Christmas, Hanukkah and New Year’s Eve are right around the corner, 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. It took a while but I eventually discovered that Italian gift baskets work particularly well for him. He gets a nice assortment of things and I get to give a spectacular-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’ve actually become a bit of a gift basket freak. The people in my life have come to expect them from me when 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 great thing about giving gift baskets is that they come in so many varieties. When I want to send gifts to people who just finished moving into new homes, I usually send wine and cheese gift baskets. Those also work well as elegant thank you gifts or when someone has finished remodeling a home. Still, there are occasions when I’m not really sure what to give, so I just do a search by gender. Entering the search term for “gift baskets for men” 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 on the Web is that I usually end up buying something myself! But that’s OK; I’ve gotten some really fun stuff that way. As a matter of fact, My friends and I are still drinking some Napa wines I bought in a gift basket last month. As I write this I realized I should finish those bottles soon. I’m going to start my holiday shopping any day and I’m sure I’ll be buying plenty more for myself!