30 Best Gift Ideas for Wife or Girlfriend

It can be extremely challenging to think of gift ideas for your wife or girlfriend. Here is a detailed guide that should help narrow down your options based on her personality. The gift ideas are divided into 8 categories: books, jewelry and accessories, clothes, shoes, electronics, items for the home, flowers, and travel.

1) BOOKS - Books on travel, food, history, art, and business can make perfect gift ideas for wives or girlfriends. Check out this article on the best books to give as gifts. For example, if she likes to travel or dreams of traveling one day, consider this beautifully photographed book for a gift: Journeys of a Lifetime: 500 of the World's Greatest Trips.

If she's a romantic, there's a great book called Your Life Together in 150 Questions . It's a journal where you answer questions to chronicle the memorable and fun moments of your relationship (how you met, funny stories, your quirks, etc). The reason this is a perfect gift idea is because all you have to do is buy it and give it to your wife or girlfriend. She'll love the idea of answering these fun questions, and she'll be the one one who fills it out. No work for you!

2) JEWELRY AND ACCESSORIES - Jewelry is always a great gift idea for your wife or girlfriend. The difficult part is picking an appropriate item from the enormous selection of jewelry available in stores and online. You need to make two observations before you decide what to buy: 1) what kind of jewelry she usually wears (observe over the course of a few days), and 2) what is in her jewelry box (go look inside it).

Your observations will probably fall into one of the following categories. It is safer to buy a gift you know she already likes than to go out on a limb and buy something totally different.

a) SILVER - Necklaces, bracelets, rings and earrings that are made of some form of silver but do not contain gemstones like diamonds or rubies. These are typically worn by younger women and are great gift for women for every day wear because they are usually lightweight and not too flashy.

b) GOLD - Like the silver jewelry above, these are necklaces, bracelets, etc that are made of yellow gold (looks gold-colored) or white gold (looks silver-colored) that do not contain gemstones. Often women who have sensitive ears can only wear earrings made of yellow gold or white gold, but not silver, so keep that in mind. These are also typically worn by younger women as every day wear rather than for special occasions.

c) GEMSTONES (excluding diamonds) - This is where things start getting expensive. This category includes necklaces, rings, earrings, etc that contain a gemstone such as a ruby, sapphire, emerald, jade, turquoise, etc. Prices vary depending on the size and quality of the stone. These tend to be more appropriate gift ideas for fiances or spouses since you'll have to spend more money to get a decent-sized stone.

d) DIAMONDS - Because diamonds can range so much in quality (and therefore price), here is an interesting tool on Amazon called Create Your Own Ring that lets you customize and price the type of diamond ring you are looking for.

e) PEARLS - Pearls are a classic gemstone that can also range widely in quality and price. Pearls are commonly worn by both younger and older women for a look of sophistication that is different from that of diamonds. If you are going to buy pearls as a gift, use the same rule as diamonds: This is not the time to be cheap. Buy higher quality stones or don't get them at all.

If you see a lot of silver necklaces in her jewelry box, it is likely that she likes the color and simplicity of jewelry that she can wear every day, and you'd be safer buying her a new silver necklace than taking a risk on a turquoise ring or a gold locket. If you see a lot of big, bold, colorful rings, you'd be safer buying her a bold new ring than going for a simple gold necklace. If she likes to wear dangling diamond or sapphire earrings every time you go out to an evening event, keep your gift consistent with that style.

3) PERFUME
Sephora Scent Sampler - If you know she likes perfume, but you don't know what scent to buy for an anniversary gift, try this gift pack and let her decide which she likes best. She will love being able to try a different scent every day.

4) ELECTRONICS

a) Music and CDs - Gift ideas for your wife or girlfriend include a new CD, a box set of classic CDs, or a personalized mixed CD.

b) TV or Movie DVD set - Get individual DVDS or the entire collection of DVDs from a favorite TV series or movie trilogy. Keep in mind if she has a favorite actor or actress. Can't think of a good DVD to get? Check out this list of the top TV shows on DVD, or browse a list of bestselling films.

c) Garmin GPS - GPS devices can be a great gift idea for women and extremely convenient to have in the car. I highly recommend the Garmin brand from personal experience.

d) iPod Accesories - Assuming she already has an iPod, the most useful accessories right now are car transmitters for your iPod or docking stations with speakers. If she likes to run or jog, the iPod armband can be handy too.

e) External Hard Drive/ Portable Hard Drive - Anyone who has a lot of music, photos, or movies on their computer and does not have an external hard drive or other method of backup could probably use one. These devices are very affordable and convenient, so they are a very practical gift idea.

f) Amazon Kindle - This slim and sheek portable electronic reading device has become a wildly popular gift idea among avid readers.

5) FLOWERS - If you are looking for a gift idea besides the usual bouquet of roses, why not consider a beautiful plant like an orchid that will last for years instead of a week? If your wife or girlfriend likes to cook, there are also indoor herb kits that can be grown on the kitchen window sill. Foodies will love using fresh basil in that tomato basil pasta or fresh parsley in that seafood linguine. Growing your own herbs is much cheaper than buying fresh herbs at the grocery store, too.

For more romantic gift ideas like chocolate roses, perfume, and jewelry, check out
this article.