With the approach of Spring comes the gift giving occasions of Easter, graduations, weddings, Mother’s Day, etc. If you love giving gifts as much as I do, you’ve learned to take advantage of all of the inexpensive gift ideas you can come up with. After all, the point of giving a gift is to tell a friend or family member that you’re thinking of them on their special occasion. No one expects you to blow your family’s budget on a gift. Giving a thoughtful, but inexpensive, gift is always a better idea than spending a ton of money on a gift you can’t afford.
Inexpensive gifts don’t have to be cheap, though. You can learn to get as much bang for your gift-giving buck by carefully selecting the items you choose to give. Here are some of my favorite ideas:
Tiny Luxuries – I’ve found that many of my girl friends don’t regularly treat themselves to the little luxuries in life. By shopping at discount places like TJ Maxx or Marshall’s, I can buy small treats like high -end chocolates, name brand perfumes, or decadent lotions.
The Gift of Creativity – Kids love anything that allows them to get their creative juices flowing. A smattering a stickers or a foam craft kit are both great gift ideas for youngsters. You can find both for a dollar or two at craft stores like Michael’s or Hobby Lobby. When all else fails a coloring book from the dollar store and a new package of crayons are sure to elicit a smile from the gift recipient.
Gadgets – If there’s one thing the men in my life can never get enough of, it is gadgets. Inexpensive things like a LED flashlight or a talking tire pressure gauge always make nice gifts. Tasty rubs or seasonings for use at a cookout or a six pack of assorted beers (the best ones are at World Market) are always popular, as well.
Gifts for the Impossible Recipient – No one is harder to shop for than teenagers. Teens have their own tastes, and they change their minds faster than anyone I know. A few gifts, however, always please the teenagers in my life. An assortment of eye shadows in a fun zipper bag can be a great gift for a teenage girl. I make the bag myself from scraps of fabric left from other projects. Jewelry or hair accessories are great for younger girls, too. Boys might enjoy a DVD of a recent action flick or an accessory for their mp3 players.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I have had to be much more frugal with gift giving over the last few years and i think i have become quite a dab hand at choosing quality looking items which don’t actually cost a lot. it is often all about the presentation.
i like to put together little gift baskets which i decorate myself.
How about a gift of service??
An offer to do the dishes for a week for your spouse.
An offer to do a child’s chores for the week.
I have found that these go over sometimes much better than actual physcial gifts.
And, obviously, they are free!
That’s a lot of information. Great..thanks. I’ve manage to pick up on a few tips. What I recently realize is if I shop at the health food market like MOMs for certain food items, I don’t have to restock my pantry as often compared to items from the regular supermarkets. Like for example, their cereals are so filling that I use less of it so it lasts me for a longer time. If I purchase one of the regular cereals, I would finish that in no time.
Personally, I think one of the best inexpensive gives one can give to a spouse or family and friends is a nice cooked meal. By shopping around at the local grocery stores last week, I found a great looking beef roast on sale. I bought carrots and potatoes and cooked the whole thing on low temperature. For under $15, I served a delicious meal with family and spent time with each other.
Another idea is buying DVDs at Wal-Mart. They usually have $5 bins (or 2 for 10) and by buying a DVD, you can watch it at home and get to keep the movie!
Nice post
Lately, since we’ve been on such a budget, we’ve been giving food gift baskets to our family and friends. We’ve found that its the cheapest way to go for us and I get to make all of the lovely treats for them (which I enjoy immensely!).