There are a lot of people – my sister is one of them – who’s prepared to give a birthday gift, but doesn’t like the commercialism of Christmas gift-giving.

In 2004, Kirsten paid for a pig in a Third World country for Dad as his Christmas gift (yes he is an Aquarius, but since he has a few planets in Capricorn, he’ll never be as hippie-ish as she’d wish). So while he wasn’t particularly thrilled that he’d bought Babe for someone else, if you want your gifts to DO something for people (regardless of your Sun sign), there are heaps of options, with Oxfam being one of the best-known organisations for helping to support people in developing countries.

Another I recently discovered is Goodshop.com. At this fantastic US website, which lists more than 1,000 stores, up to 30% of your gift purchase will go to your favorite cause. It lists stores specialising in arts, crafts and hobbies through to travel and everything in between. 

You simply select your chosen charity (I entered the Salvation Army as an experiment) and selected the Gifts & Flowers category. There you’ll find all the websites listed with their donation amounts, with the highest in that category (6-10%) belonging to gift retailer Uncommon Goods. In the Computer Hardware & Electronics section (hey, techie gifts appeal to many Aquarians!), buying toner from 123 Inkjets will create a 14% donation of your purchase price.

It really is the gift that keeps on giving.

In a shocking new report, the gurus of consumer behaviour at US National Retail Federation have found through the 2009 Father’s Day Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey that consumers will spend an average of $US90.89 on dear old Dad, down from the all-out extravaganza of 2008’s $US94.54 per papa.

The survey found people will spend the most ($1.9 billion) on a special outing such as a dinner or even a sporting event, but clothing still ranks high among gift givers who are expected to shell out $1.3 billion on new socks, jocks, slacks and ties. Others will treat dad to a gift card ($1.2 billion), electronics ($1.0 billion), books or CDs ($548 million), home improvement items ($522 million) and sporting goods ($502 million).

33.9 percent of Americans plan on shopping at discount chains like Target while 33.7 percent will shop at department stores. Others will queue for Fathers Day gifts at electronics and home improvement stores (26.8%), online (17.9%), at specialty clothing stores (6.1%) or through a catalog (2.8%).

No-one has reported approximately how long Victoria Beckham would like David to walk around the house in his undies on Fathers Day.

Well the not-so-great side of getting married on 14 February of any year is that it’s damn popular!

The disadvantage of getting married on Valentines Day include:

1. Wedding venues are booked out waaaaaaay in advance, forcing you to look far and wide for an available reception venue
2. If your heart’s set on roses for a Valentines wedding, you’ve probably chosen the world’s most expensive time of the year for that flower to appear in headbands, bouquets, vases etc
3. Since it’s such a popular wedding date, some guests may resent having to share their anniversary with your wedding
4. It can be bad enough being single on Valentines Day but combine that with a wedding and the well-meaning guests saying, ”you just haven’t met the right girl/guy yet” will send your fancy-free friends screaming for the cash bar
5. If he manages to forget your anniversary (and a gift) on THIS date, well, honey, he’s just not that into you
6. It’s the hottest time in the southern hemisphere summer and the coldest (even snowiest) time in the northern hemisphere winter making outdoor weddings a sweaty affair in the south and a cause for major frostbite in the north!
7. If you split up, you might get soured on the idea of Valentines Day forever.

My favourite graphic designer, Angie, got married this year on Valentines Day in Fiji.

It’s a popular choice for weddings, with such celebrities as Elton John, Meg Ryan & Dennis Quaid, Pamela Anderson & Tommy Lee, Prince & Mayte Garcia, and Salma Hayek all marrying on 14 February.

So what’s great about getting married on the 14th February of any year?

