If you are going to give a Valentine’s Day gift, you may as well do it right!  Don’t wait until the last possible second and grab chocolates and roses from the grocery store on your way home from work on February 14th.  Use this list for some great Valentine’s Day gift ideas that should be a little better received than the stereotypical chocolate and roses:

Show her you’ve been paying attention!  Whether she’s told you or not- a woman wants to know you are paying attention, and have consideration enough for her to know a few basic things.  Her favorite meal, favorite song, hobbies… in fact- this is the perfect Valentine’s Day gift.  Make or buy her favorite meal, have a candle lit dinner with her favorite music playing.  Have conversation and keep the television off (you can catch the scores on the game another time- it’s a day to appreciate the people you love, not the stuff you love!)  You can turn it up a notch with champagne or wine, and a chocolate fondue with strawberries for dessert.

The Love  Basket.  If you do the dinner thing regularly, or just really feel the need to give something PHYSICAL rather than time and a favorite meal; you could go with a basket of goodies.  This is a step above the heart shaped box of chocolate and long stemmed red roses- but you’ll want to select a gift basket that shows you put a little thought into it rather than grab the cheapest or closest one within reach.  Buying a ready-made gift basket is ok; creating your own is far better.

Grab a nice basket from Wal-mart or a craft store.  Then take some time to fill it with things you know she’ll love!  Candy is ok, and you could even dress it up with a flower or two- but be sure to include a few special things that you know she’ll love.  Does she enjoy  baths?  Get her some new bubble baths, candles to place around the tub, a relaxing CD, body lotion for when she gets out.  You could even include a bottle of champagne and a fancy champagne glass for her to enjoy it in!  Is your girl a bookworm?  Find out who her favorite authors are and fill up the basket with the newest releases.

The Gift of Time.  For many couples, the problem is there just isn’t much time to spend together.  If this is a complain you’re partner has, why not arrange for the afternoon off, and just spend some nice, quality time together?  If money is an issue, this is a good option also, as you can spend the day walking through a park, hiking in the mountains, or taking a scenic ride through the country.  Whatever you decide to do, the point is you’ll be enjoying the time together.

Gift Certificates.  Many women enjoy time at the local salon or spa; and probably don’t do these things as often as they might like.  If you know she is interested in this sort of thing; you could get a gift certificate that allows her to go and enjoy herself.  She will be amazed that you thought of such a thing and enjoy her time.  Be sure that if you give a gift certificate, you present it nicely though- perhaps over dinner, or delivered with a bouquet of her favorite flowers at work.

There are many things you can give for Valentine’s Day.  The best gifts are those that took just a little thought and creativity- especially when buying gifts for a woman.  Steer clear of the box of chocolates from the gas station and chances are, whatever gift you choose she will love it!

*picture of artwork from John P Metal Art Blog http://pozadzides.com/john/blog/2006/03/22/a-dozen-hearts/

Great Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Pretty much everyone has a sweet tooth and enjoys a delicious Snickers, Hershey’s, or Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups every now and then. Of course these food items have no nutritional value, but they sure taste good, and it can’t hurt once and a while. When we purchase pop and candy, we usually do it very impulsively, often from a vending machine at work or school. Although they’re rather convenient, vending machines are the single most expensive way to purchase pop and candy and often you’ll receive stale products which have been sitting there for months on end!

$0.75 for a candy bar and $1.25 for a 20 oz soda doesn’t seem like a ton of money up front, but when we consider it to the prices we can get from a typical grocery store, it boggles the mind as to why we pay so much for our favorite snack foods inside vending machines.

When you purchase soda from a vending machine, you’re probably paying around 6.25 cents per ounce for your soda. Many grocery stores have a deal where you can purchase six 24 oz sodas (usually all standard Coke products) for just $2.50 or $2.65 after sales tax in South Dakota. At this price your soda is still in a nice bottle that you can carry around with you and bring to work, but now you’re only paying 1.84 cents per ounce! When you purchase soda out of a vending machine, you’re easily paying three times what you should be if not more!

What about candy bars? Usually I can find a deal where the grocery store will sell 6 full-sized candy bars for $2.00, or 33.3 cents per each candy bar. That’s a lot better deal than the $0.75 you’ll typically pay at a vending machine these days!
Depending on who fills your vending machine, the candy you receive from your vending machine might sit there for months. Unless it’s frequented on a daily basis by most everyone in the office, some candy bars can sit in a machine for months if the vendor doesn’t make it a very clear point to make sure the dates on the candy bars are good. Nobody likes to fork over $1.00 for a snack and only to have it be hard, stale, and taste like crap.

Vending machines sure are convenient and a way to satisfy an impulsive hunger desire, but they’re still a rip-off. If you do some careful planning and bring some soda to work or school with you, you can get higher-quality snack food for a lot less money.

Never Purchase Pop or Candy from a Vending Machine Again. was created by and is property of American Consumer News.