nwmr: DH 40th Bday Gift

GMH1183

What in the world do you get for your husband for his 40th birthday? I literally have NO ideas. He is a structural engineer and works in a business casual office. He likes college football, camping, fishing, star trek, star wars, action movies, woodworking, politics, history. When I list all that out it seems like I should be able to think of something good, but I just can't. Any good ideas? What have you gotten for your hubbies lately?

HobbityBarb

xkcd.com have great gifts for the geeky type - I got my hubby some of the t-shirts. Or thinkgeek.com's always a good site for geeky gifts.(they have a USS Enterprise pizza cutter!)

SunAndRain

For DH's 40th I threw a huge party in our home. Invited 70 guests (40 came).  It was a casino theme and I rented a full sized craps table and a blackjack table.  It was great fun. 

For his gift I got him a Nixon 'The 51-30' Bracelet Watch.  It was $500.00 so definitely more than a casual "I need a new watch" spend, but not a four-figure investment.

Like yours, my DH is an engineer, with lots of interests, but buys what he wants/needs for himself.

Other gifts ideas: concert or event tickets (my DH loves to go to these).

One item that was a minor fail was a hot air balloon experience.  Unbeknownst to me, he had already been.

shannm

Well, DH and I love food. We tend to do great dinners out for birthdays. So for his fortieth this year, we did a once in a lifetime dinner at Vetri in Philly. Supposed to be ranked as one of the top Italian restaurants in the country. Extensive chef tasting menu with wine flights = 700 bucks. And we relived our youth a bit by playing hooky from work and going to a rock climbing gym earlier in the day.

ccam

I would go with some sort of experience gift - a weekend away, tickets to a sporting event or concert, etc. - something fun that you guys can do together.  My DH would personally like something like this more than a physical gift.  Anything that he really wants or needs, he'll buy himself so it doesn't leave me with many gift options.

jlaOK

You just described my DH exactly (he's even a structural engineer).

Stuff I get him is graphic t-shirts (Target and ON have good selections), golf certificates, college football gear (and maybe tickets to a game), tickets to a pro or semi-pro sporting even near you, a new fishing rod or reel.

For a 40th birthday it could be cool to plan a weekend for the two of you to get away and go to some sort of sporting event.  Then you could get him a small item (t-shirt or ball cap) to go with.  Or a weekend away (with you or one of his buddies) to go camping and fishing.

PSU_Texan

We must all be married to the same guy.  Mine is a structural engineer too!  Like others have said, mine never wants stuff but experiences.  He's already put in the request that for his 40th bday he wants to go away for a long weekend with just me to an island.

Leap08

I am a big fan of the experience gift. My husband's birthday is in January, so his birthday gift is often a weekend of snowboarding or hockey tickets. If he had a summer birthday I'd probably do concert tickets, white water rafting trip, a zip-line tour, or maybe a weekend get away.

jc&cat

shannm said:

Well, DH and I love food. We tend to do great dinners out for birthdays. So for his fortieth this year, we did a once in a lifetime dinner at Vetri in Philly. Supposed to be ranked as one of the top Italian restaurants in the country. Extensive chef tasting menu with wine flights = 700 bucks. And we relived our youth a bit by playing hooky from work and going to a rock climbing gym earlier in the day.

Wow!! How as Vetri? I am in Philly (burbs) and would love to try it sometime. What a great celebration

shannm

jc&cat said:

shannm said:

Well, DH and I love food. We tend to do great dinners out for birthdays. So for his fortieth this year, we did a once in a lifetime dinner at Vetri in Philly. Supposed to be ranked as one of the top Italian restaurants in the country. Extensive chef tasting menu with wine flights = 700 bucks. And we relived our youth a bit by playing hooky from work and going to a rock climbing gym earlier in the day.

Wow!! How as Vetri? I am in Philly (burbs) and would love to try it sometime. What a great celebration


Totally worth it!

Jenn06L80

For my husbands 40th birthday we had 3 week old twins. All he wanted was a night of sleep and a good bottle of wine. So I bought the wine and took all the kids to my parents and he had the night to himself.

[Deleted User]

Is his birthday during football season?  A weekend at a game?

GMH1183

I love the idea of experience gifts. Last year I got him football tickets which he loved. But man, you guys must spend a ton of money on birthdays! I was thinking $200 would be a lot. Maybe I'm cheap? lol.  I just looked into hot air balloon rides since DH had mentioned that was on his bucket list. It was $600 for two of us on a group ride for 1 hour. That just doesn't seem worth it to me. 

Plus, we have no babysitter. I could arrange something for a few hours, but not for a whole day or overnight. 

[Deleted User]

Groupon has great deals on experiences.

If it helps, I spent like $40 on DH last year. ">

shannm

GMH1183 said:

I love the idea of experience gifts. Last year I got him football tickets which he loved. But man, you guys must spend a ton of money on birthdays! I was thinking $200 would be a lot. Maybe I'm cheap? lol.  I just looked into hot air balloon rides since DH had mentioned that was on his bucket list. It was $600 for two of us on a group ride for 1 hour. That just doesn't seem worth it to me. 

Plus, we have no babysitter. I could arrange something for a few hours, but not for a whole day or overnight. 

Everything is relative, do what makes you comfortable. I think most people don't typically spend a lot, but 40 is a big year for many and they want it to stand out.

shannm

Are there any woodworking shops nearby where he could take lessons or where you could give him a membership and provide him protected time to pursue that hobby?

KayteeGee

Agree with the experience ideas... that'll create memories.
I took DH to a restaurant he'd always wanted to try, that was the highlight for him even though I also got him a Rolex. And while that was way more than a "typical" birthday for us (this year he got a new money clip and a new business card case! ha) I'd also wanted to get him something "big" and "statement" since we were married.  Plus at the time he'd recently taken a big, fancy new job and needed to look the part even if he'd never buy it himself.  He left it in the box for two weeks... LOL. So I guess my point is it wasn't the "fanciest" gift that he loved, it was the "experience"
GOOD LUCK!

Serenla

I will give a thumbs up to thinkgeek for their shirts and some of their toys, I'm also a fan of star trek and star wars. I do have to agree with the experience thing though, if he likes historical subjects maybe take him to a site/museum and dinner out with no kids? A woodworking class would be pretty nifty as well.

Eta now that I'm thinking about it, products from thinkgeek might make a good Xmas gift or some such but probably not for a big birthday.

Puppies+Rainbows+Unicorns

A breast reduction. I have wanted one for years and figure we will have had another baby and be done with nursing by then.

KL777

I took DH to a nice four course fondue restaurant (one he wanted to check out), made him a cake, bought him a shorts and shirt outfit and card. We had a wonderful time and he loved it!