The advantages include:

1. Your husband (or wife) will never forget your anniversary
2. They can legitimately “double-up” on the gift that day, not having to give separate Valentines Day and anniversary gifts throughout the year
3. It is a popular and romantic way to start your marriage (about 2.3% of couples marry on Valentines Day. Of the 365 days you could marry ( 1/365 = 0.27%), this means almost 10 times as many marriages occur on 14 February as other days of the year. Then again, even more (3.1%) marry on their partner’s birthday
4. It reminds other couples of their commitment to each other as they watch you making your vows
5. It prevents “single person’s panic” on how to celebrate/avoid Valentines Day as they’ll receive the wedding invitation at least 6 weeks before
6. If you’re marrying in the southern hemisphere (summer) you’ll be relatively fit and tanned for your wedding…

The latest personalized gifts survey results are in! A new survey by It’s In The Stars on personalized gifts has found the following:

* The top 5 most popular gift occasions on which to give a personalized gift are birthdays, christenings, new babies, anniversaries and Mothers Day

* Jewellery, day of birth and art items are the 3 most popular types of personalized gifts

* The top 3 ways to personalize a gift are by name, day of birth and photography

* Most personalized gifts are given to partners, friends and children

* About 40% of personalized gifts are bought online with Gen Xers the most likely to buy from personalized gift websites

* Most people spend $50 or less on personalized gifts – Baby Boomers spend the most

* Over 60% have given two or more personalized gifts in the last year

* Most people would wait up to 7 days to get something personalized AND delivered to them or the recipient

* Gen Ys are the most likely to make use of a gift wrapping service and to give a gift certificate so the recipient could select their own personalized gift

* Cancerians and Taureans tie as the best gift-givers, voted as the Sun signs known for giving gifts that delight the recipient

For more details visit http://www.itsinthestarsonline.com/verve/_resources/personalized-gifts-survey-findings.pdf

It would be so handy if there was just one end-of-financial-year worldwide. It can range from 31 March in Canada, to 30 June in Australia  and New Zealand and I can’t quite work out if it’s 15 April in the US or not!

Usually places like Officeworks, Staples and WH Smith run endless ads for stocking up on tax-deductible items near the end of each financial year to help you maxmise your tax deductions.

But with a little lateral thinking, many of these places – and others – can create fantastic opportunities to stock up on items that are not only tax-deductible for your work, but could also make very good win-win gifts for family and friends. They get a great gift and hey presto! you get a tax deduction!

You know how your parents are always after a nice photo of you? If you run your own business you can claim photography expenses for a classic head shot you can use in your media kit etc. Frame it in a nice silver frame and voila! An instant tax-deductible gift for your parents and grandparents. (Your friends might not be so thrilled though…)

Work outside as a tradie? Buy a glam pair of super-dark sunglasses and thrill your Aries who always loves to look cool. 

Run a cafe? Your Taurean foodie will get the joy of a glossy new cookbook while you get a tax deduction.

Geminis lurrrve their gadgets and the taxman won’t know if you actually kept that new iPhone for yourself or not. If you don’t want to spring for that much, there are a bunch of consumer magazines appropriate to your work area (medical industry = Good Medicine, automotive = Wheels, funds management = Money, and so on) that you could consider.

Most Cancerians are like moths to a flame in hardware stores. If you work in the building trade, it’s all the excuse you need to give them a portable handyman kit.

If you’re in the beauty trade, present your favourite Leo with an industrial-strength hairdryer for their mane or a goodie bag full of the latest beauty products.

Know a Virgo? You can give them all types of home office doo-dads from Kikki K and keep ‘em and the tax man happy.

Work in the interior design industry? Interesting evening classes on interior design and lifestyle (Coco Republic ran a successful series recently and have created some for Melbourne for June) can make for a very thoughful gift for your Libran design maven.

It’s hard to go past Scorpios without thinking of their famous need for privacy (they can’t bear people going through their things). For a left-field gift they’ll appreciate – and you can deduct – give them a paper shredder!

Many people who work in the travel industry are lucky enough to receive familiarisation trips (“famils”). Why not take your favourite Sagittarius as your guest the next time you have to check out a new adventure overseas?

If you take your laptop on work trips, it’s likely you’ll need a fancy new one which makes it ideal for Capricorns. Or what about a good business-oriented self-help tome.

Run a restaurant? Your kooky Aquarius teenager might actually like those funky checked black and white chef’s trousers.

Work in entertainment? Make use of your tax deductions for movie tickets and buy a book of ‘em for your favourite Pisces film fanatic.

If you’ve never been big on buying gifts, this is one way it might actually become kinda fun.