What are your plans for holiday gift giving this year?

[arkadofbabylon.org]

As the holidays are swiftly approaching, I'm already on the lookout for bargains and trying to come up with creative gift giving ideas. With just 2 months left to plan, I'm trying to create some practical yet fun gifts to give to my friends and family during these tight economic times.

So far my plan is to combine simple and useful items:

• ingredients for a simple meal (like pasta, sauce, and bread), or
• mittens, a scarf, & a hat, or
• warm socks, cocoa, and a good paperback book

with a "splurge" item (since times have been tight for everyone, a tiny splurge on something people aren't indulging in due to shrinking budgets can add a nice touch without driving up the gift cost too much):

• a scented candle, or
• aromatherapy or essential oil body scrubs, or
• a couple of tickets to the movies (AMC, Regal, UA)

I may be early in my holiday gift giving planning, but I don't ever like to find myself feeling like I need to make impulse purchases because I didn't prepare W-A-Y in advance.

So my question to all of you is:

What are your plans for holiday gift giving this year?

[khorrell]

I must start getting organized! I actually keep a binder for Christmas related stuff, but I haven't seen it since we moved this summer. (Note to self: finish unpacking)

I'm racking my brain for inexpensive yet thoughtful ideas. I've done the "movie night in a bowl" and "dinner in a basket" idea recently, so they're out. I'm seriously considering doing charitable donations for everyone on my list, but I have a few sticklers who might not appreciate it.

For my husband, I'm getting him an iPod and I plan to download all his CDs onto it. He's deploying with the military in January and it seems like a reasonable expense for his enjoyment. Of course, he's also getting a laptop so I guess that will be my entire Christmas budget just on his electronics for the trip.

[pidgeon92]

We went to Napa earlier in October, and bought a few cases of wine, and will be giving about a case away to various people....

[purplefdu]

I picked up handbaskets for $9.99 each at Marshalls and TJ Maxx earlier this year. They collapse and are made of backpack material with a padded metal handle and a inside pocket with a zipper. We have one for my parents, his mom and her boyfriend, his dad and stepmom, and his sister and the kids. They will be filled with stuff we've picked up here and there as well as drink mixes (cocoa, cappuccino, chai), cookies/candy, and candles, gloves/mittens or whatever is suitable for the recipient (my nieces are getting homemade pickles). We normally end up spending $10 per person anyway so this should come out cheaper in the long run and be much more appreciated. Some of the gifts we got for the girls will be individually wrapped as well so they can "open" a gift.

My sister-in-law will also be getting a coupon organizer (small accordion file) filled with coupons she can use. My mom bought her own and receives coupons weekly and my mother-in-law is stubborn about using them.

[Gootsy]

"A donation has been made in your name to the Human Fund"... just kidding .

Only real change I'm doing is more combo gifts. Like: 1 big gift to mom and dad, or 1 big one to my younger bro and sis. This should save a few bucks

[gt0163c]

I've already got a lot of gifts either bought or at least figured out.
My sister and I go in for the Blockbuster movie rental service for Dad (like Netflix but he likes to be able to swap out movies at the stores). We've done this the past few years and it's been great. Dad's really hard to buy for and this something that he actually uses. This year we're going in together for an iPod (3rd gen Nano, bought refurbished at the Apple Store web site) for Mom. She's been talking about podcasts and enjoys listening to music when they travel, so I think she'll like this.

For my nephews (5 and 8) I've got Lego sets that I've found on Target Clearance throughout the year or picked up at other places for a good price. They love Legos (so do I), so this is great for them.

I haven't decided on my sister and brother-in-law yet.

For other people, I'll do some various gift baskets - movie night in a bowl is a great one. Bath and beauty samples/trial sizes/freebies in a basket is another good one, especially if you can pick up items for very cheap.

Something I've done for wedding showers, high school graduations, moving presents, etc is a "bucket o' useful stuff". It starts with a plastic bucket (usually 2 gallon size) and a couple of towels (used like tissue paper). Then I add various things that the recipients might find useful. Extension cord, flashlight, picture hanging hardware, deck of cards, school supplies, small tools/tool kit, that type of thing). Usually I've found these items very cheaply (Target clearance again, sometimes Dollar Tree, if the items are of reasonable quality. I've always gotten great responses from these gifts, especially from the high school kids who use the items in their dorm rooms in the fall. A lot of the things were stuff that the kids wouldn't have thought about taking with them but were found to be incredibly useful for them as well as their dorm neighbors.

[lucille]

I am going to be sewing robes and pj pants for the hubby and son, they both need new ones. Anything we do for extended family will probably be food. I have gotten pretty good at making truffles and cheesecake and I found this killer recipe for Starbucks vanilla scones.

[purplefdu]

Starbucks vanilla scones? You really should share....those would be fabulous in a gift basket of coffee/tea.

[arkadofbabylon.org]

Once again, this is why I adore the Wisebread community -- you all have such great ideas Everyone is really making efforts to create special holidays with well thought out and meaningful gifts.

It's also good to know that I'm not the only one that is already starting to plan out their holiday gift giving.

PS -- I'd love to see that Starbucks recipe too

[lghbob]

Good question.
Same as last year, and the past 25 years since the whole family got together and with mutual agreement, decided that being together was more important than gifts.
The rest of the traditions we do... but because of the no gift thing... no problems, no returns, no guilt, no disappointment, no stress.
Just lots of love. We do it our way.