Frugal Tips

Quick and Cheap Gift Ideas for Procrastinators Part 1 HERE

In my last post I rambled way too much, so I was able to list only 2 cheap gift ideas before kids woke up from their naps. Today I promise to get straight to business and give you at least 5 more.:-)

So here it goes:

Cheap Gift Idea #3: Framed Photo or a Child’s Drawing.

I hope I don’t have to explain that this gift will not be appropriate for everyone. I don’t think your boss would understand if you gave him a framed photo of yourself, even if it was a very cute one.;-)

This gift idea is appropriate for relatives and very close friends. Framed child drawing is one of the best cheap gift ideas if the recipient is a grandparent. You can buy a frame in Dollar store for a buck and whatever the child draws would be priceless.

Cheap Gift Idea # 4 : Gift Baskets

By no means I am suggesting you buy pre-assembled gift-baskets, since we are talking about cheap gift ideas here. Make them yourself. You can get a basket for about $3 in a craft store and you can put whatever you want in it. Chocolates, fruits, cookies, a bottle of wine, stuffed animal, DVD and so on. If you are short on time, go to grocery store and fill it out there.

Cheap Gift Idea #5: Browse Your Closet

In case my husband is reading this, I don’t suggest he uses this brilliant idea, because I happen to know the contents of our closet. But if you are looking for gift for someone who doesn’t live with you, your closet might turn out in a treasure chest for you.

Look for clothes that you bought and never wore, for bags you were giving as a gift, but never cared for. I use my closet to hide gifts, which I got from people, but was never intended to use. I usually regift these. Just make sure you stick a note to these things before hiding them in a closet with a name who gave it to you.

For my graduation party my friend gave me a bottle of champagne, which we gave her for her wedding. I didn’t mind, it was pretty darn good champagne, but we chuckled because she still doesn’t have a clue she did this.

A friend of mine regifted a set of wine glasses but forgot to take a card off it. I guess the recipient was not either not very tactful or not very bright, because she called my friend and asked her why does it say “to Anna from Smirnoff family” on a card, when she is Darcy and doesn’t know any Smirnoffs.

Cheap Gift Idea #6: Save Yourself a Headache – Buy Stuff for the Next Year

Did you ever shop for Christmas stuff a couple of weeks after Christmas? If you didn’t, I think you should. Stores usually can’t wait to get rid of the Christmas-themed items, so they can stuff their shelves with cheesy Valentine’s Day decorations, sell them incredibly cheap. Stock up on stuff then – you will thank yourself next year. The same goes for Valentine’s Day, Thanksgiving, Easter and all other gift-giving holidays.

Cheap Gift Idea # 7: Get an Electronic Gift Card

I already expressed my love for Amazon. You can buy pretty much anything on the site and many things are pretty cheap. If you can’t think of anything to buy, get Amazon gift card. They are available in any amount from $5 to $5,000. The gift card can be delivered by mail; or you can print one out yourself; or it can be delivered electronically to anyone’s e-mail within minutes.

It can save your life if you wake up in the morning and realize that it is your spouse’s birthday and you don’t have anything except your love, to give. Turn the computer on, send an electronic greeting card (another life savior), go to Amazon.com and get her a gift card.

Don’t make him or her think that gift cards are not thoughtful gifts. Say something like: “Honey, I wanted to pick you a gift, but I figured you are much smarter than me and you will spend the money wiser”.

Cheap Gift Idea # 8: Gift Certificate from Restaurant.com

Restaurant.com has great deals on neighborhood restaurants. You can get $25 gift certificates for as little as $10. Enter your zip code and see what they have available for your area. If you live in a bigger city, chances are that you will have plenty of restaurants to choose from. To make your deal slicker, use Big Crumbs to get 13.5% money back on your purchase.

I hope that these quick and cheap gift ideas will help you avoid the embarrassment as well as headache and help you to actually enjoy holidays.

Republished by Blog Post Promoter