It sounds so cliché, yet it’s so true! You DON’T have to spend a fortune to find that perfect Christmas gift for your loved ones. If you just put a little time and thought into it, you can come up with a wonderful, thoughtful (and more importantly economical) gift that will be well received. After all, our loved ones probably appreciate our time and love more than anything. Christmas giving can be a great challenge for those on a limited budget because when you have a huge circle of family, friends and acquaintances to buy gifts for, then it becomes extremely difficult to please everyone with expensive gifts. In such a situation, opting for the cheaper alternative is always the wise choice. Cheap Christmas gifts can easily be made worthwhile by adding a personal touch and loving gesture to them. Given below are some nice ideas for choosing inexpensive Christmas presents for your loved ones.  

 

Books

Paperback books can be very budget friendly gifts for those who are avid readers. Buy a family member or a friend a book by his or her favorite author or in his or her favorite genre. Buying loved ones just the right book is a way to show that you know them well and understand their taste. Books also provide hours of fun reading in addition to some interesting topics of conversation. If you don’t know your loved one’s favorite author or genre, you can ask the bookstore employees for good recommendations.

 

Homemade Gifts

Homemade gifts can be very time consuming but are absolutely wonderful gifts for two reasons. Firstly, very few people give home-made gifts these days and are therefore rare. Secondly, your loved ones will consider them very special because of all the time and effort you put into them. Some great home-made gift ideas are hand-knitted sweaters & stoles, patch-work quilts, crocheted blankets and hand-painted pottery. Other homemade cheap Christmas gifts are luxurious bath items and scented candles that you can make at home. Simply do a quick search on your favorite search engine and it will bring up thousands of easy to do recipes.

 

Homemade Goodies

Tasty treats like cookies, brownies, cakes and puddings etc may not be long lasting but they are oh-so-yummy and a great delight to the taste buds! You can bake a heavenly cake for your loved ones at home and add a special message with the icing. You can buy a coffee mug and fill it with home-made cookies. You can cover it with cellophane paper, decorate it with a satin ribbon and add a message tag to the lid. If you don’t have the time to bake them yourself, you can buy Cookies, Brownies, or Cakes in a Jar for as less as $5 from your local department store. These jars come with the ingredients of the product mixed together and a card with instructions on how to make them attached to the lid of the jar. You don’t necessarily have to go for sweet treats. You can make Lasgna, macaroni and cheese, spring rolls etc as well. You can purchase small disposable foil pans for this purpose, Cover with foil and wrap up in a large ribbon. Edible items also make great Christmas gifts because the holidays are a time for visiting and busy people have to buy out time to entertain. Dropping off a prepared dish eases some of the pressure.

 

Thoughtful Greeting Cards 

If you are really tight on cash you can decide to just give cards. Buy cards which are blank inside. YOU should write a meaningful message for each and every recipient. You could write a few lines of poetry, or you could write about fond shared memories or the qualities you love most in your recipients.

 

 

Christmas Baskets

These are one of my favorite inexpensive Christmas gift ideas. The idea is to assemble a fresh/dry fruit basket, wine and cheese basket, or come up with your own cheap-and-tasty basket idea. You can even create a “Taste of Italy” basket and fill it with some garlic, pasta, a wooden spoon and a jar of pasta sauce. Another great idea is to make a coffee basket: Buy small packages of gourmet coffee from any grocery store and also add some chocolate covered coffee beans and coffee mugs in the basket. You don’t necessarily need to fill the baskets with edibles. You can make a luxury items basket and fill it with things like hand and body lotions, nail files, bath salts, bubble bath, bath oils, loofah etc). If Christmas baskets is your thing, then for this purpose you can purchase an assortment of small baskets at a Dollar Store, line the baskets with brightly colored paper, fill them with the chosen items, tie gift labels on the basket handles and give out these wonderful, yet affordable presents. The recipients can always use the baskets for other things later.

 

 

iTunes gift cards

A great gift for iPod users (who isn’t one these days?!). ITunes gift cards can be used to purchase music, videos or game downloads for iPods and iPhones. iTunes gift cards can be purchased on the iTunes website.

 

DVD gifts

You can purchase good yet inexpensive DVDs for adults and kids alike from discount stores like Wal-Mart and Seers.

 

 

CDs

Everyone loves listening to music, which makes CDs another great inexpensive gift idea. You can buy your loved ones CDs of their favorite artists or even of your own favorite new artist so that they can experience a new genre/artist etc.

 

Christmas Ornaments

You can help others to add to their ornament collection by visiting a Christmas store and selecting a beautiful and unique Christmas ornament. You can easily find beautiful Christmas ornaments priced at $10 or less. You can choose from a variety of options like a silver reindeer, a beaded snowflake, a peppermint sphere and a selection of glitter ornaments.

 

 

Movie theater gift cards

Another great gift that will not cost much. You can purchase two gift cards to a local movie theater for a friend. Your friend can go to see the movie with her date and have a great time.

