I finally just came to a decision on this exact same question.
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Not sure if it would be helpful, but I'll also give you the options I nixed and why- maybe you will like one of them.
First what I decided to get him: I am got him a nice Italian leather duffel bag. Why- both of our parents live about 4 hours away and we do quite a few weekend trips to visit them. I wanted to get him something that he would have for as close to forever as possible, and I also wanted it to be something that he would use for happy times together, not something he would use alone (see cufflink explanation below) Lastly, I wanted it to be a gift that signified something about our future. I plan to include a note that says something like 'This empty bag will some day be filled with the memories of many vacations, trips home, weekends at the lake house, and many more. I cannot wait to fill it with these memories for years to come'
B]What I did NOT get him:
Cufflinks- he wears suits every day and loves beautiful cufflinks, however, that is a gift he would use alone and mostly wear to work- not something that we could make memories with together.
Framed sports poster with tickets: FH is a huge PSU football fan, I thought about getting him a framed picture of the football field with the ticket stubs from the games we went to together. However, in my mind that gift is about our past. I wanted to give him something that was about our future.
Nintendo Wii and Rock band: He loves to play the Rock band game with friends, so I thought this would be a fun gift. I think I will save it for his first Christmas gift as my husband. It just doesn't seem to have that 'last forever' feeling I was going for.
$$$: The bag I decided on was $1,200. This felt like the right amount to spend. My rule of thumb was that I did not want to spend more than his wedding band. My fiancee and I currently do not have a joint account, so I just paid for it out of my account.
My suggestion for you since you have a joint account would be just to take cash out of the ATM little by little, $20 here and there, so that he wont notice, and put it aside in an envelope- that way when you are ready to buy the gift you can just pay cash without him knowing.
Oh, and in case you wanted to see- this is the exact bag I got him: http://www.ebags.com/brics/life_pelle_21_carry_on_rolling_duffle/product_detail/index.cfm?modelid=102717
Hope this helps!!
