• Buying last year's high-end product can save you hundreds of dollars.laptop image by Manika from Fotolia.com
  
  The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word "luxury" as "something adding to pleasure or comfort but not absolutely necessary." Although "luxury" is synonymous with "expensive" for some, a luxurious gift can actually be quite affordable if you know how to shop. The next time you are looking for a gift for a friend or loved one, consider how you might be able to add to their pleasure or comfort without being led to believe that you have to break the bank to do so.
  
  

Luxury Laptops

• Companies such as Apple, Dell and Sony are known for their high-end laptop computers. These computers can cost hundreds, even thousands of dollars, and often, the flagship models are not necessary faster than the low-end models--they simply feature sleeker styling and other unnecessary features. Save money on a high-end laptop for a friend or family member by purchasing a refurbished product. Factory-refurbished laptops typically sell for hundreds of dollars less than new ones, while offering the same warranty coverage as a new laptop would.
  
  

Luxury Bath and Body Items

• Every woman loves to look and smell beautiful. However, the best cosmetics or bath and body items typically retail for amounts that a person with an average income might be uncomfortable spending. You can save an incredible amount of money off of the retail price--often more than half--if you begin visiting local salons periodically in the weeks and months before the holiday that you are shopping for. Salons regularly mark products at clearance prices to make room for new ones, sometimes simply because the manufacturer is re-releasing them with new packages. For cosmetics, save money by purchasing travel assortments or looking for new products being offered at lower-than-normal introductory prices.
  
  

Luxury Chocolates

• If you would like to please the sweet tooth of the woman in your life without breaking the bank, try an edible chocolate flower arrangement. These arrangements feature chocolate carefully formed into flower shapes and colored with hues such as pink, baby blue and purple.
  
  

Luxury Pampering

• While a full-service trip to a spa might be costly, a simple massage or facial might be more than enough to make the recipient feel like royalty. Contact a local spa or salon that offers these services and inquire about a package that gives the recipient a massage or facial each month for a year. The recipient of this gift will likely be quite excited to know that they have a year of pampering to look forward to.
  
  

Luxury Travel

• Blind booking is a concept in which you book a hotel online based on its location, star rating and amenities, and do not find out the name of the hotel until after you have paid for it. In this system, you can get a room at a four-star hotel--or better--often for less than half of the retail price. After booking the room for your friend or loved one, call the hotel directly and ask about a room upgrade. Hotels generally do not give the rooms with the best views to customers who book at these heavily discounted rates. However, the cost to upgrade to an ocean-facing room or other higher-end accommodations might be as little as $10 per night, still resulting in a far lower expenditure than what retail customers pay.