Hey everyone. I have already notified my family members that I won't be spending more than $10 out of pocket on their Christmas gifts (each family member). I plan to accomplish this Christmas on a budget challenge by shopping with gift cards that I win online, coupons and possibly with baked goods. I was wondering if anyone had some cheap present ideas? I don't want to do that standard hot cocoa mix type of gift. Thanks!
If you plan on using only a budget of $10, I suggest you try to actually be a bit creative and make something that the person who receives the gift would never forget. I know that the instructables site happens to have a lot of things you can make that are both inexpensive and pretty cool as well, so just see if you can find something thats sorta simple to make, yet pretty neat as well that the person may like and go from there.
I usually plan a few months in advance. I have some healthy poinsettias growing in little pots, these are propagated from cuttings from my own plants. I will be spending some money on buying some cute nice pot holder to make my gift look extra special . With a little packaging and imagination these gifts are a great hit with my friends. Handmade candles are ever so welcome at Christmas time. I make some beautiful scented candles and gift wrap them in some delicate materials to make them look like expensive gifts. These have also been a hit with my friends. I find interesting things on sale and use a bit of creativity to make these objects look like works of art. I also gift silk painting to special people, I do them myself. Since most of this is my handiwork it often costs much lesser than a couple of dollars to give someone a good gift.
My friend has been requesting samples and tester bottles of makeup, perfume, bubble bath, shampoo, lotions and loads more. She has had some serious success and plans to make up pamper baskets for her nearest and dearest with what she has got. All in all the cost is next to nothing and she has some really nice things.
Dollar Tree has big coffee mugs, coffee flavoring syrups, and hazelnut coffee, so I would take a big latte mug and put a bottle of hazelnut syrup in it, plus a couple of individually wrapped biscotti and a bag of hazelnut coffee and wrap the whole thing in clear plastic cellophane with ribbons to make a coffee gift basket. Each of these coffee gifts should total about $5 at Dollar Tree. Dollar Tree has wineglasses. Buy someone a set of wineglasses for $1 per glass. Who doesn't like a nice set of glasses? They look like they would cost more than $1 each. I have a set of the blue ones and can vouch for their quality.
One year a family member painted sand dollars with the person's name and the year in red paint and then little holly berry and leaf patterns around the sides to make them look like wreaths. She carefully drilled small holes at the top and threaded a small red ribbon loop so they can be hung as ornaments. Everyone in the family got their very own sand dollar wreath. I thought that this was an awesome idea and it didn't cost her anything more than the paint because she was able to get the sand dollars from the beach for free. I have also seen personalized ornaments made from the store bought ornaments. Just some paints and you would be good to go. Perhaps something similar might work for you.
If you are crafty, you could sew some decorative cloth napkins to match a family member's kitchen or create vintage looking shopping bags out of old t-shirts. There are a few websites out there devoted to really neat t-shirt projects. Pinterest has some really interesting baking recipes as well.
There are some fantastic book sales on at the moment, both instore and online. A cookbook is always acceptable, and this can be a joint present if both partners are keen cooks. Another idea would be to buy a nice photo frame and fill it with a photo of a person or a couple. Or why not buy a set of nice wine glasses as a joint present?
One of my favorite go-to gifts on a budget is photo frames. If you go to someplace like Marshalls or TJ Maxx you can usually find really nice ones at a significant savings. Also, check out store clearances regularly whenever you are out. Even someplace like Office Depot could turn up nice items at really good prices that you can tuck away in your gift bin for the holidays and beyond. If you're crafty, and you have the time, you can always make something, even if you just embellish something by personalizing it for the person you want to give it to.
Dollar tree actually has some nice things especially if you are on a budget that have nice little figures like angels and what not made out of glass so i would look into that.
It depends on to whom the gift is for. If it is for your special someone then just do something personal. You should be creative. If it is for your ids then that would be a problem. Kids these days would always expect something big every Christmas.
Just thought of a funny idea. If you are looking to give something really big and you want to spend only a little bit of money, you can try buying something that you can blow up. It can be a ball. Or an inflatable toy. Deflated, it's quite small and cheap. Inflate it and put it in the big box before giving it.
Gift certificates are my "go to" gift. I will usually buy a gift certificate and wrap it really nice. You can also buy candles and bulk and wrap them in different colors. You can give these to virtually anyone. Everyone likes a nice smelling candle. You can also try shot glasses, individually wrapped soaps, etc. The key is buy in bulk and shop at a crafty store or a closeout store.
Walmart has some decent bottles of wine for under $10. I have seen some of the same exact brands and types of wine at other stores that cost more than $10. for the same bottle of wine. That way the gift doesn't actually have to seem like a gift that's under $10.
I saw some really cute cocoa, coffee and tea gift sets at Walmart for less than $10. My daughter loves sock monkeys, so I got her a gift set that has a ceramic mug shaped like a sock monkey's head. The ears are handles. It contains cocoa and a packet of marshmallows. It cost less than $6. They also had Hello Kitty cocoa gift sets with a Hello Kitty travel mug for less than $6.
Other ideas for gifts under $10: Lotto scratchy tickets @ $1 each, $1 Bath and Body works hand sanitizer, mini box of chocolates or lip glosses. These are just a few ideas. I used these ideas for secret santa at my job and it was a hit. My secret santa person won $17 too.
This year I baked batches of cookies for everyone. The cost came out to less than five dollars per batch.
I did the same with my family apart from my mother kids and sisters. My uncles i got tools only spent about 11 bucks on a tool that my uncle has been wanting and i went to big lots for a lot of the gifts and i spent under 100 bucks.
Yes, there are plenty of gifts that can be made for 10 dollars or under. Make sure you take advantage of them and give as needed. I am going to make a few things I think. Also, magazine subscriptions for under 10 dollars are a good gift to give.