 

 

Toys

Toys are obviously great gifts for kids but can be expensive. But if you look in the right places you can find great deals. Look for deals in discount store chains like Wal-Mart, K-Mart etc which offer loads of deals at under $10 for popular items like Transformers, play dough sets, Barbie dolls and board games.

 

 

Hand & Body Lotions

Lotion is a great inexpensive gift for all the teen and adult women on your Christmas list (who doesn’t like lotion?!). Lotions are available in a large variety of lovely scents and be priced as low as $5-$10

 

Gloves

What could be cozier than a warm pair of gloves in the freezing winter? You can buy men’s and women’s gloves in different fabrics, styles, and colors at department stores for anywhere between $5-15 per pair.

 

Towel Set

Another great inexpensive gift are towel sets. After all, everyone loves getting out of the bath and wrapping up in a great big, fluffy towel. You can buy the really pretty ones in matching colors or you can mix and match.

 

Flowers

Nothing can replace the charisma of flowers. Flowers are a great gift for any occasion any time of the year. Fresh flowers may be very expensive during Christmas time so get the artificial ones instead. Flowers made from silk come in various colors and forms and look very beautiful and last long. They are easily available and are affordable and attractive.

 

Wine or spirits

Wine need not be very expensive. There are many good-quality, inexpensive wines available which can be a great gift for any occasion, especially Christmas. You can do a little online research or ask some knowledgeable friends about selections.

 

 

Magazine Subscription

If you know your loved one’s favorite magazine (e.g. Readers Digest, Newsweek, Cosmopolitan etc), an annual subscription will make a great gift. You can buy the current issue, wrap it and tell the recipient they will be receiving issues throughout the year.

 

 

Framed Picture

If you have a nice photo of yourself with the recipient, a framed picture makes a great gift.

 

 

Make-Up

Women cannot get enough of makeup, so needless to say, it makes a great girly gift that will be both used and appreciated. You don’t have to go for the really pricey brands. There are plenty of make-up items like eye-shadow kits, lipsticks, lip glosses etc of different brands that can be purchased for reasonable prices.

 

 

Gift Certificates 

Gift certificates always make great, affordable gifts. Options include gift coupons for restaurant, spa, book store, music store, apparel store etc.

 

 

Handmade Photo Album

Another very personal and thoughtful gift. You can choose your favorite family/friend photographs to make an album yourself. Simply buy a scrapbook and paste the photos. You can decorate the outlines with glitters and add captions under every image. Write a personal message or Christmas wishes at the last page of the scrapbook. Gift-wrap the photo album and attach a ‘best wishes’ slip on the front, writing the name of the recipient on it. This inexpensive gift will be cherished for years to come!

 

 

Sewing or Knitting Kit

A sewing/knitting kit, with sewing needles, knitting accessories and colorful threads/wool, is an ideal gift for grandmas and other loved ones who like to sew and knit.

 

 

 

 

Some Other Gift Ideas Costing Under $10

· Child’s framed artwork

· Journal with special inscription inside

· Teacup with box of herbal tea

· Pretty stationary

· Serving bowl or platter

· Decorative napkins and napkin rings

· Fancy chocolate bars tied with a ribbon

· Picture frames

· Specialty cookbook

· Pretty glass jar filled with candy

· Baking pans and supplies

· Travel alarm clock

· Jewellery box

· Embroidered napkins

  For people who enjoy gardening, gift garden gloves and some garden equipment.

  Calendars for the coming New Year

  Costume jewelry

  Flash memory disk

  Bottle of nice olive oil

  Wallet

 

 

Some Tips for frugal Christmas shopping

Prices are always high during Christmas season and finding inexpensive Christmas gifts is not an easy task. Therefore buying cheap Christmas gifts requires some careful planning. Here are some tips:

 

 

Shop Early

A great way to acquire cheap Christmas gifts is to shop well in advance of the Christmas season when the prices are reasonable. Look out for sales and exhibitions. Keep the list ready and lay your hands on gift items that suit your requirements. Resultantly, you will get your gifts much cheaper than if you wait for the last minute. Not to mention that you won’t have to wait in line or walk through overcrowded malls.

 

 

Shop Off-season

If you have a long list of family members, friends and relatives to please, or you want to buy really expensive gifts for certain people, then in such situations its best to shop off-season. Especially a few weeks after Christmas, as prices tend to drop dramatically (as much as 50%) during this time.

Buy Online

The Internet is one of the best places to buy cheap Christmas gifts due to lower fixed costs. You can also go to some of the best-known auction sites and find great deals. One great advantage of internet shopping is that it offers a handy solution for expensive parcel and gift wrapping and postage. Many online companies offer free shipping on combined orders and will even gift-wrap and label items. Online shopping is ideal for shoppers who want to save on shipping and who find present wrapping challenging.

 

Follow these great ideas and see the delight on your loved one’s faces on Christmas morning without going broke!

If you enjoyed this post, you might want to subscribe our RSS feed or become our Facebook fan! You will get all the latest updates at both the places. Thank You!