Hints don't work and if I am direct he says it won't be a surprise. I was always sorry I didn't buy a ring I loved. I bought my Pfaff sewing machine while he was on a golfing week-end. I set it up and used it for about three months before he noticed it wasn't my Singer that I had been sewing with for lots of years. Go for it if the budget allows.

The first 25 I received really nice gifts. It's been all downhill since then. Now that we are retired and living on our SS and retirement income, we hate to treat ourselves and spend the money with every thing escalating in price. I did take an old gold ring from my previous beau and sold it for more than triple what he paid for it. Lol. Hubs did get a gift with that money and me too!

All the time, my husband hasn't thought about an anniversary gift in a long time, of course neither have I. We just buy what we want. We've been married 40 years. Works for us!

I don't wait for a special occasion like a birthday or anniversary. My husband is pretty good at gift-giving, but if I see something I want and it's affordable, I buy it.

Absolutely! I picked it out, paid for it, and arranged for him to pick it up at the store.
Otherwise I'd have gotten a plastic bracelet from the Dollar Store, or a collection of jams and jellies from a mall kiosk.:hunf:

Jan in VA

Yes and then I show him what he bought me for our anniversary. Makes both of us happy.

My husband use to be great at making sure he got me presents for everything, not so much anymore. If he is overseas when the holiday comes then I don't get a gife even though when he comes home I have a gift for him.
So now I just buy my own gifts outta his money, lOL.

I have. My husband has never been very good at selecting a gift for the most part, and doesn't usually remember dates of birthdays and our anniversary. He usually will have an idea that it may be coming up, but no idea when. In the past few years he has put a little more effort in it. We've been married 37 years.
Some time before our 25th anniversary I heard on a talk show or read that if your husband isn't the type to buy gifts or find out what you want, rather than getting upset about it just go get your own gift. So about a month before our 25th anniversary I was in a shop that had some hand made jewelry, and saw a silver bracelet and a pair of silver earrings that I liked and so I bought them as my own ann. gift. I didn't wrap them or even say anything about it. Just wore them when I felt like it. Some years later someone commented about my bracelet and I just said "I got it for my 25 anniversary". They probably assumed he bought it. The point of it is accept your husband as he is and if you need to do something for yourself go ahead and do what makes you happy.

One of my special friends treats herself and just says with a million dollar smile to her husband - "I just knew you wanted me to have this!" :-)

If I want something I tell my DH what I want, and where to buy it, and if it's something I've seen in an ad, I hand him the ad and tell him that's what I want. I'm never disappointed and he's thrilled that he doesn't have to take his chances and hope for the best. Usually for our anniversary we go out to dinner and buy something really useful for the house, like a security screen door or a chandelier or even a dishwasher.