Ideas for small gifts to self?

Questions on how we spend our money and our time - consumer goods and services, home and vehicle, leisure and recreational activities
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AQ
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Ideas for small gifts to self?

Post by AQ »

It looks like I'm on the way to have a decent surplus for my annual budget. Grocery/Misc. spending up about 30% YoY, but we spent very little on travels this year due to covid. Now holidays are around the corner, and I'd like to splurge a bit and get myself a gift 'toy'. It can be a productivity tool like a new scanner, or a health tool like Apple watch, or just a fun item like an AI voice assistant, etc. I'm planning on a couple of hundreds but say up to $500.

Would love to hear what you guys got these days...
jebmke
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Re: Ideas for small gifts to self?

Post by jebmke »

I replaced my IPad
Don't trust me, look it up. https://www.irs.gov/forms-instructions-and-publications
SubPar
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Re: Ideas for small gifts to self?

Post by SubPar »

I was pretty resistant to the idea at first, but we've liked our Amazon Echo so far. DW loves her Apple Watch. I love my iPad. I'm pretty big into sound/music/movies, recently copped some nice-ish bookshelf speakers that have been great. Very specific, but loved to skateboard in my formative years and have been kind of intrigued by some of the electric longboard offerings that are out there.
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AnnetteLouisan
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Re: Ideas for small gifts to self?

Post by AnnetteLouisan »

oura ring / health monitor

pulse oximeter

ajna acupressure mat
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Will do good
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Re: Ideas for small gifts to self?

Post by Will do good »

I'm pretty hard to shop for. :twisted:
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TierArtz
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Re: Ideas for small gifts to self?

Post by TierArtz »

Apple watch
Home pod
Airpods Max
Kettlebells
Ruger MAX-9 (or similar)
sailaway
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Re: Ideas for small gifts to self?

Post by sailaway »

I have in the past gotten a subscription box. My husband doesn't do gifts, so I paid a company to send me a box every month for a year. I liked it, but decided it wasn't worth renewing. If I ever have a permanent address and need a pick me up, I might do it again.
123
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Re: Ideas for small gifts to self?

Post by 123 »

If you can't think of anything else you can always get yourself a gift card/certificate and push the issue down the road.
The closest helping hand is at the end of your own arm.
Silverado
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Re: Ideas for small gifts to self?

Post by Silverado »

Do you do outdoor activities? State-of-the-art clothes can eat a surplus up fast.
bloom2708
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Re: Ideas for small gifts to self?

Post by bloom2708 »

Apple TV box is a nice little gadget if you are into streaming.

Pick up a year of Apple TV + with the purchase and watch Ted Lasso and other good shows.

Otherwise an Apple Watch 7 series would be nice. Maybe both? :D
Normchad
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Re: Ideas for small gifts to self?

Post by Normchad »

Knipex pliers?
jebmke
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Re: Ideas for small gifts to self?

Post by jebmke »

123 wrote: Fri Oct 22, 2021 4:20 pm If you can't think of anything else you can always get yourself a gift card/certificate and push the issue down the road.
Wouldn’t a savings account be a better deal?
Don't trust me, look it up. https://www.irs.gov/forms-instructions-and-publications
jebmke
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Re: Ideas for small gifts to self?

Post by jebmke »

Silverado wrote: Fri Oct 22, 2021 4:27 pm Do you do outdoor activities? State-of-the-art clothes can eat a surplus up fast.
Especially shoes. I never scrimp on shoes. I don’t buy them often but my view is that you spend much of your life on your feet so no cutting corners.
Don't trust me, look it up. https://www.irs.gov/forms-instructions-and-publications
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Toons
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Re: Ideas for small gifts to self?

Post by Toons »

A pair of Merrell shoes
And a Versa 3 fitbit

:mrgreen:
"One does not accumulate but eliminate. It is not daily increase but daily decrease. The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity" –Bruce Lee
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vanbogle59
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Re: Ideas for small gifts to self?

Post by vanbogle59 »

Buy yourself a memory: Rent a(n) X and spend the day with Y

X = boat, airstream, beach condo, mountain cabin, horse, jaguar F-type, bouncy castle, movie theater, panic room
Y = spouse, child(ren), (great)grandchild(ren), parent(s), (great)grandparent(s), lover, friends, someone who needs you

:sharebeer
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JupiterJones
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Re: Ideas for small gifts to self?

Post by JupiterJones »

AQ wrote: Fri Oct 22, 2021 3:31 pm I'd like to splurge a bit and get myself a gift 'toy'. It can be a productivity tool like a new scanner, or a health tool like Apple watch, or just a fun item like an AI voice assistant, etc. I'm planning on a couple of hundreds but say up to $500.
  • A tablet computer of some kind, be it iPad or Android, would be indeed a nice treat if you don't have one already.
  • Rather than a scanner, maybe an all-in-one laser printer/scanner/fax?
  • If you already do a lot of walking, running, or bicycling, a fitness watch would be good too (I use a Garmin Forerunner), but I never have seen much use for them for just day-to-day wearing. Maybe that's just me.
  • A ukulele
  • Raspberry Pi 400 or Chromebook
  • A really nice/good-looking small radio/speaker. I recommended Tivoli in another thread, for example.
  • A couple of Glencairn glasses and a bottle of good scotch to go with 'em (or nice wine glasses + wine to go with 'em).
All that said, although you do seem to be looking for a "thing", I find that experiences often make the best gifts (and take up less space in the house too!) A few hundred bucks could get you:
  • Some nice massages
  • An intro/discovery flying lesson
  • A foreign language class
  • A block of sport/hobby lessons (golf, tennis, guitar, piano, chess, cooking, painting, etc...)
  • Tickets (maybe even a whole season subscription) to local repertory theater or symphony/ballet/etc.
"Stay on target! Stay on target!"
investingdad
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Re: Ideas for small gifts to self?

