The global financial crisis is not enough reason for you to skip giving gifts to your mom this coming Mother’s Day (May 10). It’s the thought that counts and not the price tag of the item you are giving to a special person like your mom.

Here are some affordable ideas you could use in order to find a great gift for your mom without affecting your budget too much:

• Flowers: You can easily go to a flower shop and buy half or a dozen of your mom’s favorite flower. If she doesn’t have a favorite, you could ask a florist for an expert opinion.
• Be creative: You could create your own unique gift by using materials you see in your home. You could convert glass bottles into fine flower vases by adding ribbons or other designs. Creativity is the key.
• Beauty products: Check out what she’s using and buy them yourself.
• Gift card: Give her the option to buy what she really wants by giving her a gift card from one of her favorite stores.
• Take her out to dinner: Sometimes moms just wants to spend quality time with their children, especially if they are already grown up. Free up your schedule on May 10 and have a date with your mom.

Computer and software giant Microsoft is giving away up to 30,000 job training vouchers in the state of Washington in the United States. This is part of the company’s initiative “Elevate America Program,” which provides free worker training classes to up to 2 million Americans. The estimated value of the vouchers reaches $3 million according to the company’s release earlier this week.

The initial participating states in this program are Florida, New York and Washington. However, Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire said in a press conference that any state can call up Microsoft and request to become part of the program.

Several individuals who were laid off from their work have already claimed their vouchers. They believe that having computer skills would give them an edge when they search for their next jobs.

Microsoft senior vice president Brad Smith said that there’s a greater chance of finding jobs if the aspiring worker has computer skills. He said that jobs that require computer use could pay the worker additional $5,000 a year on top of basic pay than those jobs that don’t.

These vouchers can be used by individuals to take online classes.

Everyone’s scrambling until the last minute to find gifts for their loved ones. This doesn’t mean, however, that you should just grab the next thing you see at a retail store without even considering if your recipient will like it.

Here are some items that you can consider buying at the last minute yet still get whoops of appreciation from your loved ones.

• Nike iPod sports kit: This particular device can aid the user in keeping track of his fitness progress. It’s a great thing to give to yourself and loved ones in order to keep up with the New Year’s resolution of keeping in shape.

• Gift cards: Although giving gift vouchers can be a bit impersonal, they’re great for last minute gift shoppers. The recipient is given the opportunity to get the item he or she likes using the gift card or avail of great services like spa treatments, lingerie or racing lessons. You can purchase these gift cards online and all you need is just print out the card number.

• Mobile phone: Retail stores usually come up with bundle offers for their newest line of mobile phones. You can get these items at a reasonable price and it’s already connected to a mobile phone service.

A quick trivia for everyone, based on a survey – men are mostly the ones doing the last minute shopping rather than women.

Holiday gift giving can be a hassle for everyone but it’s pretty much worth it in the end. However, there are times when the giver or receiver of the gift needs to return the merchandise. Therefore, it is important to check out the gift return policies on retail stores.

According to Southwest Missouri Better Business Bureau President and CEO Judy Mills, being a smart shopper means checking the return policy of the store before making the purchase. She said that the retailer is not obligated by law to take a return.

She added that most of the stores only do merchandise exchanges or store credits because monetary refunds can affect the retailer’s cash flow. Therefore, it’s best to check first. Also, be aware that some items you simply can’t return, this is quite usual with things like lingerie.

Retailers will always ask for the receipt when it comes to processing returns. This means you could include the receipt on the gift when giving it to your friends or loved ones. This obviously won’t need to be done when you give your loved ones a gift voucher as they can then buy anything they like!

The National Retail Federation (NRF) is becoming more vigilant in holiday returns because retailers are estimated to lose about $3.5 billion in fraudulent returns.

Of course, you would not want to be included in the list. Have fun shopping and Happy Holidays!

The elderly citizens also deserve to get a cheer this coming holiday season.
That’s why about a hundred volunteers went around collecting Christmas gifts for women and men in their fifties and sixties. On Sunday, the big day happened. The 24th annual Neighborhood House Santa for Seniors took place. Volunteers flocked to the venue to personally deliver the gifts to the elderly residents of The Neighborhood House.

The Neighborhood House Director of Operations Larry Von Behren said that elderly citizen also deserve attention. The volunteers thought so too.

Rita Garrett, one of the volunteers, said that she’s used to being around elderly people and she enjoys doing errands for them and just visit them to keep them company. She also took part in the wrapping of thousands of presents that they collected for the senior citizens.

Meanwhile, the El Paso Police Department in Texas set up an Angel Tree event wherein volunteers can pass by the department and donate needed items by the senior citizens such as socks, blankets, jackets and many more. According to reports, the project will last until December 18. The police officers will deliver the collected gifts to the Valor Personal Assistance Service for the Elderly and Disabled on December 20.

