When it comes to buying gifts for people most holidays and occasions make it pretty easy to know what to get. With Christmas you have a lot of help from shops and advertisers telling you all the bright, shiny new things to buy. Most people already have a fair idea of what they want for their birthdays and Easter, of course, is all about the chocolate! But what about buying gifts for people in their prime? For example who knows what to get as a retirement gift? After all it is not an occasion that comes around annually or often enough to know what sort of things you should get. Well fear not as I have managed to compile a list of what I believe to be perfect gifts for people who are in their prime!!

If the person you are buying for enjoys spending time at home relaxing (perhaps enjoying their recent free time thanks to a retirement?) then why not get them something special to do with their hobbies? If the person you are buying for is very into football how about getting them a personalised football book? You can have the front embossed with their name which will make it all the more special and the inside contains football memorabilia and facts about their favourite team from old headlines and newspaper cuttings to photos and match reports (including boardroom dramas!)

If you want to get them something special that they can keep for a long time there are lots of items that you can have engraved or personalised. For example an engraved half pint pewter tankard is not only something they can keep but it will certainly come in useful!! Champagne or Whisky is a good present choice for any occasion and it can be made even more special by having your very own label on the bottle. You can choose from many different types and have whatever you want written on it. Another lovely item to get engraved is a carriage clock or even a watch (this again is another item that will get a lot of use).

A personalised calendar is a very original gifts idea and as it is used all year round, a constant reminder of yourself! If you want to go for a slightly more light hearted gift (but at the same time very useful) why not get them the brilliant ’101 things to do in a shed’. This is a great gift idea as it contains so many different things to keep yourself occupied and busy such as gardening tips, DIY tips, Model making, or fun projects in general. This present will certainly get a lot of use (even if they don’t admit it right away!)

Many people who have a lot of free time on their hands find themselves wanting to use that time to find out more about their family history. This can be done with a ‘Family History Pack’ this pack includes all the necessary information and tools in order to trace your family tree. This is the perfect gift for keeping yourself busy and finding out some fascinating information about your family.

Gardening tools are always a lovely idea as it is a useful item but at the same time something to help enjoy your favourite hobbies. You can buy them in sets or individually and you can even have them personalised to make them individual and special!

If the person you are buying a gift for enjoys cooking why not get them a good cook book or even a cooking journal so that they can come up with their own unique ideas and jot them down as they go along. It could even end up being something that is passed down through generations?

For more personalised gifts ideas why not visit getting personal.co.uk? If the person or people you are buying your gifts for plan on seeing the world and travelling there are so many fantastic gift ideas to choose from. There are many items you can purchase to help them along on their travels such as personalised luggage, passport holders, engraved travel clock and you can even help chronicle them and keep the memories forever with a leather travel journal, travel notes and even a world map to mark the places that they have been.

Once you get started you will find there will be no end of ideas to choose from and you will soon become an expert at buying unique gifts for any occasion!

Today, I will let you on a secret that not many financial planning experts will tell you.

Let me start by giving you a brief history.

As a Christian, I have a very good relationship with the Lord and although some of you may disagree but I am proud to say He has fully blessed my financial life because we are good friends.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not a preacher or a priest (although when I was young I wanted to be one) but I firmly believe that there is really a higher power out there that really loves us unconditionally. Because of that of love, he helps us cope with our problems, gives us great families who also love us unconditionally, he gives us a way in difficult situations, he makes us smile in simplest ways, and He gives us ENORMOUS WEALTH.

Yet many people have really forgotten how our Father truly loves us. So we tend to focus on our problems, our failing business ventures, our nagging wife, the new luxurious car of our neighbor that we envy….. So we end up being miserable and always needy for a lot of things.

Personally, I think all we need is to understand how our Father truly loves us.

As it is written in the bible, there were many instances that our Father tested the prophets and even our brother and savior Jesus. But to all who followed His will, they were blessed enormously.

