In many large groups it is now common to have a Secret Santa, where everyone only has to buy a present for one other person, rather than having to buy something for everyone. But this can often prove difficult in groups where you don't know the other people well, because you just know you will end up picking the name of someone who you wouldn't have bought a present for in the normal course of events. So here are some ideas if you have to buy for someone you don't know well, or even if you just can't think of something for a friend.

Many men wear cologne or aftershave, and those who don’t probably should. In my opinion there is nothing better than when I’m walking down the street and walk past a guy wearing a really nice cologne. There are some particular ones that literally make my knees go weak. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to find a nice cologne. You can just buy someone a very small bottle and then if they like it they can buy themselves a bigger one!

Drinking games are a great gift for guys who are always out drinking with their friends. They are ideal for taking to house parties, especially in situations where you are getting to know new people. No better way to break the ice with strangers than to make a complete drunken fool of yourself. I would have thought that drinking games are rarely something you would buy for yourself so giving them as a gift is perfect.

If your secret santa is in an office environment then the chances are the men will have to dress smartly, like in a suit and tie. Guys who have to wear ties everyday can never have too many of them. They are so easy to get hold of and you don’t have to know someone well for this to be a suitable present.

No guy should ever be without a wallet, in the same way that women need a handbag or a purse. Like ties, a wallet something you can buy for a man without having to know them well. If the guy you are buying for is anything like my boyfriend then he’ll need a couple of spare wallets for all the drunk occasions when he accidentally misplaces it or somehow manages to lose it out of his back pocket!

Mens jewelry is becoming increasingly popular nowadays, so there is nothing wrong with buying a man a necklace as a secret santa gift, so long as you have checked that he is the jewelry wearing kind. While the selection of necklaces available for men obviously isn’t as broad as for women, there are still plenty of different styles to suit different tastes, from beads to religious crosses, to celtic designs, and many more.

These also fall into the category of things you would buy someone as a present but wouldn’t really buy for yourself. I’ve bought books like these before for my friends solely so that I can spend hours in a bookstore reading through all the different books and chuckling away to myself. These make a great gift that can be bought for anyone assuming, and hoping, that they have a sense of humor.  An added bonus is that they wouldn’t admit to having no sense of humor so no one will ever know if they didn’t like it.

A small amount of background research is needed here to find out what genre of music your gift recipient likes. This should be easy to do, but if you can’t, or you find that they don’t like music (gasp) then perhaps one of the other gift ideas would be better. CDs make great presents because (if my experience is anything to go by) a person always has a list of cds that that they want but haven’t got around to buying/downloading!

You can also check out my secret santa gift ideas for women under $15