With roughly three weeks to Christmas, there will be many of you (too many!) who will juuuuuust be starting their Christmas gift shopping (but not the men, because they’ll start in the last few days before Christmas – and then they wonder why it’s such a nightmare)…

According to one incredibly addictive website, the Book of Odds, Americans intend to give an average of 18.2 gifts this Christmas (is the 0.2 gift a regifted thing?) but that’s due to the GFC – last year the average number was 21.5 gifts and in 2007 the average number was 23.1 Christmas gifts. Boy! I’m planning on giving about a dozen – and I bought four of them from the one website to cut shipping costs.

So, if your Christmas gift budget is looking leaner than Kate Moss, it’s time to trim some (gift) fat. Here’s 5 ideas to help you along:

1. If you don’t see ‘em, they don’t get a prezzie
This extends to friends, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents and others you don’t see more than twice a year. Send ‘em a card instead. It might be all you’re getting from them.

2. “I just love your [fill in the possession they crave]“
Ever had someone close to you look lustfully at an item you own that you like, but you don’t lurrrrrve?  Why not make their Christmas – and save your wallet – and give it to them with your blessings. A friend of mine once told me quite cheerfully she’d like my big red coat if I died. We are no longer friends but it had nothing to do with her comment.

3. Many hands make light work (of your wallet)
It’s a corny saying, but the best gift you can give someone really IS your time. Don’t forget there are concierge services out there offering to run around for busy people. Why not make up  a fun IOU gift voucher for washing their car, taking the kids to the park, picking up the paint chip brochures at the hardware store, constructing the Christmas tree, standing in line at the fish markets to get the fresh prawns for Christmas Day, decorating the house, going to the post office to mail gifts intrastate, interstate or overseas – and so on.

4. Have everyone bring a plate – not a gift
Cooking and catering for everyone PLUS getting them all a gift is a huge drain on your wallet. Why not say to everyone to forget the gifts but to chip in for the food? Perhaps Aunt Juliet can make her irresistible white Christmas slice, Grandpa can get everyone silly with his famous gluhwein while your brother can man the BBQ.

5. Buy those gift-with-purchase gifts in the department store
Most cosmetics giants offer an amazing array of beauty products if you spend a certain amount. In one purchase, you can have a coral nail polish for your sister, a lipstick for your mother, a purse-size eau de toilette for your best friend, a cosmetic bag for your colleague and so on.

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.

Today is – gulp! – 48 days to Christmas. If you haven’t started gift shopping yet, you’ll be wringing every dollar out from now on!

Here’s 30 Christmas gift ideas that cost $30 or much, much less, but still look thoughtful. Well, OK, they’re only thoughtful if you match them to the right recipient…

1. A packet of freshly roasted gourmet coffe with a mug for your office colleague who’s always griping about the cost of his or her daily Starbucks
2. A small canvas square from an artshop plus a packet of textas for your young, artistically inclined niece or nephew (keeps ‘em quiet, too!)
3. Sparkly gel pens and blank cards for your neighbour’s preteen daughter
4. A disposable camera for a friend who’s travelling somewhere where the natives are shall we say, known for being light-fingered?
5. One of those rubber knee rests for the garden for your dad or grandfather when they’re busy weeding or working on the rockery
6. Gourmet BBQ sauce and basting brush for your brother
7. Gift vouchers to the movies for your teenagers
8. Cute moulded cookie tray to create heart-, star- or exotically-shaped biscuits for your Nigella Lawsoneque friend
9. A few bars of fancy chocolate tied with a ribbon (great as a thank-you gift)
10. Pretty mug, strainer and packet of herbal tea for your hippy-dippy friend
11. A tarot card pack for your other New Age friend
12. Bottle of summery nail polish and a quick-dry spray for your busy mother
13. Hot glue gen for your brother who’s renovating
14. Paint phrases, ie love, happiness, health, wealth – or people’s names - on 4 or 6 metallic Christmas balls for the tree using glue and then rolling them gently in silver or gold glitter
15. An international copy of a magazine in their particular interest ie homewares, fashion, cars, sport etc
16. An emailed BabyStars report for a friend who lives on the other side of the world who’s just had a baby
17. A cool t-shirt from one of those mall shops that create them using different designs on the spot for your son
18. A sports crop-top bra for your teenage daughter
19.  A packet of pretty stationery and stamps for your elderly aunt who loves to keep in touch the old-fashioned way
20. A USP stick (as many GB as you can afford) for your career whiz on the go
21. An iTunes card for anyone under 30, really
22. A vibrant Thai silk jewellery roll for your mother
23. An emailed LoveStars report for a friend who’s getting married
24. A six-pack of really good, gourmet beer for your uncle
25. A surprise carwash and vaccum for your Dad or partner
26. A jewellery organiser or earring tree for your granddaughter
27. A rack of lamb, a kilo of prawns, or whatever his favourite dish may be – and cook it for him
28. Put a really good photo of you together in a nice photo frame
29. A fun doormat for someone who’s just bought a new house
30. Create a surprise goodie bag containing all their favourite sweets from childhood…

Dads can be really hard to buy for – whether it’s for Fathers Day, his birthday or Christmas. They just aren’t super hint-givers like we women are! 

I saw a terrific list of 20 gift ideas compiled by professional organiser Carol Posener of Get Organised and thought, “brilliant!” With many thanks to Carol, here’s some ideas to inspire you for delighting your dear old Dad.

