The winter holidays are coming up and will probably be here before we know it, so it’s a good idea to start planning now. That’s especially true if you have a big family, or a lot of friends and/or clients to buy for. It’s also important if, like me, you have a significant other who is hard to please. Over the years I discovered that romantic gift baskets work particularly well for him. He gets a nice assortment of things and I get to give a nice-looking gift that doesn’t cost that much. And I don’t even have to leave the house to get it, so it works for both of us. As a result, I’m now a real fan of gift baskets. People have pretty much come to expect that’s what they’ll get from me whenever I give them a present. And my friends tell me they look forward to getting them, so that lets me know I’m on the right track.

The good thing about gift baskets is that there are so many “flavors”. When I want to welcome people to their new homes, I normally order wine and cheese gift baskets. Those also work well as elegant thank you gifts or to congratulate someone on finishing a home remodeling project. But there are times when the perfect type of gift basket doesn’t leap right out at me, so I do a search by the person’s gender. Entering the search term for “gift baskets for her” or the opposite ordinarily will give you a list of sites that offer a large selection of baskets that range from items that appeal to Baby Boomers to wine to desserts. So I usually find something I wouldn’t have thought to look for.

My only issue with looking for gift baskets online is that normally I can’t get away from the site without buying something for myself! But I’ve made some great purchases that way. In fact, My friends and I are still drinking some Chilean wines I purchased in a gift basket I found while searching for a friend’s gift last month. I guess I’d better finish those bottles soon. I’m going to start my Christmas shopping soon and I’m sure I’ll be buying plenty more for myself!