Believe me, God really wants to bless you enormously in all aspects of our life. In fact, I even believe that He truly wants to bless you more by giving you a lot of money. (yes, you read it right. MONEY). Why you ask? Because if we have more than enough, we can give even more.

So here’s how it really works…

To receive God’s enormous flow of blessings be a SPONGE and not a STONE.

Imagine God’s blessings takes the form of a rain. Then God started pouring blessings in your life but apparently you are a “stone-person” and you repel all the rain (blessings) that are coming at you. Now, imagine that you’re a “sponge-person”. Right there and then when God poured rain (blessings) you absorb everything because you are a “sponge-person”.

What is a “stone-person” and a “sponge-person”?

To put it simply, a “stone-person” is a person who only cares about himself. He is shrewd and only wants to benefit himself and be alone. A “sponge-person” on the other hand, is a sharing and generous person. He understands that when he gives more, he receives more.

Try doing this.

Get a handful of rice and close your fist tightly. Then slowly try to pour more rice into it. Yes, not much rice will enter your hand. In fact, since you are pressing your hand very hard, some of the rice inside your hand slowly spills outside until you are stuck with the full capacity that your hand can only accommodate.

Let’s do another method.

Get another handful of rice, but this time don’t close it tightly. Instead make a hole above enough for it to flow when you pour it. Now call your kids and ask them to open their hands, form like a bowl. Then slowly pour 10% of what you have to their hands.

What happened to the handful of rice in your hand? It’s not full anymore, right? So you then go back to the sack of rice and fill up your hand again. This time ask more members of your family to open their hands and pour 10% to each of them. Repeat the process until you have filled up all the hands of everyone in your household.

Now think. How were you able to fill everyone’s hand with rice?

By opening a hole in your hands and sharing 10% of it to your household, right? This is the analogy of being a “sponge-person”. You absorb more of God’s blessings because you are not filled up to the brim, because you give a portion of what you have, and in return, you are always open to more blessings.

Being a “sponge-person” has greater effects than you think. Notice that you are always blessed but in addition to that, by sharing a portion of what you have you are also a blessing to a lot of people. Hence, you are creating a butterfly effect. A butterfly effect is making little consistent changes that eventually leads to a HUGE difference.

Through the little portion that you give every month you are actually changing the community.

Just like my rice example. You started giving 10% of what you have and ended up filling everybody’s hands with rice. That 10% portion you gave at the start actually makes a HUGE difference wherein it slowly fills everybody’s hands with rice. Hence, when you give and share what you have, you are actually helping many people’s lives. (I believe, if only every human being in the world knew how to share that 10% of what they have, there will be no country that would be suffering from hunger.)

Now to my financial planning guide lesson.

It is not enough to set a financial goal and present it to God. You have to be a “sponge-person” to reach your financial goal.

How?

Start by giving and opening yourself up to more blessing from God. The exact term of this is tithing. Present your financial goal to God then commit to Him that you are going to give 10% of what you earn every month.You can either start by giving your monthly 10% to your nearest church or a non government community that needs additional funds for their projects. Just by following this financial planning guide lesson alone, you will never go broke in your life again.

Presentation as well as the favor itself should reflect you as a couple. Thoughtfulness and creativity can speak volumes.

Here are a few presentation ideas for your favors to get you started:

- Favor Boxes! They come in many colours and shapes these days. Decorate with a pretty ribbon, bow, tag or stickers. Making the favor boxes look beautiful will show your guests you took your time and care.

- Personalize It! Make your favours personal by using personalized ribbon or hand printing your name and wedding date. A personal message on the tag can also be a nice added touch.

- Make Them Functional! Taking advantage of using one favor for two purposes that can save money and time. For example, Place Card Holders that are also Frames are a great idea for your guests to take home.

- Place all your favors into a basket and leave it at the front door of the reception so that your guests can take one before entering the hall. Or better still, as a couple take the basket full of favors and distribute them to your guests while thanking them at the same time for sharing in your event.

