If you’ve ever bought a home, did your real estate agent thank you with a gift of any kind? Flowers? A food hamper? Wine? Gift certificates?

If they did give you something, how much do you think they spent on it? Did you tell anyone about it? Would it make you recommend them?

Please take a minute to fill out a fun, one-page survey about real estate agent gifts and you could win one of 5 x LoveStars or BabyStars boxed gift certificates to redeem for your own LoveStars or BabyStars gift report in time for Christmas!

Cyber Monday is the five-year-old phenomenon attributed to online retailers who feature amazing sales on the Monday following Thanksgiving. The day after Thanksgiving (always on a Thursday) is the curiously-named Black Friday which is the Day From Hell at bricks-and-mortar stores and malls when shoppers beat each other to death over a pair of shoes on sale (I’m joking…just).

Cyber Monday (this year on 30 November) avoids the hysterics, allowing you to shop online at home (or at work when your boss’s back is turned). There is even an official Cyber Monday website for shoppers where you can make enormous savings on their Christmas gift purchases.

However, on 30 November, Mercury in Sagittarius is squaring Uranus in Pisces. Mercury rules communication, Uranus (electronics), Sagittarius (travel and publishing) and Pisces (glamour and escapism). Mercury is a trickster at the best of times and Uranus is renowned for shocking and upsetting people.

People shopping online for electronics (ranging from mobile phones , iPhones and printers through to massive plasma TVs) could purchase a too-good-to-be-true deal on Cyber Monday. The product may have to be returned for repairs, it may fail to do what it’s supposed to do or it just doesn’t work with your existing electronic items (ie they’re now obsolete).

Others may receive an email promotion which has – disappointingly – already ended by the time they get to checkout or that the products are already out of stock. Yet more may be alarmed to find that their computer goes down which prevents them from shopping. And other people may be shocked to discover a bill they weren’t expecting has emptied their bank and/or credit card accounts, thus making it impossible for them to shop online.

If you shop on Cyber Monday, make sure the store has secure-socket layer (SSL) technology, a phone number you can actually call to speak to someone (not those websites with only email fields in the Contact Us section), and a money-back guarantee.

Gift-giving at Christmas-time seems to revolve around children, teenagers and young people – but those aged 70 and over can often feel a bit left-out, even miffed that you haven’t made an effort for them…

Some people at 70 are fit as a fiddle and still exercise daily, while others are sicker, bedridden or more frail and require assisted care. Here’s about 80 fun gift ideas for you to make Christmas or their birthday, or any time you see them, special.

Books
Those who are still battling how to turn on a laptop, let alone email or go online shopping, may appreciate Abby Stoke’s step-by-step computer handbook Is This Thing On? for complete technophobes, while die-hard softies may love the romantic novel, One Last Dance in which a 89-year-old and 79-year-old fall in love. Give Granddad a ripping heroic biography of a WWII soldier who overcame horrendous injuries to become a star baseball player in The Corporal Was a Pitcher.

Others may laugh out loud at Genevieve: Small Dog, Big Life “written” by a papillon or the tales behind the scenes at the North Pole in Xanta Claus, be amused by the fun 41 Uses For A Grandma and be fascinated by the facts in Strange But True America. Have they always dreamed of being an author? Everything You Need To Know To Write and Market Your Book could be a winner.

Personalised gifts
Create a personalised book containing images of their favourite photos with captions to match. They won’t be able to put it down! Check out how you can do it with photo books by Freeze Frame, Blurb, and Life’s Sweet. Spring for your (grand)parents being interviewed at home on video by Save Their Story or Family Heirloom Books or over the phone for a personal biography by Priceless Legacy, or let them read and record a CD of their grandchild’s favourite book with Cherished Voices. Others may enjoy tracking down their family tree through a 12-month gift certificate to One Great Family geneology website.

Those with grandchildren may love reading all about them in a beautiful BabyStars report. Create personalised calendars by Tukaiz, blow up a favourite photo of theirs on canvas, or if you know them reaaaaally well, let them star in a raunchy novel.  Have they always wished they went (back) to university? Create a fun varsity t-shirt from YourName University or arrange to send personalised paper newsletters from Sunnygram. Is Grandpa a golf nut? Have his name “spelt” out in golf ball type for his study from Letters That Wow. Others may enjoy receiving a photo of their grandchildren encased in glass for their necklace.

