Great Gifts for Any Budget

Being a young married woman with a tight budget, Christmas can be kind of daunting. I am such a gift-giver: I am constantly seeing things that I want to buy for my friends and loved ones. This can be very hard on the wallet! But I have found a way to give and give without destroying my bank account!

This article will discuss several ideas for gift giving, as well as gift wrapping (which can also be very expensive!).

My family is fairly small, so growing up I was able to save my allowance and baby-sitting money to buy gifts for my parents and brothers. As I got older, I began giving gifts to my extended family members as well as my close friends. Consequently, more money was needed and I had to learn to be creative.

This creativity has come in quite handy as my husband's family is quite large. In an effort to be monitarily fair to everyone, I usually pick a small amount of money and spend that amount on each person. Otherwise, I decide depending on the person's age: young kids have much smaller amounts spent on them than adults (and couple's count as one gift albeit for a little more money).

The idea is to know your audience! For instance, my younger brother is a great baker. Creative gift ideas for him could include a variety of cookies I've made and all the recipes for them. Punch a hole in the corner of each index card you use for recipes, loop them onto a keychain ring, then tie the ring to a mini whisk or a wooden spoon with holiday ribbon. Slide plastic wrap-wrapped cookies into a brown paper lunch bag with the utensil handle sticking out the top. Then tie a ribbon around the top of the bag, leaving the utensil visible. You could decorate the bag with holiday stickers or use old cookie cutters like stamps, or just leave it plain. The holiday ribbon can be the decoration!

Another great idea is to collect things throughout the year, store them in an old shoe box or plastic bin, then find creative uses for gift giving all year long. I love yard sales and flea markets. I scour them for missmatched glassware to make candles in, baskets that I can use for gifts, even old game pieces I can use to decorate a gift. (Scrabble tiles are great for this. Just spell out the recipient's name and hotglue to your wrapped package!)

My favorite gift idea is anything homemade. A cd of pictures you've taken throughout the year can be very special. Making someone their favorite meal or dessert and then freezing it in a throwaway container is good too. Or how about buying just a few of their favorite candies or treats at the dollar store and wrapping them in a shoe box covered with wrapping paper? My dad is a huge baseball fan. I have splurged on coffee table books and other memorabilia, but his favorite gift has been tickets (the cheap seats) to a few home games. Try to get tickets for nights when the stadium offers discounts - like student nights. My older brother is a big fan of playing golf - he always needs tees and golf balls! A sack of golf balls (the recycled kind) can be pretty inexpensive, and tees don't cost much at all.

Do you have any musicians in your family? Do they need picks, sticks, reeds or strings? Buy several of everything with a gift card for five or ten dollars to their favorite music center. Or buy an inexpensive book of music by their favorite artist!

Homemade gifts are the best. Make birdfeeders for the bird-lovers on your list. I once wrote a short story for a little boy I used to baby-sit. I typed it, illustrated it and kept it in a binder for him. To my knowledge, he still has it today!

I learned to make candles, bread and candy for gifts. Other simple gifts that are easy to make (and make in bulk) are trail mix, granola, cookies, homemade donuts, jams and jellies, and marshmallows and fudge. If you have an ice cream lover in the family, you could make a batch of hot fudge (be sure to store it in a sterile jar) and give it in a basket with some sprinkles, candies and an ice cream scoop. What about the movie lovers? Popcorn buckets, a two-liter of soda and a movie-sized candy - this is a gift under $10.00!

For more wrapping ideas, talk to your family and friends. Is their a seamstress who always has excess fabric, buttons or lace? What about an artist who has a few original paintings lying around? Take them to your neighborhood office supply store and have those paintings color-copied onto large paper you can wrap around a gift. Be creative! Think outside the Christmas gift box! Use what you have and shop in unique places! Dollar stores, flea markets, yard sales, and bargain bins are treasure troves of goodies just waiting to be grabbed! A colorful tea towel or a set of cloth napkins can quickly wrap small items that coincide with each other - just tie them with ribbon and you're set! Make a personalized table cloth or shower curtain with a plain vinyl version of either, a few stamps or old cookie cutters and some fabric or acrylic paint. One of a kind household items! (My mother once made a winter table cloth using a blue vinyl cloth, 2 snowflake stamps and a small bottle of white paint).

Don't forget that giving of yourself is the most important. Coupons for lawn mowings, back rubs and a movie night you host may end up being the most popular and well-loved gift you ever give! Think before you shop and remember who are giving to before you even step into a mall this holiday season! Give a little time and effort of yourself and make this a Christmas your family will never forget!