If Valentines Day were a contact sport, the flower companies would be in big trouble. That's because men would start planning for Valentines Day some time in early January, and they'd almost certainly venture beyond the usual flowers and candy when choosing Valentines Day gifts.

The secret is you don't have to spend a ton of money on Valentines Day gifts to please her. You just have to show you put some time and thought into choosing something special.

Here's what married women wish the men in their lives knew about choosing Valentines Day gifts:

• You can never go wrong with jewelry. And while some women will be satisfied with mall store jewelry, just about all women will be impressed by a gift from Tiffany. It could be an inexpensive silver keychain or a pair of diamond earrings. It doesn't matter. If it comes in that signature blue box, she's almost guaranteed to love it.

  Or better yet, give her the whole store. Buy her shares of Tiffany stock, and she can legitimately say she owns the place.

• What you think is sappy, she might think is really sweet. Think custom poems, custom fortune cookies or custom M&Ms with your own special message on them. It may seem silly to you, but she'll think it's thoughtful and creative.

  Personal Creations (personalcreations.com) and 1-800-Flowers.com both offer giant custom fortune cookies.

• If you're giving candy, make it chocolate, and make it the good stuff. New York-based Jacques Torres not only makes good-quality chocolate; it's popular among the uber-trendy set, too.

• If you want to show her how much you value your memories together, give her a memory book (similar to a baby book) of the year you first met. Nostalgia Publishing does custom-printed books that detail all the current events -- news, sports, movies, popular songs and more --that happened during the year you met.

  You can even customize the book with your names, the date you met, a special message and a poem. ($45 at whenwefirstmet.com).