Post by investingdad »

Mystery in a Box
palaheel
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Re: Ideas for small gifts to self?

Post by palaheel »

Take up a new hobby.
Nothing to say, really.
barnaclebob
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Re: Ideas for small gifts to self?

Post by barnaclebob »

My christmas presents to myself might include trim tabs for my boat and a jointing plane for woodworking.
TrampsLikeUs
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Re: Ideas for small gifts to self?

Post by TrampsLikeUs »

The last 600.00 I spent on myself was a 12 lb malachite ROCK. It looks really cool sitting on the nightstand in my music room with my guitars. I don’t have to feed it. It don’t eat much. I don’t have to clean up after it. It requires no maintenance or upkeep. It’s truly a conversation piece. I have no regrets.
Hope this helps
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LadyGeek
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Re: Ideas for small gifts to self?

Post by LadyGeek »

TrampsLikeUs, Welcome! I've also gifted myself some cool rocks. One of them is malachite.
Wiki To some, the glass is half full. To others, the glass is half empty. To an engineer, it's twice the size it needs to be.
Misenplace
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Re: Ideas for small gifts to self?

Post by Misenplace »

I love surprises. I also like fountain pens and notebooks. Here is one suggestion.
https://usa.kinokuniya.com/featured-sta ... o-in-a-box
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whodidntante
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Re: Ideas for small gifts to self?

Post by whodidntante »

Firearms, trips to foreign lands, or some show or go gadget for my rocketship. Or donate.
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tooluser
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Re: Ideas for small gifts to self?

Post by tooluser »

Pay it forward. Think of something someone's done for you in the past, and do that for someone else.
Or be that someone that wasn't there for you.
I'd like to have gone to Led Zeppelin's Final Concert, but the drummer died before I could do that.
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nisiprius
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Re: Ideas for small gifts to self?

Post by nisiprius »

Stock up on small items that you hate yourself for losing, but lose regularly.

Saturate your house with pairs of scissors, flashlights, four-in-one screwdrivers--in every drawer.
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness; Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.
CurlyDave
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Re: Ideas for small gifts to self?

Post by CurlyDave »

JupiterJones wrote: Fri Oct 22, 2021 5:26 pm
AQ wrote: Fri Oct 22, 2021 3:31 pm I'd like to splurge a bit and get myself a gift 'toy'. It can be a productivity tool like a new scanner, or a health tool like Apple watch, or just a fun item like an AI voice assistant, etc. I'm planning on a couple of hundreds but say up to $500.
  • A tablet computer of some kind, be it iPad or Android, would be indeed a nice treat if you don't have one already.
  • Rather than a scanner, maybe an all-in-one laser printer/scanner/fax?
  • If you already do a lot of walking, running, or bicycling, a fitness watch would be good too (I use a Garmin Forerunner), but I never have seen much use for them for just day-to-day wearing. Maybe that's just me.
  • A ukulele
  • Raspberry Pi 400 or Chromebook
  • A really nice/good-looking small radio/speaker. I recommended Tivoli in another thread, for example.
  • A couple of Glencairn glasses and a bottle of good scotch to go with 'em (or nice wine glasses + wine to go with 'em).
All that said, although you do seem to be looking for a "thing", I find that experiences often make the best gifts (and take up less space in the house too!) A few hundred bucks could get you:
  • Some nice massages
  • An intro/discovery flying lesson
  • A foreign language class
  • A block of sport/hobby lessons (golf, tennis, guitar, piano, chess, cooking, painting, etc...)
  • Tickets (maybe even a whole season subscription) to local repertory theater or symphony/ballet/etc.
I have both, and the all-in-one is about a light year behind my Fujitsu ScanSnap. And it pays for itself -- come tax time every receipt can be ordered by date.
Answering a question is easy -- asking the right question is the hard part.
FoolMeOnce
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Re: Ideas for small gifts to self?

Post by FoolMeOnce »

A nice coffee or tea setup - kettle, French press, pour-over cone, home and travel mugs. The kettle and travel mug from Fellow are quite stylish and good.
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tooluser
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Re: Ideas for small gifts to self?

Post by tooluser »

nisiprius wrote: Sat Oct 23, 2021 1:25 pm Stock up on small items that you hate yourself for losing, but lose regularly.
Indeed. Smallest Swiss army knife here, a personal grooming tool really. I buy them two at a time and re-buy every four years or so. I feel very good that only one was sacrificed at airport security. All the rest just somehow made an exit. I wish them well in their newfound independences.
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