General gifts
Watch their eyes light up with fragrant Diptych limited edition holiday candles and swoon over yummy Lake Champlain chocolates, Chef Joe’s Cookies, or all the goodies in Gourmet Gift Baskets. A couple of fun stocking fillers are Grandparent Talk and ideal for Yorkshire terrier-lovers, Schmitty’s Healthy Do’s and Don’ts 2010 calendar. Glamorous grandmas may appreciate customised rhinestone t-shirts,while the crafty types may enjoy DIY purse kits from BagSmith. They could also appreciate a kit that lets them write their favouite inspirations from much-loved books.

Oldies hate missing out on weddings and christenings. Why not consider a connected digital photo frame from Ceiva which shows revolving photos in real time sent from anywhere in the world? You can never have too many pockets but they might also appreciate some on a cosy scarf from Kangaroo Girls. If your Nanna loves to bake cakes, she might love the CakeVase which lets you put fresh flowers on top of any cake she’s decorated or if she’s a knitter, here’s the Swiss Army tool of knitting kits! Gardeners might appreciate the Bee Lover’s Garden calendar.

Gifts to make life easier
Let them cheat(!) at bridge or poker night with large print playing cards, keep their hands free while they do their crafts and hobbies or hold their book comfortably with the Book Buddy resting pillow and straps.  Make it easier for them to dress with fashionable, modified, open-back or open-side clothing by Comfort’n'Care Clothing, Cooper Martin, or belts they can do up with one-hand from Myself Belts. Help them keep their hat or cap on with Capsurz. If they’re bedridden, consider giving them FunctionAll bedlinen which has ergonomically placed pockets for them to store their personal necessities without needing to call the nurse.

Do they feel the cold? Give them a heating blanket (which goes over them in bed or on their favourite armchair),or, one of the most novel gifts I’ve ever seen, a Heat By Design photo frame which heats the room by a few extra degrees! If you’re newbie at being a carer, you may benefit from checking out eldercare at I Care Village. If money is no object, you might consider springing for a customised ”hot rod” motorised scooter! Do they tend to misplace their belongings? Give them self-sticking, non-iron labels for clothing and accessories. Let them reach anything with a PikStick telescopic reacher, or safely hold and carry things with Handi-Straps.

Gifts to make them feel healthy
If they tend to suffer from aches and muscle tension, they may appreciate the whimsical, animal-shaped heat packs from Corn Bag Critters, or the health benefits of Matcha green tea, or loose Rooisbos tea.  They can walk more comfortably with shearling orthotics, indulge in chocolate that’s good for them with a Winetime bar, or  limber up with a Body Bar Flex. Let them inhale rose or lavender essential oils in their own heart-shaped aromatherapy pendant and get fit again with a Functional Fitness DVD they can do in their chair. Better yet, get them back in top shape with a resistance chair.

Gifts for their safety
Do they live alone? Give them a wide-screen Peephole viewer for the front door or a guiding light for their mailbox. They can track their medications, appointments and tests in a personal healthcare journal or follow the instructions in the Talking First Aid Kit. If they can tend to wander off, they might appreciate an EmFinders EmSeeQ wristwatch with GPS capability. A clever gift that looks like a heart pendant is a USB device that can contain all their latest medical info while you can help them stop confusing conditioner for shampoo with these spandex bandages from Shower Spex. Give them a special RxTote bag to carry all their medical essentials.

Charity gifts
Many older people don’t want to receive more “stuff” so they could appreciate your thoughtfulness if you give them a Givt charity gift card, Kiva gift certificates to help support budding entreprenuers in developing countries with micro-finance, donate to the charity of their choice with Charity Checks, or donate to Save the Children.

Gifts for fun and games
Golfing enthusiasts may find it easier to improve their handicap with a heavy golf putter. Others could enjoy listening to an iPod (once you transfer their favorite albums across) and an iPod travel case when they’re on the move. They love to know what’s going on. Ever thought of giving them a two-way radio or a police scanner? Others could enjoy playing The Art of Conversation board game with their grandkids. Some grandmas might love the almost-nude pin-up calendar of the gents from Atlantic Shores retirement community! If they’d like a book they can enjoy with their grandkids, the geography puzzle book, Knock, Knock, Where am I? could be the ticket.

