Anniversary

Why don't you use the $25 to hire a babysitter. You cook him a fantastic dinner of his favorites. Then you present him with a coupon book you can easily make yourself of the computer for him to redeem that night and other nights. Offers of back rubs, footmassage, etc I don;pt want to get too personel. You get the drift. If you don't have to pay a babysitter (Thanks mom) then use the 25 to buy some KY Massage oils, a back massager, etc and pamper him. I know it's your anniversary too. So maybe you can just give him basket have one of the coupons be for his favorite dinner, dessert and massages, etc. and have the oils and stuff in the basket.

Get him a pedicure. I see men all of the time getting pedicures. I talked my partner into getting one and now he does it on his own. Loves it.

Hi R.,
Why not buy a coffee mug with a heart or something nice on it and put hershey kisses, a card that has how you feel about him, stuff tissue paper on top and tie a balloon to the cup that says Happy Anniversary on it and offer him a nice massage with a fragrant oil that sets the senses on fire then wrap a bow around you. I have been married for 45 years and it always works when you give him the attention instead of the children even if it's for one night.
Hope this helps.
A friend

My husband is the same way. My advice: eBay!!!

Matinee movie, restaurant gift card, new shirt on sale: suggestions from my husband of 31 years. Congratulations on the success of your marriage.

All the ideas from others are great!!!! There are few ideas I can suggest, too.. Collect his favorite memories and make a simple scrapebooking from Shutterfly for his office or else.. Other idea is to make a book of coupons for both of you promise together to spend some time alone without girls. Like one ticket to a movie date, Out to eat alone, 20 minutes back rubs, and more.. Be sure to included expire date from now to 12/31/2008..

Have fun and good luck!!

A nice framed picture of the two of you and a bottle of wine.

If he loves to golf get him some golf balls. Or what would be really romantic is if you bought a gift card to his favorite restaurant. Then you both could enjoy a nice dinner together for his birthday. And get someone in your family to watch the kids as a birthday gift to him as well.

do you have "a song" what about framing the lyrics with a photo of you two. :)

A bottle of Bath and Body Works Massage Oil and a 'coupon' for free massages throughout the year. You'll stay within budget and he will love the one-on-one attention of a relaxing massage every now and then.

you can get a lot for $25. If he has an ipod, get him an i-tunes gift card.
If he has a favorite store or restaurant(starbucks) ,get him one there.
Pictures of the kids(Walmart does great ones)and frames to go with them.
If he likes clothes, T.J. maxx and Marshalls have some pretty good stuff (polo and Tommy hilifger polos are about 24.99). There is so much out there.
If he decides what he wants is more than that ,then "save" the $25 for the next gift holiday and combine the money to get it for him.
Good luck.

Give him the cash? :)

I just saw a digital picture frame on clearance at Tom Thumb for $25. You could load it with pictures of you and your kids for him to take to work. Not sure if you can find a store close to you that still has any left, as they are usually much more expensive but maybe look around at other clearance sales. I got one for my dad and he said it was his favorite gift ever. (And no, he has never said that before!)

Not sure if he would be interested in this, but here are a couple of things I have given my hubby recently.
1. He loves the weather. There are some wireless rain gauges at Academy. He loves it. It is digital and self empties
2. A grill light. He use to wear one of those head flashlights while grilling if it was dark...
3. Not sure about this one with having 3 girls in the house, but Playboy subscription is $25. :)
4. If he likes golf, at some golf stores (I know the PGA store at Preston and 121) they have indoor driving ranges. You could get him a round there!

Just some ideas. We do inexpensive gifts too! We are both difficult to shop for so we take it easy on each other.

C.

Why don't you make him a CD with his favorite songs and buy he some type of massager and oils. Also let the girls make cards or decorate a poster for ya'll but a surprise for him.

If he is an outdoorsman, give him a gift card to Academy, gander Mountain, etc. or go buy him lures, etc. for his activities. Good luck. One of my favorite gifts is a letter he handwrote me about how much he loved me, what a good mother I was etc. I treasure it more than anything. You might think of doing that. Good Luck!

