Holiday Gift Giving for Those on a Budget - 5 Fun & Easy Ideas Under $25

The holidays are a wonderful time to show special people how much you care by giving them a thoughtful gift. If you're on a budget, here's a few gift ideas you can use that your friends and family are sure to enjoy.

Gift Idea # 1

Go to your local dollar store and buy 5 - 10 cute holiday mugs, 1-2 boxes of hot cocoa mix, a bag of plastic spoons, a bag of chocolate chips, one roll of ribbon, one box of red or green plastic wrap. Melt your chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl. Be careful to only heat them a few seconds at a time because they melt quick. Stir after every few seconds. Dip the spoon part of your plastic spoons into the melted chocolate and set them on wax paper to dry. Place one packet of cocoa mix into your mugs . Once the spoons have dried, wrap the chocolate spoon end with a small piece of plastic wrap and tie it with the ribbon. Add one spoon to each mug and embellish it with ribbon. Now you have a super-cute and affordable gift that cost under $3. This is great for teachers and co-workers.

Gift Idea # 2

Go to your local grocery store buy five grocery totes; they typically cost $1.25-$1.75. Then, visit your local spirits store and purchase five bottles of nice, but affordable wine or sparkling cider. Try to keep each bottle under $5. Gather up your favorite dinner recipes or look for creative recipes online. Type the dinners recipes up on your computer and print it on nice card stock. Get creative! Try including an appetizer, dinner, side dish and desert. Maybe think of a theme. Buy the spices or specialty ingredients for one of the recipes and divide them up into plastic bags so that each "tote" bag will have the ingredients. Each tote bag should have a bottle of wine, recipes, and specialty spices. This way your friend will just need to get the big ingredients such as meat to make the meal. This is a fun way for a friend to try a new recipe without spending money on spices or ingredients that they would not necessarily have on hand. Embellish the bag with ribbon and you are ready to go! Each gift shouldn't cost more than $10 depending on the wine and spices you choose to purchase.

Gift Idea # 3

Go to your local discount store. They often have bins of low cost DVDs. Buy a DVD ranging from $5-7. Then, buy a box of movie microwave popcorn. Put a DVD and a bag of popcorn together with festive ribbon, or put it in a inexpensive gift bag. Movie night!

Gift Idea # 4

Make your own fruit basket. You can purchase baskets at a discount store for around $5-$7. Put paper tissue on the bottom and arrange the fruit on top. Take a large piece of cellophane and wrap it around the basket, bottom to top. Gather it up at the top and decorate with holiday ribbon. Each basket shouldn't cost more than $15.

Gift Idea #5

Buy a magazine that the recipient would like (make sure the don't have a subscription). Magazines are something that people love, but sometimes don't buy a subscription to. Put the magazine in a holiday gift bag and include some bath products and a waterproof pillow (These are $1 at the dollar store). This gives the recipient a relaxing bubble bath complete with reading materials. You could also get creative with this and buy a small hanging sign from a dollar store, paint over it and write "Do Not Disturb" on it. If you're not crafty, buy a small picture frame (also $1 at the dollar store). Type out the words on a piece of paper and insert it inside the picture frame. Attach a piece of ribbon to it so they can hang it on the bathroom door.