Shopping for guys is hard. Every girl who has ever had to buy a gift for her dad, boyfriend, or brother knows that. I seem to have dads and brothers down after years of gift giving, but, for some reason, gifting for my boyfriend never gets easier. You could get him clothes, and you know you have better taste, but what if he doesn’t wear it? There’s also how big of budget to consider. How much should you spend on him? What if you just started dating?
So, I created this in-depth boyfriend gift guide for all you girls out there struggling like me.
I personally think that a lot of problems can be avoided by simply setting a budget with the S.O. beforehand. I called my boyfriend and we came up with a nifty (but not a one-size-fits-all) budget guide.
If you will have been dating for 1 to 3 months: Christmas is still a gift giving time and you are probably really close even if you haven’t said the l-word yet. A budget of $30 is appropriate if you start dating right before the holidays. It’s not too much commitment, but still a large enough budget to get him something nice. My boyfriend suggested “something practical” whatever that means, I think he mentioned a nose hair trimmer. However, if you’re not down to get him a nose hair trimmer (Tanner, I’m looking at you), you can also get two tickets to a local event for about this price, think wine tasting, a local festival, or a small event you can go to together!
If you have been dating for 4-6 months: We increased the budget slightly for the 4-6 month range, figuring that you may have started saying “I love you” or had your first fight. I always think the 6th month of dating is pretty important as you have passed a few of these milestones and you may be getting a better idea of how serious this relationship is. These gifts may be a little more personal. Maybe you’ve noticed that he needs something replaced like a wallet, a new pair of casual shoes, or personally picked shot glasses with his favorite sport team or university logo. Other ideas include a bar-tending set, a grill accessory set, nice gloves, or a fancy dinner you make at home. You can also get an Amazon Fire TV stick for this price which turns your TV into a smart TV with a little plug you put in your HDMI port!
If you’ve been dating for 7 to 12 months: This is where me and my boyfriend are at and this was the original budgeted plan: $75-$100. Now, my boyfriend managed to convince me to give him a little wiggle room with the budget, which is fine because at this point, the relationship is probably more serious. Past 6 months, this may be the first gift you’re giving to your boyfriend if he hasn’t had birthday yet, so you also want it to be a good one. After brainstorming a bit, I decided on luxury care items like cologne or nice technology like speakers or headphones. We also thought that a nice bottle of his favorite whiskey, wine, bourbon, you get the idea.
If you’ve been dating over a year: This isn’t your first rodeo (and by rodeo, I mean Christmas). You probably know his likes or dislikes and you’ve been paying attention to what he may need. If you’ve been saving up all year and you can get him a nice gift, even better. My recommendations include a high end pair of headphones, a watch, his favorite sports team jersey, a nice jacket or coat, a nice pair of shoes, or two concert tickets to his favorite artist or band would be appropriate.
Just a heads up: What you spend on someone for Christmas this year does not directly tell someone about how much you think they’re worth. A thoughtful, small gift could be the most valuable thing in the world for someone. This boyfriend gift guide is only supposed to be that, a guide, and if you have an idea for your boyfriend that you think is perfect and sentimental that he’ll love, the price should not matter. Remember that Christmas is about opening hearts, not presents.
What I got my boyfriend: This year, I got my boyfriend a wood watch in an engraved box and it really was the perfect gift. Because y’all are reading this post right now, I actually gave this to him on his birthday, so he was surprised. I will be following this guide almost exactly for my Christmas gift for him, so I do practice what I preach.
This watch was extra special because I got the box specifically engraved just for him! Because these amazing wood watches from my favorite company, JORD, are made of real wood, they can now engrave either the box or the back of the watch for you! The watch looks really good on him and is perfect for both work and casual days. The style I bought was the Conway in dark sandalwood and burgundy. This was my favorite color combination followed, by the Walnut and Jet Black. The Conway is actually one of their newest styles and I think it’s perfect for that man in your life. When I took it out of the box, I just knew it was high quality; I could really feel it when I held it. My boyfriend knew it too; he couldn’t stop looking at it once he opened the box!
I personally think engraved gifts make the perfect Christmas gift; they’re thoughtful and generally beautiful too, just like this watch.
The Story: Everyone always asks for a story. As you can see below, I got my box engraved with coordinates. These coordinates are the location of where we *sort of* first met.
Tanner and I met on a spring break volunteer trip to Antigua, Guatemala. We technically first met in an introduction meeting in a university classroom, but the first kiss and all that good falling in love stuff happened over spring break. On about the third or fourth day of the trip, the two of us stayed up late talking to each other and, to be completely honest, I went to bed giddy as a schoolgirl.
