay attention to the woman you love. If you can’t give proper attention then you need not be seeing someone. Do both of you a favor and don’t engage in a relationship: that way she can find a man that will treat her right, and you won’t be bothered taking your attention away from what is truly important to you. It’s not only stupid, but completely selfish to try and say “I love this woman, and no one else can have her” and then turn around and say “okay, go do something while I watch this show, and the show after that, and the show after that.” Because that is what is essentially happening.

If the two of you are already married, then I suggest talking it out. If you have the ability to, you can even speak with a marriage counselor. There is this huge stigma about marriage counselors, but I’ve only heard good things. People are afraid that if they go to a marriage counselor, they’re admitting they have a problem. Well, yes, but you’re also admitting that you care enough to fix it. Not going to a counselor means you have a problem and you couldn’t care less whether it gets worked out. If you don’t have the money there are many other resources out there, many churches can arrange for you to speak with a counselor free of charge or at a steep discount.

If you love each other enough, then provide the attention that you two need. It’s not enough to just be married, part of the job is to make each other feel loved and encouraged.

Consider your financial well being together

Kris’ Take: So, you’ve been spending a lot of time with your princess and you think it is turning into something serious? When dating turns serious, it’s time to sit down and think about your finances. If you want the relationship to grow, you can no longer spend your money like a bachelor. This means refining your spending, and saving! Yes, I said it… saving.

Saving doesn’t necessarily mean throwing everything into a savings account; it also means paying down those credit cards, paying off that car. The faster all of those bills are paid the more money you save, and the more money that goes to your future home. You can’t just stop everything tomorrow though. Sit down with your princess and talk to her, find out what she thinks of everything. If she thinks that it’s a good idea (which she will if she’s serious.) then start, and maybe she can even help you out.

I remember when I had this conversation with Laura she wanted to help out. She thought we should cut back on dates, and try to be a little more frugal. That makes a lot of sense! However badly you suffer now, you’ll probably benefit more than double in the future! Laura and I typically spend about $300.00 a month on dates. That’s a substantial amount of money over the course of a year.

If we could even cut that amount in half it would save us $1,800.00 a year. On a mortgage of $200,000.00 financed at 7% for 30 years you would take 7 years off of the mortgage.This means that if each year you contributed an extra $1800.00, you would pay the house off in 23 years rather than 30! This effectively saves you $81,143.48 over the life of that loan. Consider your future together and what you could do with an extra $81,143.48.