1. Ask Dad what he’d like to do. It might be nothing other than you doing the BBQ for a change for dinner that night.
2. Prepay online for tickets for the movies – possibly something with car chases or busty women.
3. Help him get his home office (maybe his shed) into order with a Get Organised Hands-On Service from www.getorganised.com.au/giftvoucher
4. Wash and vacuum his car, take out your chocolate wrappers out of the ashtray, fill her up, check the oil and the tyres – just like he does for you…
5. Buy him a subscription to one of his favourite magazines at www.isubscribe.com.au
6. Take your Dad out to lunch or dinner at his favourite restaurant and ignore it this time when he leaves half his vegetables on his plate.
7. Consider if he could use a shredder for his home office.
8. Buy personalised license plates for his car.
9. Plan a camping weekend away. Buy the Get Organised Camping Essentials checklist – www.getorganised.com.au/onlinestore
10. Pick up an LED torch for his camping trip.
11. Check out audio books by his favourite author/s for his trip to work.
12. Buy tickets to his favourite sports match.
13. Look for a boxed DVD sets of his favourite old TV shows – MASH? Dr Who? The Goodies? – or his favourite movie stars
14. Make him look cool with a Wii Fit set for strength training
15. Does he love wine? What about a small wine chiller unit? They were selling 16-bottle mini wine fridge units at ALDI a few weeks ago.
16. Does he fancy himself as a bit of a DIY guru? Why not enrol him in a Triton woodworking class or something similar at your local hardware store and then get him the router or whatever he’s just learnt about?
17. Give him a newspaper front page of the day he was born.
18. Give him a few tickets in the next multi-million dollar Lotto draw.
19. Pamper him with an old-fashioned barber shave and haircut and then get his nails done – he’ll love it!
20. Surprise him with an expertly whipped up breakfast of bacon, eggs, tomato, sausages and mushroom plus piping hot coffee and serve it to him in bed.

What’s the best thing you ever gave your Dad?

Multi-faceted Geminis come in all sorts of flavours – Morgan Freeman, Kylie Minogue, Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman, Boy George and Venus Williams are all Geminis.

They all have such different tastes – I can’t imagine giving a set of knives to Nicole (can you?) – but all of them lurrrve to read! Insatiable to know what’s on, they’ll blog, update their websites, become Crackberries and read everything they can get their hands on to keep up to date and to keep others informed. They are the natural journos of the zodiac.

While for many it would seem a lazy gift cop-out, one birthday present that most Geminis would really love every year is an open cheque (sorry, voucher) to a bookstore. Ditto for magazine subscriptions and book-of-the-month clubs.

Most Gemini girls get a kick out of getting something from those junk jewellery chains ie Diva and Equip as they can update their wardrobes with a huge range of cute rings, bracelets (Geminis have a thing about their hands), necklaces, earrings, belly rings and anklets. Or why not give them a voucher for a luxury mani/pedi so they can catch up on all on the gossip as they get fussed over.

The boys tend to prefer the latest gadgets. No idea? Me either. But you’d be safe (and not sorry) giving them an iTunes card.

Either sex usually prefers lots of little gifts so they have lots to unwrap and get excited over. Yes, they do have a low boredom threshold and a few gifts will maintain their interest for longer.

On A Slightly Different Note: Until 31 October, Geminis will have Saturn in their solar fourth house of home and family. Wherever Saturn is transiting usually means great responsibilities or limitations. Any way you can alleviate this with a thoughtful gift would be much appreciated. Until Halloween anyway, they have huge responsibilities to do with their homes and family members (Angelina is probably taking this to extremes) which means they are probably looking for homewares, decor and storage solutions. They might really appreciate getting some of those sexy perspex shoe shelves. Others might chip in for DIY tools. Or just take them out for dinner – they get cabin fever faster than anyone!

Regifting is one phenomenon that’s been gaining ground thanks to the coinciding Global Financial Crisis and the anti-clutter trend. If you can clean up your home, give someone a gift AND save money in the process - happy days.

Have a look around your home. There’s SURE to be something suitable you can pass on for someone’s birthday. Here’s a quick guide to what items you could safely regift to certain Sun signs without causing too much distress. (It goes without saying that you’re not going to regift anything that’s dirty, broken or in poor condition! Also, ideally it should still be in the original packaging…)

Jewellery – rings, bangles and bracelets (Geminis), pendants, necklaces (Taurus), gold anything that’s good (Leo), matching set jewellery (Libra), antique family heirlooms, pearls (Cancer and Capricorn), mood rings (Pisces), toe rings , “statement” pieces (Aquarius), belly chains, anything hand-crafted (Virgo), leather jewellery (Aries, Scorpio), ethnic pieces (Sagittarius).

Books – cookbooks (Cancer and Taurus), romantic novels (Leo and Libra), thrillers (Scorpio), sci-fi (Aquarius), self-help (Aquarius and Virgo), travel (Sagittarius), business (Capricorn), mystical, movie or music books (Pisces), how-to manuals and sexy potboilers (Aries)

Homewares – bookshelves, storage items (Gemini and Virgo), doonas, comforters, mohair throws (Taurus and Cancer), ornate mirrors, boxed DVD sets (Leo), antiques, crystal vases (Capricorn), BBQ equipment, Persian rugs, travel souvenirs (Sagittarius), DIY power tools, sporting equipment (Aries), filing cabinets, fur throws, breakfast in bed trays (Scorpio). terrariums, vintage equipment, computers (Aquarius), aquariums, windchimes (Pisces), cake stands, serving platters, jewellery trays (Taurus and Libra).

Clothing – vintage shoes (Pisces, maybe Leo if they’re in ultra-good condition – the shoes, I mean), scarves (Taurus), fur coats, dramatic coats (Leo), wacky 60s/70s stuff (Aquarius), handbags (Virgo), belts and hats (Libra), brooches (Cancer), Doc Maartens boots, anything red (Aries).

And if it all seems too hard, go shopping!