Frugal gifts

[VaranusK]

I was thinking today while washing the dishes (what a nice place to reflect... ) when realized that Leo Babauta post on Christmas gifts under $10 is not only for gifts on a budget, but a great idea on what to give to someone who is simplifying his life!
As it narrows a lot your options, these gifts are the perfect ones for people who does not want more statues, iPods or alike.

What do you think?

[imagine girl]

Originally Posted by cmartinrg

I was thinking today while washing the dishes

Maybe you were thinking of that post because you wanted to get a coupon for dish washing service?

12. Massage. Do it yourself … free, wonderful, relaxing, and … well, wonderful.

Here's a tip for the guys. Sometimes a pure massage that doesn't lead to other things are greatly appreciated after a long day.

That's a great list. Let's see if we can add to it.

• Classic DVDs. There are a lot of classic movies on Amazon that are only $10. Saving Private Ryan, The Graduate and American Beauty.

• Redesign their Myspace page.

• Make a recording of their friends and family saying nice things about him.

[Rebecca]

I was in Target last night and saw that they have this $1 aisle (maybe this is not a new thing, I'm trying to avoid all retail stores). There was some REALLY cute, neat stuff in there that looked way more than $1. Even if you only bought 5 things, you'd have a nice little gift for someone.

This past Christmas my work did a pollyana (sp?) with a $10 limit, but all of the things had to come from a dollar store. It was actually really fun.

[Joanne]

I do a lot of my shopping year round. For instance, K-Mart had a TON of toys on clearance two months ago and I bought a bunch of Bratz dolls for my daughters to give out as gifts when they're invited to a party.

Another inexpensive gift I've done is a food basket using items I've gotten on sale and bought with coupons. I'll get one of those really large baskets and fill it with products that go together. I've done soup baskets, snack baskets, chocolate baskets. I've also used contaniers other than baskets, depending on what the contents were.

I've also bought muffin mix on sale and made muffins wrapped really nice and handed them out as gifts to Girl Scout troop leaders, my mail carrier, etc.

[sloria1]

Since my friends know that I listen to a lot of music and are always looking for new CDs, I make them CDs of my favorite artists. Yeah, it's cheap, and it can be very personal. It's also fun choosing which albums go to which friend. I spent about 2 hours brainstorming--"Who's the 'jazzy' friend? Who would appreciate experimental rock? Who would immediately start dancing if they heard house music?"

[breadandbutter]

I agree that giving out frugal gifts will help other people appreciate more each dollar they make. For me, it doesn't really matter if the gift is cheap or really expensive. As the cliche saying goes "It's the thought that counts". If you ask me, I'd rather spend money to eat in a fancy restaurant than to buy a perfume which is worth a hundred dollars or something.

[klaxiam]

This may not seem frugal as a gift, but instead of going on vacation to visit my family, I will fly my mother down from NY to visit me in Florida. A plane ticket roundtrip can be had for $150, and it doesn't cost me anything (aside from extra groceries) to keep her in my place and entertain for a few days. I gave her this as her christmas gift, instead of some dust-collector for the mantlepiece or a pair of fuzzy slippers to go with her fuzzy slippers, and it also serves double-duty as a vacation for her as well. Just a thought...

[Gootsy]

I think next year I'll do one of those baskets for someone. Just gotta decide what sort... cheese mmmmm.

I bought a pilates(sp? It's like yoga) DVD for my mom a couple years ago. She said she wanted one, so I got it. If I remember correctly, it only cost about 8 bucks.

If someone's into a particular sport, often you can find a really good deal for a shirt/hat/slippers/mug/whatever. Last christmas I bought my Uncle a hat and t-shirt of his favourite hockey team. Only cost about 12 bucks.

This Christmas I got my Grandma a ticket to the movies, and let her pick as many books as she wanted from the box that I was going to give to the local thrift store. She was really happy with it since she found 3 that she hadn't read yet and were by author's she likes.

[VaranusK]

yep, that's a good idea also. Although there can be copyright issues...
Here you can do that providing you arenot charging for the copy, which is obviously the case when you are making a gift!

[hermione]

If you have a little sewing ability, making gifts for people can be very frugal yet be considered thoughtful. When we were in college, we once made a pillow for a couple of friends as a wedding gift.

And for a cousin's wedding gift, we made them a fleece blanket by adding a gold binding around the edge and their initials and a heart appliqued on it. For extra measure, we sewed a pocket and handles on it so they could fold it up and carry it around (i.e. for picnics or something.) Cost-wise, it was probably about $10 + a couple of hours of work, and while frugal, it was personal and could be considered thoughtful.