Christmas on a Budget: a Guide to Affordable Holiday Gifts

It doesn’t take a master economist to realize that this holiday season is going to be a bit tight for a lot of people. Employees have been laid-off, and even those of us lucky enough to have kept our jobs are feeling the need to be a bit more financially careful. One thing that hasn’t scaled back, though, is our list of relatives and friends that should receive a gift this Christmas. Here are some affordable gift ideas that are sure to delight your loved ones without wrecking your budget:

Photo Gifts: Snapfish (www.snapfish.com) offers the best deals I’ve found on personalized calendars, photo books, mugs, and other photo gifts. Photo books come in several different styles and sizes, and start at just $4.99! These are a snap to create online; all you need is to have your pictures on the computer and Snapfish will walk you through choosing background designs and colors, formatting each page, including any captions, and creating a captivating one-of-a-kind gift! You could create a photo book with pictures of all the grandchildren. Or create a calendar for the new year with family pictures on each page; you can even mark everyone’s birthday and anniversary right on the calendar! Parents, grandparents, and other older relatives are the obvious choice for these personalized gifts, but don’t forget those family members who may be separated geographically as well. Your sister in college across the country might love to have a cool little photo book to remind her of everyone who loves her back at home.  You can give a photo gift on its own, or use it as one of several gift items in a gift basket.

Food Gifts: A homemade food gift is ideal for neighbors, colleagues, and everyone else for whom you would otherwise be tempted to run out and buy a small gift. It’s amazing how fast those little $15 gift purchases add up! So skip the shopping trip and head to the kitchen instead. :) Homemade baked goods are always a welcome gift! It’s special because you gave the time and effort to make something wonderful yourself. Just be sure that you make a trial-run with any recipes that you plan to use as a gift. You want to be sure your food gift tastes as amazing as it looks! :)

Even if you don’t feel super talented in the baking department, almost anyone can make cookies (even if you have to cheat and use a mix!). Try making cookie plates, either with cut-out Christmas cookies, or just your favorite chocolate chip! If you want to get fancy, you could make several different kinds of cookies so that each gift plate has a variety.

One important key to making any food gift work is to present it attractively. For cookie plates, get some festive paper plates at the dollar store, arrange cookies on the plate, wrap with plastic wrap and tie with a festive holiday ribbon. A tin of homemade fudge is another great gift idea! Look for festive gift tins at the dollar store.

           If you have a yummy bread recipe, consider making this as a holiday gift.   Last year I made my caramel-frosted pumpkin bread as gifts for my colleagues and it was a huge hit!  (Don’t tell them, but I think I’m going to do the same thing this year!)  Once your loaves are baked and cooled, place each loaf on a festive paper plate, wrap with plastic wrap and tie with a holiday ribbon.  This year I found some really fun decorative mini bread pans at Michaels for $1.00 each.  I’m going to use these for my pumpkin bread gifts this year; I’m hoping it will be easier to transport than having all those paper plates in my car.

Another food gift idea is the gift-in-a-jar. This is the first year I’ve tried making these as gifts, but I’m excited about it. I bought some nice canning jars super cheap at Michael’s, and am currently looking at different mixes and deciding what to make. There are a lot of options! You can make soup mixes, cookie/brownie mixes, and quick-bread mixes. I’m told you can even make jars of bath salts! I’m sure as with all homemade gifts, presentation is key. Assemble the ingredients in the jar carefully, and decorate the top with a piece of festive fabric and some ribbon.

 Gift Baskets: Putting together a gift basket can be a lot of fun.  However you do have to be quite resourceful and creative in order to keep this option economical.  A gift basket can get expensive quickly if you purchase several $10 items to fill it!  On the other hand, if you have some small gift items already on hand, or find some great deals, a gift basket can be a delightful and affordable option.  It’s also a great place to “re-gift” small items (i.e. notecards) that you’ve been given but never used.  This year I’m making three gift baskets.  The first thing to figure out is what type(s) of gift basket you want to make.  I’m making one food gift basket, one “personals” gift basket, and one combination gift basket.  Other gift basket ideas could include a bath gift basket, or a mani/pedi gift basket.   The sky’s the limit!   To begin with, I found some great baskets at the Salvation Army store for less than $2.00 each.  I also found basket filler, basket wrap, and ribbon at the Dollar Store.  That’s a good start! 

The food gift basket is a great gift for the starving students on your list! I’m planning to include a loaf of my famous pumpkin bread, as well as a variety of homemade muffins and possibly some brownies or cookies as well. I’ve started on the muffins already; I made cranberry muffins last week and saved some in the freezer to use for the gift basket. I’m planning to buy a small summer sausage (probably around $5.00) to include in this gift basket, and then I’ll also include a couple of packages of popcorn and hot chocolate mix that I already have on hand.

 For the personals gift basket, I started with some nice scented bath soaps I found on sale.  I also had a coupon for some great hand cream, and I’m keeping my eye out for other similar items on sale.  A bath sponge (Dollar Store again!), some nail polish, or little travel-size lotions might round this little basket out nicely!

 The combination gift basket I’m making will feature a $4.99 photo book I made on Snapfish.  I’m also including a nice notepad set (Michael’s has a big variety for sometimes as little as $1)!  I’ll also throw in some popcorn and hot chocolate mixes (I have tons of those) , and possibly a little box of chocolates as well.  Perfect!  Each basket will be wrapped up in a “basket bag” (I found these at the Dollar Store), and tied with a wide festive holiday ribbon.  I can’t wait to see the finished product!

 With a little planning and resourcefulness, you absolutely can come up with some great gifts for the people on your list – and keep your budget intact at the same time!  I’d love to hear the creative ideas you come up with.   And Merry Christmas!