The next day, we went hiking on a volcano, and stayed together the whole way up and down. That night, he asked me to dance with him at a salsa bar and well, the rest is history. He kissed me in front of the whole group, ran around Antigua talking all night, and we started dating shortly after we came back. Now, we’ve both graduated and we’re coming up on the three year mark of dating. Never did I ever think that a volunteer trip could help me meet such an amazing person with whom I would fall in love.
So, little old Antigua will always have a sweet spot in my heart. Do you have a location that’s special to you that you would get engraved on something like a watch or necklace?
Check out some other gift guides here!
More Gifts for Your Man
Love love love this gift guide. AND I LOVE how you broke it down to how long you’ve been together. That would have been helpful when my husband I started dating LOL. 🙂
When did you two start dating? You’re so cute together 🙂
Sucha good combination of gift ideas! loving it!
I love wood watches – they are so gorgeous. I have one for myself & really want to get one for Ian, too!
I have two for myself but I loved seeing the look on my boyfriend’s face when he opened it! Worth way more than the watches I got myself!
I like that you separated the lists based on how long the relationship is! Sometimes It’s hard to know what’s too much or too little in the gift giving department!
Love the watch! A boyfriend/spouse would be very happy to receive that!
Ah, I love the story of how you and your boyfriend met, so adorable! And the engraved watch is such an amazing and sweet gift idea!
http://www.diaryofatorontogirl.com
This is so cute I love all of your picks and the way you broke it down by how long you’ve been dating! So cute!
Love the breakdown of gift ideas! Also the story of how you met is super cute 🙂
Thank you! We think it is too 🙂
Loved how indepth this gift guide was! Heck, my boyfriend and I have been dating for a little over four years and I’m still struggling to find a gift for him this year! haha! I gifted him a wood watch last year for our anniversary and he loved it!
xoxo,
Amy | Pastel N Pink
I kind of want a few of these for myself haha!
xoxo, Lydia | wheretheprettythingsare.net
I love the story of how you met and how you incorporated that into your gift. Very sweet indeed.
aww you guys have such a sweet “how we met story” and I think the engraving is a sweet touch
This is such a great gift guide!!! I love how you break it down, that is so helpful! I wish I had this for when I started dating my husband, but I can see myself buying these things even now!
The wood watch is so nice looking! I love that your guide is separated by how long couples have been together because that typically changes what you buy for them.
What a great watch! I actually just got my boyfriend a watch for our anniversary and some sports team clothes for Christmas.
These are some amazing picks! Guys are the absolute most difficult to buy for. That watch is amazing!
Well this certainly helps with the Christmas shopping for my boyfriend!
What a great gift! I love Jord watches, my boyfriend and I have been together 4 year (will be five in february) so we have had a few christmases together haha. This year is the hardest because Justin has no clue what he wants.
Jord watches are awesome! My husband wants some headphones so I’m going to get him that and a few smaller things.
Great tips on how you broke it down! My husband and I are actually skipping gifts this year! We’ve had so many expenses as newlyweds that we are just focusing on family traditions rather than gifts.
Rachel | The Confused Millennial
I LOVE that idea! My boyfriend and I are still just dating and no imminent plans for anything else, but I would love to do this!
Guys can be so tough! Great pics!
I love JORD watches! Great gifts for anyone! Love how you sorted this out.
That is such a cute story about how you two started dating! I kind of teared up a bit! Great gift guide!
-Anna | http://www.fivefootandfabulous.com
Love that masculine watch for my hubby 🙂
I pinned this blog post because this is so useful how you broke everything down!! 🙂 Definitely coming back to this for future reference!
xoxo A
http://www.southernbelleintraining.com
Your pictures of the watch with the Christmas lights are so adorable!! I’ve been seeing this wood watches all over the place, and now I want one so bad!
Caitlyn | http://www.collegewithcaitlyn.com
I have 2 and now my boyfriend has 1 and I can say I absolutely love them! I have the $25 gift card giveaway (you’re guaranteed one!) if you want to enter your email at the link above and get one!
Men can be so hard to shop for, so thank you for sharing so many great ideas!!
What a helpful gift guide! My husband would also love that wood watch!
xo Ashley
This is such a great guide, I recently out of a long term relationship so i dont have to buy gifts for any mom this year besides my wonderful momma! but its always so hard picking gift for boyfriends.
Oh I love how you broke this down. The first holiday together can be stressful. 🙂
My brother suggested I might like this web site. He was entirely right. This post truly made my day. You cann’t imagine just how much time I had spent for this information! Thanks!
Love this gift guide! The watch is beautiful and I’ve been seeing it everywhere!
Wow that watch is awesome! I ended up getting my husband a PS4 Pro, what a lucky guy!
Love this post! Thank you so much for sharing it, It’s a great inspiration for choose the perfect gift for my boyfriend.
Have a great weekend!
Erica
http://www.ericavoyage.com