This is a blog inspired by Heather's suggestion. Let me first say I am so not the person who should write this. Gift giving is not something that I think I do well. It is not my love language and I don't put a lot of value on it. I LOVE giving a gift to someone when I know it is something they want. Usually, though I find I have no idea what they would want so I buy them something for Christmas/birthdays just to give them something which I really hate doing. I usually feel like I am just wasting money on something they probably don't really want/need.
Lest you all think I am just a cold hearted jerk let me explain. Growing up my family was pretty poor. We didn't receive a lot of gifts and most of the ones we did recieve came from the church or the food bank. There wasn't ever much emphasis put on gifts. We became very creative with gifts. So many of these ideas may seem way too frugal for you but hopefully you will understand where I am coming from.
1. Be CREATIVE-Last year one of my husband's favorite Christmas gifts was a jar of Peanut Butter that my mom gave him. The Man loves Jiffy but I only buy Adams since it is so much better for you (no hydrogenated oils) so my mom bought him a jar since she knows he never gets it.
2. Don't spend money-For about 5 years my sister and I have not bought eachother birthday gifts. Instead we have a journal that we pass back and forth with letters to eachother. These letters are much more meaningful to me than anything she could ever buy me.
3. Be Humorous- My husband and brother in law have been passing back and forth this hideously ugly wooden wall plaque as a gag gift for years.
4. Give of your time- I got to say, having small children, that free babysitting so my husband and I could have some quiet time would be just about the best gift ever! You could also make gift certificates for lawn maintance, house sitting, ect..
5. Use your creativitity- Last year in an effort to save money for Christmas I made all the women in my family greeting cards. We also have made some homemade wine to give to our friends. I think homemade gifts are the most special.
6. Last but not least do something RADICAL. This is not a frugal idea but I think it is the best, give a life saving gift in someone's name. Click here to find out how you can give a gift to change a life. You can feed a hungry baby for a week for only $9, buy a goat for $70 to provide a whole family with milk, provide someone with medication to cure them on TB for $15!
For me, I really struggle with the consumerism in America and I am trying to break away from it. What do I NEED?? Not much, yet I have so much when others have nothing. What I really want is just to know that my friends and family thought of me.
I would love to hear any ideas from you all so please leave your comments!
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3 comments:
I can never find the "perfect" gift when someones birthday or Christmas is coming, so I don't. I shop throughout the year. If I see something that would be perfect for so-and-so while I'm shopping AND it's on sale, I pick it up. If it's not on sale, I put it on my list of ideas for that person and watch for sales. I have a closet (well, part of a closet) that I call my gift closet. I put all the gifts that I buy during the year in that closet.
Gabe laughs at how I keep track of what I have, who I have bought for, who I haven't, and what gifts I need to make. I have a spreadsheet with all that information. It's great. I have a column for each person and their gift and how much it cost me. That way, I know who I shopped for already and who I still need to shop for. As an added bonus, I'm usually done with 3/4 of my Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving, which leaves lots of time for enjoying the Christmas preparations.
This year, I had about 3/4 of my Christmas shopping done in January. I brought a list of gifts that I wanted to buy in Ethiopia and picked them up as we were out shopping. I spent about $250 on gifts, but I got birthday gifts for about half the people on my list this year and about 3/4 of my list for Christmas. I also shopped all the after Christmas deals and picked up some really nice gifts for next year at 75% off. (Not to mention gift wrap and tags.)
I make jams, jellies, and canned fruit each year. For those who don't can, these are great gifts.
My husband's favorite gift this Christmas and last was his coupon book.
My stepfather's favorite gift has been what we call the giving gifts. We give to a charity in his name. We now do that with all our family members.
I love your sister and your idea for the journal. That is such a special gift that your children will enjoy reading when they are older.
I make many of my cards to send to people, but I hadn't thought about making cards for them to give. That's a great idea. I will have to store that one away to use later.
Thanks, Samantha, for the wonderful ideas! I hate to disagree with you, but it sounds like you do a great job giving gifts.
I can't wait to see what ideas other people have.
With Love,
Penelope
Thanks for sharing your thoughts - gift giving has lost it's meaning in many families - time to get that meaning back. My husband was thrilled with his frugal father's day gift - an old bucket decorated with photos of our children filled with free car washing supplies I got "free after rebate" from Ace Hardware. It was a practical gift - and he appreciated it more than anything else we could have given him - he is of the belief that some holidays are mainly created by Hallmark and retailers just to sell us more stuff. So I'm trying really hard to put some thought into my gifts. The key element in any gift for family or friends is SURPRISE.
I'm trying to give more handmade gifts this year. I have a bunch of books of cross-stitch patterns, and I'm making a list of what patterns I'll make for which friends or family members. A scrapbook is a memorable gift that can be frugal, especially if you keep it simple and use supplies you already have.
My favorite gift isn't as frugal though. I like giving an experience gift. One year, I sent my parents to see Bonnie Raitt, and I paid for their hotel room (the romance package), got them a gift certificate for dinner, and had flowers sent to their room. They loved it! They still talk about it. Baby-sitting is definitely a gift they appreciate too...my foster sister is autistic, so I try to keep her on their anniversary weekend so they can go out of town together.
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