What to Buy Your Grandmother Who Doesn't Need Anything

Every Christmas when we asked my grandmother what she wanted she would shake her head, moan, and complain that she did not need a single thing. This was partly true because she had a house full of antiques and items she never used. When we bought her an article of clothing we she always returned it. It was too itchy, too tight, or just didn't fit. The new coat to replace her ten-year-old one she just did not need. Clothes were soon ruled out. What else is there to buy an elderly lady who already has everything?

My grandmother loved collecting things, and chances are your grandmother collects things as well. Aside from china, my grandmother collected anything to do with the Boston Red Sox. One year when they were popular she received a Red Sox Cabbage Patch Doll. Another year a beach towel with their logo. She was given many books about baseball which she always read, thus being able to surprise much younger men and boys with her knowledge of the Red Sox. An assortment of memorabilia can be found online if you are really searching. The year the Red Sox won the series there was a plethora of Red Sox ornaments, shirts, and books. Not everyone likes sports and not everyone is looking for items they collect, but most people are interested in something. What does your grandparent collect? What do they get excited about? Give them something they might like to collect.

A book about something they like or collect is a very good present idea. My grandmother always liked the books we got her about the Red Sox. She wasn't as big of a reader as my other grandmother, but books weren't anything she ever returned to the store. When we got her fiction books about quilters or historical characters she never returned those either. Try and target the person's interests when it comes to giving books, don't just pick something random that you may like.

My grandmother probably kept the books because they weren't anything she really needed. She already had everything she needed. We gave her a microwave one year, which she threatened to return, and claimed she would never use. It was a big fiasco, but in the end she kept and used it. Household items were out of the question after that year. What did she actually need? Perhaps nothing.

The very last thing I gave her before she died was a perfectly useless figurine of Santa Claus, but she actually liked it. She set it out on a shelf in her living room. My last resort now when I do not know what to give people is something related to the holiday. Stores have an excess of decorations that people may not necessarily buy for themselves, but when given them they will use them. We gave my grandma a Christmas banner to hang outside her house one year. It was nothing she needed that she would buy for herself, but it was something she actually used.

People who have everything may be a little harder to buy for, but you can get creative with gift ideas. Focus on what they like to do or get them something for a collection they may have. There are books on just about every subject imaginable, so chances are there is a book the person may like, even if they are not a big reader. If those ideas don't work look around at all of the holiday items in the stores perhaps there is something nice that though not practical it won't end up getting exchanged after the holidays.