It’s the Thought that Counts: Finding Gifts for Less
Though my local grocery store would have you believe that Christmas is right around the corner, I staunchly refuse to begin buying gifts until at least Thanksgiving on principle alone. That being said, it’s birthday and anniversary season for my family, so even without Christmas in two months I’m already buying presents. In just two weeks, we’ve celebrated the birthdays of both my grandmothers and my aunt and that of a good friend, as well as my parent’s anniversary. With so many gift-giving events so close to each other, serious budgeting is in order.
I’d like to say that I’m talented and creative and make all of the presents I give, but more often than not they look like a third grader’s arts and crafts project (not to insult any third graders by comparing myself to them…). Instead, I’ve discovered that where I live there are entrepreneurs who are vastly more talented than I am. In shopping for my parents, I found locally made bars of soap with all-natural ingredients at one place and was able to make lotion with a custom fragrance (white ginger and rose honeysuckle) at another. When giving them to my parents, it was also a lot of fun to explain why I picked each respective soap and chose that particular scent. Combined with a home-made card, their gift was about fifteen dollars. And for just one person, the price can be scaled to a third or less of that.
I’m pretty excited about this prospect: I can support local businesses that make great, all-natural products, find thoughtful gifts, and not break my budget, which is good if you like finding the perfect gift for someone. I also love that the these products are also enjoyable to use and don’t just add to every day clutter.
In two weeks, I’ll go through another round of birthdays so if you have any good, inexpensive gift ideas (a soon to be nine-year old won’t appreciate toiletries quite as much I think) please post in the comments below.
My kids enjoy a gift certificate to someplace they enjoy eating, or an activity they like. They also enjoy a day with someone that is all about them, doing or going where they want to go with no sibling to take the attention away.
Elizabeth: I once saw a New Yorker cartoon that showed a man standing in front of a casket and he said to the woman next to him, “That get-well card we sent certainly was a waste of money.” That pretty much sums up how I feel about spending money on greeting cards. Big waste of money! I make all my own cards and even though I use stock photography off the Internet and come up with the caption or sentiment myself, people always seem to appreciate the effort the goes into it vs. the $3.00 version from the card shop.
I am outlining an article about how to make this really cool apple liquor called “Apple Crisp”. With $60, an hour of your time, and a few kitchen utensils, you can craft together a dozen unique X-mas gifts. I hope to see some of the crafts that you come up with the X-mas.
Caleb
http://www.mefinanciallyfree.blogspot.com
This year, I am making a CD with all of my favorite recipes and giving that to my friends and family for holiday gifts. My partner is a great knitter and we’ve been given so much yarn this year by other people who have been cleaning out their closets, that we’ll be able to have hand-made gifts for free (if you don’t count his labor).
Renee, Good point. I love taking people out for meals for their birthday, especially if you can arrange multiple friends to split the tab of the celebrant. It seems much more personal to give them your time as well as a gift.
Nina, ever since I was little and my mom had a computer program for designing cards for all occasions, I’ve loved making cards myself. My brother, an amateur photographer, adds his own spin by putting his photos on the front.
Caleb, that liquor sounds interesting! I’ve never tried making alcohol, but baked goods (like apple crisp) I’ve definitely used as gifts before.
Serena, what a great idea! My aunt did something similar for her daughter, who loves to cook. She made a scrapbook filled with pictures and collected favourite recipes from all our family members, along with stories. My cousin (who is eleven now) has something really personal from all the members of our family.
That actually reminded me of a project my mom used to do. She collected and scanned pictures of our family going back some sixty or seventy years, and created a calender with everyone’s birthdays and anniversaries. After the first year, inputting all the info, it became relatively easy to update annually, and was a great way to stay on top of important dates. It could also be customized to groups of friends.
I like to scour Etsy to find funky cool handmade goodies for gifts. I like supporting independent businesses. One of my latest scores was a sushi-themed baby bib. The mom-to-be has been missing sushi for months now and can’t wait til she can have it again, so it was the perfect gift to make her smile!
That sounds like a great idea. I’ve only been on etsy once and found it somewhat confusing but I guess it’s like flickr. I just have to spend more time poking around on it.