With all the winter holidays coming up, there comes the crisis of finding the perfect gift, which is no simple task.  Here’s a few tips to help you out for buying gifts whether it’s for your friends, family, or boyfriend/girlfriend.

1. Make it personal. The best gifts are always the ones with sentimental value.  If you’re going to buy someone a 10-dollar necklace that doesn’t even reflect their personality or style just so you can say you gave a gift to them, you might as well just forget even buying a gift.  Even something simple such as a mini-scrapbook with a few pictures and quotes the two of you share would be better.
2. Play off your inside jokes. If you and your friend have an inside joke and you see a mock gift that reminds you of it, get it.  Let’s say you always talk about how cute Taylor Lautner is and you see an Eclipse poster of him, get it.  It’s something she can laugh about.
3. Set a mutual limit for how much to spend. Before you go crazy buying gifts for all your friends or your boyfriend/girlfriend, set a limit.  Whether you simply set a limit on your own to not spend more than say $20 a person or if you talk to your best friend and say “let’s not spend more than $30.”
4. Don’t worry if it’s not expensive. Even if you set a limit on how much to spend, it’s okay if the gift isn’t expensive.  As they say, “It’s the thought that counts.”
5. Consider doing a Secret Santa. If you have a big group of friends that everyone gets along with, throw out the idea of doing a Secret Santa.  (Everyone writes their name and a gift idea on a piece of paper, throw it in a hat, and then pick one.  No one says who they have until they give their person a gift on the designated day.)  That way everyone can get one nice gift rather than everyone getting a lot of cheap, bad gifts.
6. Movies, movies, movies. For someone who’s difficult to shop for, maybe the best gift would be a movie.  I can’t think of a person who doesn’t like some movie or another.  If you saw a movie with your friend and they liked it, get it for them.
7. Giftcards: A Do or A Don’t? Gift cards are a potential idea for a gift, but I recommend getting something more personal if you can.  Use gift cards for someone you aren’t very close with because good friends deserve gifts with some thought behind them.
8. What if you receive a gift from someone you didn’t buy one for? There’s nothing that is more awkward than receiving a gift from someone you didn’t buy one for.  The best thing to do then is tell him or her you didn’t bring their gift, but you’ll give it to them next time you see them.  For a quick solution, get them a gift card to Starbucks or his or her favorite store.
9. And the questions all guys seem to struggle with: what should you get for the person you’re in a relationship with? When it comes to girls, we’re not that difficult.  Okay, maybe (just maybe) we might be at times.  Even if you haven’t been together for a long time, you better put some thought in behind her gift because otherwise it might cause some problems for you.  Make sure that it’s something that reflects her personality, so start paying attention to what she likes!  By paying attention, you might just learn what she wants.  Shocking concept, right?  One thing not to try to shop for her though would be clothes.  Chances are that would turn out to be a complete disaster.  Still struggling?  Talk to her friends, chances are they already know exactly what she wants, but if that doesn’t work out so well, then just keep it romantic.  Going to Build-a-Bear and creating a bear for her is a simple gift that will melt her heart.  They even create cheap accessories such as a heart pillow that attatches to the bear’s arms that say “I love you.”  It’s quick, simple, inexpensive, and perfect.