6 Frugal Holiday Gift Ideas

Giving a gift can be as fun as receiving one when you’re creative, thoughtful and frugal. Here are six ideas for frugal holiday gifts that will mean as much to your loved ones as they do to you.

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  1. Give the Gift of Time

If you have a special talent such as entertaining young children, give a gift of an evening of babysitting. If you are a tenacious cleaner and your loved ones are busy, offer to clean their house or car. This will show that you are willing to give up a significant amount of time and energy for those in your life. Do you have a pair of green thumbs and a neighbor with two brown ones? Offer up your talents to help enrich your friends and family, and bring beauty into their lives and homes.

  1. Everyone Loves Treats

When purchased in bulk, ingredients for baking or making treats are usually inexpensive. Cooking in bulk also saves you time, and time is money. Tasty treats easily made in bulk include fudge, roll-out cookies, cinnamon sugar almonds, toffee and shortbread. Many treats, especially cookies, freeze well until you are ready to give the gifts. You’d be surprised how many people will want to reward themselves after a long week of work or bypass a strict diet during the holidays for a meaningful and favorite holiday treat.

  1. Recycle the Spirit

Turn vintage pillowcases or bed sheets into a charming apron, dress, skirt or a set of cloth dinner napkins. While this requires a few hours of your time, the cost is minimal and requires supplies that you likely already have on hand. Did your best friend  buy you a beautiful quilt? Use half of it to create two pillows – one for you and one for your friend. Now, you have something to share. Perhaps your friend always envied a full series on DVD you own, but you never watch it? They wouldn’t object to this frugal gift,

  1. Shop Smart

During the holiday season, many retail stores offer special discounts, such as buy-one-get-one-free and free-gift-with-purchase offers for shoppers with loyalty cards. Also, don’t be afraid to shop at second-hand, consignment and resale shops for your holiday gift-giving. You can find treasures for pennies, and many items are in new or pristine condition without a pristine price-tag. Your friends will get plenty of clothes from the stores everyone shops at, but your gift will stand out.

  1. Give Family Gifts

Instead of spending hours figuring out how to suit all the various interests and quirks of everybody, get a group gift instead. Buy a family-pack of movietickets or put together a gift basket around a theme such as chocolate.  If your parents can both enjoy something, there’s nothing wrong in saving some money. They most likely would want you to.

  1. Presentation is Everything

A $5 journal dressed up with beautiful wrapping, an artfully tied ribbon, attached memento and a dedication inside the cover pleases the eye, the heart and the pocketbook.

Remember, frugality does not mean “cheap”, and the best gift you can give yourself this holiday season is peace of mind and satisfaction that you did not go into debt for meaningless fads and trendy toys, but instead rose to the occasion to provide the best holiday for your loved ones (and your pocketbook)!

Kelsey Allen writes about cooking, crafting & saving money through Mint.com Promotional Deals.

6 Frugal Holiday Gift Ideas by
Rating: 5.0/5. From 1 vote.
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2 Comments

students travel insurance says:

nice idea bro…can u give me some idea about gadgets i want to give gifts to my bro he is techy guys 🙂

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04 Nov 11 @ 8am

Fast print says:

okay.. my BFF’s (BEST FRIEND) birthday is on next week… and he is a guy and he is turning 20..
i really dont know what to get…. I already gifted him wallet,watch,coolers,tee-shirts.etc…..
I wanna gift something special and different… my budget is rs.1500 can anyone please help me>

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09 Dec 11 @ 4am

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