With each passing year, I have become more apathetic about the gifts I give as well as those I receive. I had to stop and ask myself, why? As a shopaholic by trade, one would think that this time of year would be my pinnacle, yet as the season rolls around I get stressed. Inundated with sales, price slashing and impulse buys strategically placed, it becomes so easy to check out with a bundle of gifts that are easily forgotten by the giver and the receiver.

To put a stop to this holiday battle, this season I've vowed to only give gifts that can qualify as meaningful, practical and affordable. If it doesn't meet all three categories, then it's not a contender. Now, this will not be easy, but it will be fulfilling.

First on my list are the men in my life. Finding a gift that is meaningful, affordable and practical is often times challenging, especially when shopping for a man. Whether you are a skilled shopper, knowing of the latest and greatest gadgets, or you know your man better than the back of your hand, some men are just easier to shop for than others. After thinking about the personalities, the activities, likes and dislikes of the men in my life, I realized that while varying in profession, age, physical activity, etc they all enjoy the basics of manhood. Men at the core are warriors, they are hunters and for obvious reasons still get excited about tools that aid these endeavors.

Now in modern day life, few men have to hunt for survival or battle for existence, but whether for game or to help with tasks around the house, most men will find value in a quality knife. Now, do knives comply with all the criteria?

Let's see. Are the meaningful? Well, for my dad who loves to cook and always complains about his block set knives being old, I'd have to say yes. For my brother who loves taking his kids fishing, a multi-tool knife or Swiss Army Knife would definitely be meaningful. For my husband and grandfather who both love the military, I suppose tactical knives like those from Benchmade would be very fitting for them.

For practicality, I'd think that each case was covered here under the meaningful category. I could make them even more meaningful by getting them all engraved knives. Now this is where the third criterion comes into play. Are engravable knives affordable?

Most engraving is charged by the line or letter, but since knives don't have a huge surface area, I would need to keep my message to a minimum, which shouldn't add too much cost. I could engrave their initials or their name or maybe a short quote that speaks to their passion.

Either way, I'd say that if I can afford the knife, I can afford the engraving. If I stick to buying knives online, I can definitely benefit from greater savings and choose from a variety of styles and price points. All in all, I'm pretty impressed with my new strategy. I've identified meaningful, practical and affordable gifts for half my list, all the while keeping each gift unique to the receiver. Stay tuned for more helpful shopping tips and see how my recipients respond to their engraved knives.