Affordable Gift Ideas that will Save Money and Create Happy People
The holiday season; the time of giving, joy, spending time with the family, and for many, going broke. If you are tight in the budget this year, or just tired of deflating your funds on presents, read on to discover 10 great gift ideas that will make you, your wallet, and your gift receivers' "holiday" happy.
Depending on how old you are you can no longer get away with signing your name on homemade cards that look like a garbage compost pasted together. Or, in my case gluing gummy worms to a 2X4 that read Merry Christmas, I know I'm classy. Those days are over, but the creative outlet to saving money on gifts is not.
Gifts for Many
Go to your local dollar store (http://www.dollartree.com/These stores are great, hundreds of items that cost you one dollar. Your goal in the store is to find an item that can represent the meaning of the holidays, or something with a theme. For example, one year I purchased packages of mints. My theme was to have a refreshing holiday. I would never give out just mints as a present so I coupled it with a poem that I wrote about having a refreshing holiday season. Voila. Putting the two together I had a memorable gift that captured the holiday spirit and people loved it.
Dedicate a Song
With a good amount of emotion tied to the holiday season; love, families, spirituality, and many other feelings, this idea is quick, cheap, and can send the right message. With the digital age of music in full effect you can send a gift card to download music online (http://www.itunes.comPick out a great song that captures your connection with your recipient and send them a gift card to download the song. Write a nice little description telling them why you chose that song.
Memories
Put a collage of pictures together that include the group of people or individuals you would like to give this gift to. Set a nice song to your pictures and burn the final copy to a disc. This can be reproduced as many times as you would like and the only cost is your time and several dollars for discs.
Baked Goods
Look for some large quantities of baked goods to purchase, separate them on little holiday trays, and redistribute them to friends and family. Attach a note for a more personable touch.
The Workers Special
Invite co-workers to a pizza party. Have the pizza's delivered to work for lunch. This is a fun and easy way to share time with co-workers.
Artistic Touch
Draw a picture, snap a photo, or paint a canvass. Use your creative ability and design an original piece of art to make copies for all your family and friends.
Trading Special
Great idea if you don't have cash but you have items you don't use anymore. Post a list on a bartering site (http://www.craigslist.com) and trade for holiday presents.
Coupon Special
Everyone loves coupons. Create your own coupon book to give to someone. Your coupons could be for a back rub, a night out, to do the dishes, and anything else you can think of that you can provide. Be creative and catered it specifically to what the person enjoys.
A Time Gift
Take your parents, grandparents, and or kids out for a drive or walk to see all the festive lights. There are plenty of free activities during the holiday season. Treat them to a mug of cocoa. This is especially nice for workaholics.
Their Name
A fun and modern gift idea that is quite affordable is registering a domain name. You could register their name or something that they would appreciate. Check out http://www.godaddy.com.
My favorite thing to do is give anonymously. This can be done daily year around but is especially nice during the holidays. Pay for someone's meal behind you in the drive through, hold a door open for someone, pick up some trash and throw it away off the street, be cheerful, visit some elderly inside senior centers, volunteer, donate to the food bank.
Be a giver this year. You don't need to empty your wallet to fill a heart!