- Another fun idea is to hang your favors from the chairs. This is a unique way of showcasing your favors. And it’s also a great way to dress up those reception chairs.

- Having children at the event? Children love being helpful, why not give them a basket filled with your favors and have them visit each table. Just make sure they get to all your guests.

- Favor Trees! These are great for a winter wedding table centerpiece. If the winter theme is over, you can always consider a potted plant. Something light weight so that you can hang them from the tree, such as bookmarks. Your guests can then untie the favor from the tree at the end of the night.

Whatever you choose, always remember to keep your guests in mind, so that each favor given, will be a fond memory of your wedding day.

Did you know……A bomboniere was fashioned of crystal, porcelain or gold and often encrusted with precious stones. The delicate boxes held confectionery delicacies, at a time when sugar was quite expensive. Sugar was also highly valued by all, as it was believed to have medicinal benefits.

Printed advertising survives – and thrives – alongside web sites and online promotion.

True, having a presence on the web is certainly expected; virtually no company out there today can get by without a web site and email.

But the buyer of your products or services also expects a legitimate company to have printed sales material. Some new companies print up business cards, letterhead and envelopes and think they’re armed for business. It’s not enough to leave behind a card with your web address. How do you know they’ll really visit your site? A brochure about your business is like putting your web site in the palm of their hands.

Apart from looking like a legitimate vendor to your existing – and prospective – clients, you want to give them something to take away and peruse at their leisure – Even the most clever web site address has trouble doing that.

A brochure is like a presentation that you can carry around with you and leave with prospective clients.

When laying out your brochure, design and write it from the reader’s perspective. Before you start, make a list of what you think your prospective clients may want to know about your company and your product or service – and what you want them to know.

Don’t overdo it with verbiage. Everybody is busy, and just as with any kind of promotional effort, you have to get their attention fast. Be clear and concise; bullet points or other kinds of quick-reading lists are often helpful and easy for people to scan.

When listing your selling features, there are a couple of different ways to communicate. Some would counsel that you keep to the facts and not state opinions, while other copywriters think it’s perfectly all right to tell people what they will think of what you have to offer (“You’ll love it!”). In fact, most advertising is a mix of the two approaches.

No matter what approach you use, the best way to get to the point is to enumerate the benefits you offer, not the technicalities. Saying that your lawnmowers have 22″ rather than 26″ blades may be accurate, and the reader of your brochure may be able to work out the benefits of that himself.

But save him the trouble! Point out that your “longer blades mean a wider path and less time mowing,” or some such thing. Lead your reader quickly to the right conclusions.

Make sure your prospective client knows what sets you apart from other similar vendors, but without knocking the competition. This is one area where you want to let your reader draw his own conclusions.

The statement, “Our competitors stink!” may be accurate (and fun to point out!Don’t run down your competition; forget about them (maybe everyone else will, too!) and tell people about yourself and your business – besides, why waste valuable brochure space taking about them? It is better to talk about what is right about you, and let your reader imagine what is wrong about the other guys.

You want to do your best to make your brochure eye-catching and pleasing to look at. The better it looks, the more someone is likely to read – and even keep – your brochure.

Printing used to be expensive. With more sophisticated prepress equipment (remember cut-and-paste?) and faster presses, full color printing has become less expensive and better looking than ever.

Be sure to use full color, including photographs if possible, and print on premium paper stock. (Don’t let anybody talk you into using copier-grade paper to save money; it won’t, and it will make you, and your business, look third-rate.) Good premium paper is inexpensive and is a brighter white and a smoother feel.

Remember that when something is well designed and presented in an attractive format, it is often passed on to others by your clients; and referrals are great sources of new business: They may even pass it along to others, which, combined with a recommendation, is the best kind of advertising – a recommendation – and they cost you nothing extra to get.