Sagittarians are ruled by the biggest planet of ‘em all, Jupiter! He rules optimism, expansion and exploration so your typical Sagittarians loves a good holiday! One of their favorite presents is a an airline ticket (even better if it’s open-dated so they can come home – eventually) but if you can’t spring quite that far, give them something that expands their horizons. A gift certificate to a travel agency, hotel, car, airline or adventure company would go down well.

Can you organise a weekend away that combines a fun event – whether it’s the Elvis Festival, a rodeo manned by lanky, tanned cowboys (a favourite look for many Sagittarian girls) or something hilarious like those Finnish wife-carrying races?

They’re fond of the outdoors so some of them may like a deluxe camping chair or bed, outdoor shower unit or gas-powered refrigerator to keep their drinks cool? Many of them are very sporty so they might appreciate roofracks for their surfboard, skis or bike, or perhaps some cool athletic wear.

They love to know about other cultures so you could give them a beautiful coffee table book on Africa, or an amazing souvenir from Asia. They can- and do - pontificate about politics and religion for hours. How about The God Delusion for a real thought-raiser, something about the Dalai Lama or a biography of adventurers such as Amelia Earheart,  Steve Fossett, Jacques Costeau, Joy Adamson, or Ernest Hemingway.

They love a good laugh, too. More cerebral Saggies might prefer comedies by fellow Sagittarian Woody Allen, while others may chuckle at classics ranging from the madcap Marx Bros to the Farrelly Brothers. Male Sagittarians of a certain age might prefer westerns with John Wayne but both sexes should enjoy Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, or those Errol Flynn swashbuckling classics on DVD.

These guys are one of the few signs who love gags and tricks so yes, woopee cushions are fine with this gang. Younger Saggies might like dress-up kits, too.

Sagittarius rules publishing so you might introduce them to Kindle, or thrill them with a personalised book about themselves that you’ve had specially created for them.

And if you’re still not sure, it’s a rare Sagittarian who doesn’t have a healthy appetite. Since most of them like entertaining, why not put together a hamper containing gourmet meats, sauces, marinades, relishes, nuts, chips and dips for an instant BBQ party?

If your Christmas gift from Aunt Samantha, Uncle Wayne or perhaps your parents seems suspiciously “used”, with tags missing, the clothing rumpled and non-starched or that “new” smell missing, it’s quite possible they’ve regifted it.

A survey of more than 1,100 Baby Boomers by New Zealand website Grownups.co.nz found that almost 50% of respondents felt there was nothing wrong with regifting unwanted presents (yeah right, they were sooooo good that they had to pass them on).

I don’t know when Oldtimers Disease kicks in but amazingly, 66% of respondents (aged 44-64) admitted to forgetting to buy a Christmas gift for their partner! Arghhh!!! I hope they didn’t get themselves out of the doghouse by regifting what their partner gave them back to their long-suffering other half…

But to make up for this, they are particularly generous to charity with 28% giving at Christmas-time and a further 59% giving money to charity throughout the year.

If you’ve set yourself a strict Christmas gift budget and you’re afraid that you won’t have enough money to buy everyone gifts, between now until Christmas, you really might be better off staying out of the mall and shopping online instead.

Ever rolled up your sleeves to try out the hand moisturiser tester pots, caressed a gorgeous cashmere sweater, eaten yummy new products plied by sample rep at the deli or sat in the sofa at Borders with a riveting bestseller – and then bought it?

A study in the Journal of Consumer Research has concluded what we’ve known all along: that touching something in a store increases your perception of ownership.

Merely touching something creates a physical connection to a product which increases the feelings of ownership towards a product. This makes you more willing to pay more for the product you’ve touched vs the one you haven’t touched. This goes some way to explaining why you can browse an online store without buying anything immediately. If you really love it, you typically come back the next day with the details you need ie size, colour, or whatever else you need to complete the purchase.

There’s no accident chocolates are placed at children’s eye levels in supermarkets – and there’s no real altruism behind Apple’s tactic of letting you play with their Macs, iPhone and iPod! Not only are you familiarising yourself with the product, you are becoming their best salesperson for yourself - “yes, you really must have it.”

If you’re aware of your tendency to spend more than you mean to, the next time a shop asssistant suggest you try it on (“it will look fabulous on you”) – run.

Have you seen some cool personalised gift ideas for Christmas and thought,  “Yeah, my partner/mum/dad/sister/brother/daughter/son/child would like that!”

