12 Gifts for Under $20.00 Suitable for Me and Possibly Other Men like Me

My wife and I are trying something different this year for Christmas. After years of trying to outdo each with presents that more-often-than-not were quickly forgotten, we decided to finally put a halt to commercialism. No more exaggerated gifts...no more "I love you so much that it's going to put me in debt for most of 2007." Nope. This Christmas we're going to go simple. Now I don't know if you can successfully pull this off with someone other than you're wife. And after - hold on let me count - 21 years of marriage I figure we can risk ego's and try something dfferent. So I challenged her. I bet my soul mate that she couldn't come up with something memorable for less than 20 dollars. O-k, make that "five" something-memorables (that's $100.00 bucks total, in case I confused you). I have no idea what she'll come up with but I'll find out on December 25th. Hopefully this list will help.

In the meantime - I've done some digging and I've come up with the following items I know I"D like (just in case my wife's reading this article). All great gifts...all for less than $20.00. I was hoping I'd find this stuff for $12.00. It would have made for a catchier title: "Twelve Gift Ideas foir $12.00". But it was not to be.

Here goes nothing. This list is not all-inclusive. I can't say that it's good for all guys. It's only good for "this" one. I encourage you to come up with some ideas of your own. And share them with someone special.

1. A beret. Cost: $18.00. Don't ask me why, but I decided I want to wear a beret in 2007. But only during the Fall and Winter months.

2. Loreal for Men "Face Regeneration Cream". Cost: $20.00. I snickered the first time I saw this, but darn it if it doesn't do a number on those nasty wrinkles, while leaving my skin as soft as a baby's behind.

3. 1 tablet of 18 x 24 ilustration board and a soft lead HB pencil. Cost: around $15.00 depending on the quality of the paper and how many sheets there are. 10 sheets of Strathmore illustration board is not unreasonable. That's about all I need to illustrate a short story involving "The Adventures of Kilowatt Man."