How about making him some coupons to use. Party city might have them or you can make your own on line. 1 coupon for a free half hour massage, 1 coupon for a free kiss (in the dark), 1 coupon for a night of cuddling, 1 free lunch date with you, I'm sure you can come up with some of your own ideas of what he enjoys. 1 night out with the guys? Does he like to read; maybe a good book, or does he like to listen to music; a good cd of his favorite artist. Joel Osteen has a new CD that is absolutely awesome. It's great for both of you to listen to it together if possible. Good Luck!

Maybe something that you think he will need, for work or for fishing like a hobby of his that he has... or if he likes sports get him a gift card from a sports store... you know what I mean... if you are like me and want to make it something romantic or with meaning... make something yourself, do a candle light dinner with no kids...and give him the gift... these are just suggestions, I usually get my hubby a cologne or a razor.. something that I know he will use and be thankful for it... I got him a buffer for his boots, he likes to keep them shiny so I got him a whole kit it was about 20 bucks... I hope this helps

M.

Does he have any hobbies? If so, what about a subscription to a magazine that is related to his interests (i.e. hunting, computers, guns, fishing, motorcycles, cars, outdoor, etc.)? You could cut out pictures of his hobby and make a collage to let him know the subscription is coming.

You could also make the same collage and put a note inside saying, “You have one free pass to the next gun show, no children to worry about” or “I will go to the next gun show with you” (my hubby’s personal favorite because I don’t usually go.

Think of something that will show you gave some thought to his hobbies or interests, I learned this from the “Love and Respect” book.

Good luck!

gift certificate? is he into hunting, fishing? if so cabellas or bass pro shop. that way if he wants to go over the $25 it's no on you!

First off....is he only spending $25 on you? Is there a reason he GAVE you a budget to begin with? I really hate the whole budget thing in the way it is implied with GAVE. When two people are married, yes one has to watch the money but they should decide on the budget together.

For example I get x for groceries out every week. If it is not enough to buy his fave food he complains, I tell him then we need to up the grocery budget. LOL Same with clothes, entertainment, etc.

But .....if I want to get him something for our anni. I figure out how I want to do it. It is within our alloted gift budget. I get x for bday/anni/xmas per year. What I do with it is entirely up to me. And we decided together what the amount should be. If I want something more expensive, I save a bit out of the grocery buget for a few weeks--without him realizing. Maybe just 5-10 a week or whatever it takes. LOL

If I had $25 to spend I would go get a sitter that could keep the kids at their house for a couple of hours, rent a movie, buy some food (his fave) and prepare it, then have a relaxed dinner and movie together with me in my skimpiest outfit. ;-) He can take care of dessert--if ya know what I mean. LOL

What does he like? What are his interests?

My hubby likes expensive things, so for $25 I'd buy him a pair of Cole Haan dress socks & Titlest golf balls. He's a business man that likes to play golf. Another great idea is a magazine subscription. You can buy him a magazine (or 2) of interest and put a note in it saying, "You have 12 more of these coming, Baby!" Plan a night and cook him dinner - his fav foods/meal.

Rather than spending the money on a gift... write him a letter... list 100 reasons why you love him... Be specific. Then at the end offer him the gift of your time... if he wants to stick to $25... put it towards a meal at a favorite place for the two of you. Spend time remembering why you married eachother.

This is what I did for my husband last year... we just had our daughter and couldn't really afford to go out. He was so happy to have that letter... he keeps it in his lunch box for work along with all the other little notes I send with him. I'm always telling him how wonderful he is and how much I love him... he always commented that he didn't know why... and was so touched ... I think he finally understood who is was in my eyes and it was just what his heart needed. Who doesn't like to know why people think they are great after all???

Find a home for your kids to go to for the night (hopefully you have family), then make dinner and movie. If you can't get them out for the night then get a sitter and go out to a cheap dinner/date. Many of the local high-schools have great theater depts. (really) and their shows costs from $7 to $12. I'd get tickets to one of these and have dinner at Pei Wei or some place you wouldn't take your kids normally.

We don't buy gifts, mostly tokens.... like I bought him a small indian "wedding vase" one year and he bought me stone candle holders.... things like that... we aren't gifty people though. We'd rather "do" something. You could also check garage sales for things he likes to collect (mine likes Mustang stuff) or silver items (frames, spoons, etc) Tarnished silver is easy to clean, with the aluminum foil, hot water and Borax method.

Have fun and think quirky.