Check how many days you need to allow for delivery. While some personalised gifts can be ordered to arrive within 2-5 days (like ahem, mine), there are many others which require up to 14, and in a surprising number of cases, up to 21 days for delivery. While you can, of course, pay extra to have it rushed to your door, why empty your wallet doing that if you plan and buy ahead.

When you factor in that for many retailers, their last date to guarantee orders will be delivered before Christmas may be Friday 18 December, AND if you’re ordered customised gifts which require 21 days for production, you really need to order it by Friday 27 November.

This very handy list of the Christmas delivery deadlines for more than 170 online retailers by Coupon Sherpa lists their Standard Shipping, Express Delivery and the eye-wateringly expensive Fastest Shipping.

The earliest (and cheapest Standard Shipping) pre-Christmas delivery order deadline listed is 30 November (no, that is not a misprint) for MCM Electronics who distribute components, equipment and accessories for the consumer electronics industry (and require 12 working days to order in stock from the warehouses, while the latest one possible using Fastest Shipping which would get it there nail-bitingly close on Christmas Eve, is 23 December 7pm for Footsmart which makes comfort shoes and socks (though not, of course, anything personalised).

Ladies and gentlemen, start your shopping engines…

There’s no greater phrase that strikes fear into a woman’s heart than the phrase, “discontinued product” (well, maybe “bikini season,” and “No funds left”). When you really, really love a particular lipstick or nail polish or eyeshadow and they don’t make it anymore – arghhh!

Anyway, my mother is a fan of Revlon Colorstay lipstick and she freaked out when they stopped selling her favourite colour (335 – Opulent Garnet) and even got out her old lipstick brush to get right down the inside of the tube to get the remaining bit of colour (women understand this stuff).

So when I found a UK discounted cosmetics website called Blush Cosmetics that also ships worldwide, I thought I’d check it out. It stocks everything from bath and shower items to suntan lotion, featuring brands from Almay to YSL.

And hallelujah! It stocks the ever-elusive 335! It used to sell in Australia for the outrageous $29.95 but here, they sell for only GBP2.49 EACH. Even buying two, and shipping to Australia has only cost me $19 or so.

Now, of course, I’m not just going to give her the lipstick for Christmas – but my mother will think I’m a legend!

You’ve still got time. Why not ask your mother, sister, best friend, wife or girlfriend (in a casual way) about her favourite make-up item that was discontinued? You just might find it here (who knows?) but you’ll definitely make her (Christmas) day.

My sister is about to have her second baby (on Christmas Day if he/she is on time), and apart from giving her a BabyStars report, I’m also giving her a cute little personalised onesie (sized 000 so she can get a little more use out of it) from SimplyColours which allows you to personalise children’s clothing via colour, image and copy.

But it got me thinking… If you’re wondering what useful gifts you could buy your sister, daughter or friend who’s having a baby for the first time, here’s a list that might help. It’s not exhaustive by any means, but it may give you some idea of what new parents have to buy. If you can help ‘em out, even better!

Clothing
Baby t-shirts
Elasticised nappy pants (mini-bloomers)
Onesie suits
Socks and singlets
Hat (to keep the sun off or to keep ‘em warm)
New chest of drawers and/or a wardrobe to house baby’s new clothing
Forget about shoes for the first few months!

Sleeping
Crib (they will grow out of a bassinet in record time)
Fitted baby crib sheets
Swaddling cloths
Sleeping “bag” pyjamas

Feeding
Hand towels (if you don’t already have them) to use as burp cloths
Breast-feeding support pillows
Bottle steriliser

Bathing and you-know-what
Baby bath tubs (you will be astonished how slippery babies are)
Extra nappies
Nappy pail (anything to hide that God-awful smell)
Disposable wipes
Changing table pad to put on a dresser (if you don’t have room or money for a changing table)

Moving around
Pram/stroller – if you’re thinking of having another child shortly afterwards, buy one that can hold two children
Car seat
Baby sling to keep your hands free
Nappy bag
Port-a-crib (they will grow out of a bassinet really quickly) that doubles as a playpen

What else would you suggest that parents of newborn babies need (apart from sleep)?!

If you’ve bought one, two, three or more homes, have you ever received a gift of any kind from any of your real estate agents? Flowers? A hamper? Wine? Gift certificates?

If they did give you something, what was it? Were you impressed? Tell anyone about it? Would it make you recommend them?

Take a minute to fill out a fun survey about real estate agent gifts and you could win one of 5 x LoveStars or BabyStars boxed gift certificates!