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Birthday wish list tips

Building Your Birthday Wish List

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Another birthday means another opportunity for your loved ones to celebrate you! Often, that involves little gifts celebrating your next year of life. 

I think it’s a great idea to always keep your online wish list updated so when your birthday comes around, you’ll have your own personal curated wish list ready to share with others. Giftster is a great service to create free wish lists with for this purpose and one you can easily invite your friends and family to so they too can keep you in the loop with gift ideas for them too!

Building your birthday list from scratch? Here are 10 ideas to get you started.

1 – List a favorite place where you like to eat

Could be your favorite quick morning breakfast, lunch place, dinner out, or even a guilty ice cream pleasure.  Your family may gift you a gift card to one of these or, better yet, take the time to treat and join you in dining.

2 – Your favorite food, beverage or treat

Consumables are always a great gift to receive: nuts, popcorn, coffee, tea, wine, spirits, chocolate, you name it.  Make sure to list your favorites on your wish list as well as any dislikes, food sensitivities, and allergies just in case someone decides to go off-list.

3 – An item that helps enable your favorite hobby

I like yarn.  I mean…I REALLY like yarn.  The gifter giving me a yarn I’ve had my eye on will get the biggest hug!  List something related to your favorite hobby on your wish list.  But be specific.  Let your loved ones know the brand, model, type, etc. of the item along with where the best place is to find it.  Could be online, could be at your favorite local hobby shop.  Either way, this gift would be a hit for anyone who gives it.

4 – Support your favorite activity

Bowling, movies, mini golf, concerts, hiking, biking, and more.  This is another one that would be great for the gift giver to join you in doing.  A great gift and an opportunity to create memories together.  Big win!

5 – Something that you’d love to have but won’t buy yourself

You may think of this as a long-shot gift idea, but you may be surprised.  This might be just the gift idea your family is looking for.  I’m not saying that you should list that Ferrari you’ve been dreaming of but those smaller, giftable items that you think, “hmmm…I’d really like to have that, but I don’t think I could swing that right now.”  It doesn’t hurt to list it.

6 – Product you use every day

That perfume or cologne you wear every day, or your favorite lotion, soaps, even purses, wallets, bags, music downloads.  Think about what you do in the course of your day and what items you use that you wouldn’t mind receiving as a gift.  How can they go wrong if it’s something you use every day?

7 – Clothing

I have a cousin who can’t have enough scarves.  I, personally, love cardigan sweaters.  Or, if you’re the type of person who thinks about clothing others more than clothing yourself, list an item that you’ve been meaning to go out and buy yourself but just haven’t gotten around to it. Just like the hobby item, be specific. List colors, sizes, and other preferences so the gift giver can give you a spot on present.

8 – Favorite collectible or sports team

If you haven’t heard, my beloved Chicago Cubs won the World Series last year.  This joy is something that won’t likely go away for quite some time.  While I don’t want all the various memorabilia that is out there, there are one or two items that I’d like.  I’m sure if you’re as enthusiastic about your favorite team as I am about the Cubs, you can think of an item you’d like as well.  If sports isn’t your thing, what about the other things you like to collect?  Classic books, figurines, charms for a charm bracelet; those other little things you see on your shelf that make you smile.  Time to add one to your wish list!

9 – Something new you’d like to try

I have a friend who has been talking about going skydiving for years now, but something always seems to come up and he never seems to get around to it.  I’m sure if he added it to his wish list, many in his family would go in on a joint gift so he can finally check it off of his bucket list.  What’s that one thing you’d like to try?  It’s certainly not skydiving for me, but I’m sure we all have one thing we could answer this question with.  This is yet another gift where the gift giver can join you on the fun!

10 – Something you’re saving towards

So this is where you’d list that Ferrari you’ve been dreaming about.  Okay…still probably not the best wish list idea, but you may have your eye on a big-ticket item that you’re saving up towards. If it’s an item that can be bought at a store, list gift cards to the store and also list that these cards will go towards you purchasing this item. 

You could also ask for cash gifts to save up to buy this item. One way to do this is to list the item in $20 increments and list the quantity of $20 that you will need. 

For example, if the item you’re saving for is $500, list the item on your list for $20 and make the quantity 25. Update your item description when you receive a gift towards the amount to let the gift-givers in your life know how much farther you have to go.

Don’t Forget: List your birthday in Giftster to remind your family about your special day

A few weeks before your birthday, we’ll send your loved ones a quick reminder that your birthday is coming up.  Encourage your family to list their birthdays, too, so you can stay on top of birthday gift giving all year.

Log on to Giftster and go to My Settings to add your birthday today

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