The South Australian government has reportedly banned sixteen toys as Christmas gifts for teens due to the failure to pass safety checks conducted on the products.

With Christmas holidays just a few weeks away, these toys would have been great picks. However, it was determined that the products could inflict injury.

One of the banned toys was a toy gun that has a powerful laser. According to reports, it is twelve times more powerful than those allowed under the state law. The officials revealed that the strength of the laser reached 12 milliowatts and the limitation is only 1 milliwatt.

Authorities also discovered that the laser can reach a range of four hundred meters. This means that motorists can be injured with this product when used against them.

Also making the banned list are folding chairs that can trap fingers, magnetic learning sets and others.

Gail Gago, the Consumer Affairs Minister, said that eight suppliers have been given notice to recall these items from the stores. She warned that violators will pay up to $10,000 in fines for selling the banned items. She said that it will ensure that everyone will conform to the law.

Galaxy Research conducted a timely survey that revealed the best and worst gifts for the upcoming Christmas holidays. You might find useful information in this article and avoid giving gifts that could create disappointment to your loved ones.

According to the survey, gifts that are getting the negative rating are books, dressing gowns, lingerie, photo frame, socks and bath gels.

More than 1,200 participants aged thirteen years and up were interviewed in October to determine the trend for this year’s gift-giving.

Based on the results, about 72 percent of the participants revealed that their Christmas gifts were below expectations.

Topping the worst gift-givers in the survey are the grandparents at 37 percent, in second place are the mothers at 20 percent and the fathers in third at 14 percent.

Teenage girls surveyed stated that they don’t like the clothes purchased by their parents (more than 50 percent). However, it seemed that they can successfully disguise their disappointment since 70 percent of the parents surveyed revealed that they consider clothes as the best buy.

As for the best gifts, the younger population revealed that they prefer perfume (for women) and electronic gadgets like iPod (for men) as gifts for the coming Christmas.

So for the parents, if you can afford these then it may be time to reconsider.

Before you start frowning over this unusual article, a clarification needs to be made.

An online auction site called PropertyRoom.com has been launched recently and this was founded by a former police detective.

According to reports, the items that are up for auction are those that were seized by the police for the past year. The items are said to be coming from more than a thousand police departments in the United States.

According to usual practices, police departments only hold on to these stolen goods for about three to four months before they can be sold off. The practice has been taking place offline for years but it is the first time that it’s being done online.

Several items are up for grabs such as computers, sunglasses, bikes even the odd wedding dress and many more.

The site creators assured the public that everything is secure and there are no fraudulent transactions.

Minor items can be shipped to the winning bidder. However, larger items such as vans or cars must be picked up. Be careful with what you buy, though, because a lot of items can no longer be returned and some major items returned will have a charge of 15 percent restocking fee.

What are you waiting for? Log-on and register!

Happy bidding!

You probably find it difficult to find the perfect gift for your in-laws. Don’t worry because you are not the only one. According to a recent survey, about 80 percent of the respondents revealed that they’re having a harder time purchasing a gift for the in-laws. This holiday season, you are once again faced with the dilemma as to what to buy for them. Don’t worry, there are several gift ideas you can choose from in the list that can guarantee a smile or hug from your in-laws.

If you are planning to buy one gift that both your mother-in-law and father-in-law can enjoy, then purchase a new board game such as Scrabble Deluxe or Sudoku puzzles. These are games that they can enjoy in their free time. You can even join in if they invite you to play. Another great gift is a GPS system, it’s a fitting gift especially if they are constantly planning about a road trip for themselves.

If you are planning to buy individual gifts, then you can give your mother-in-law a do-it-yourself spa set which you can always purchase in retail stores. With the holiday season just around the corner, there’s a big chance that these spa sets are offered with a discount.

For your father-in-law, you can give a new jacket or cardigan. It will really look well on him during the holiday season.

If you still have doubts, you can ask your wife or husband to ask their parents casually as to what they want to get for Christmas.

It always feels great to know that despite the economic crisis the world is experiencing now, someone still reaches out to help those in need.

This was in the case of sixth-grade student Shelby Burrus of Puyallup’s All Saints School in Tacoma. She decided that she doesn’t need the birthday gifts as much as others who are struggling in life.

This is the second year in a row where Burrus asked for grocery gift cards rather than toys. She used the gift cards to purchase food for the food banks. This means that she helped those who have nothing to eat for the Thanksgiving.

“There are a lot of people with financial problems who can’t afford a Thanksgiving dinner, and I have money, so I decided to help them out. It’s the right thing to do,” she said in an interview with local media.

Burrus’ actual birthday is still in December but this is celebrated earlier in order to coincide with her intention to help those in need for Thanksgiving. She received a $300 gift card which in turn she purchased 30 turkeys.

Burrus has no intention of stopping with her charity work. She’s even looking forward for next year.