Holiday Gift Ideas for Under Twenty-Five Dollars

Once your car payment, mortgage or rent, utility bills, and insurance are paid, you barely have enough for food and clothing, let alone a gift. Our entertainment needs of satellite or cable, television, computer and internet thrown into the mix really puts a pinch on the finances. After considering all this, a good holiday gift idea seems out of the realm of possibility.

In better economic times you may have found quite common to purchase expensive prestigious merchandise such as a handmade clock, expensive watch, or luxurious jewelry. Those days are currently behind you and although you want your gift to make the receiver feel lavished upon, you probably think that this cannot be accomplished. However, you should know that finding good gifts is not an impossibility and in fact can be accomplished for under twenty-five dollars.

You may initially have the thought that twenty-five dollars will not buy a decent gift, and that such gifts would be considered gaudy and cheap. You would be quite mistaken in these thoughts, as any frugal shopper can often find a cherished gift for everyone on their list. Often people put too much on price and not enough into the heartfelt thought of the gift.

For the avid book reader on your gift list there are plenty of popular novels that are priced at less than $25, and they are the hardback versions. There may be someone on your list that does a lot of traveling, for them you can purchase books on tape or CD for them to occupy their travel time rather than flipping through radio stations. There are some good bargains on audio books, and you could probably even get more than one for under $25.

Keeping along the line of entertainment, there are several audio and video gift giving options. Although many like to receive music Cds, many more would rather download their own music choices. In this case you could buy an iTunes or Rhapsody services gift card. On the video side of things there of course are the movie DVDs for those who are big on watching movies. Television show series are increasingly becoming available in DVD as well. A thoughtful gift along this line would be a gift box of an older favorite television series. Often the older series run much cheaper than the newer ones, allowing you to keep this gift under $25 as well.

If you simply just don't know what to get someone, you can always find out what their favorite restaurant is or where they like to shop and purchase a gift card for one or a combination of those places. Most gift cards can be purchased for as little as five dollars and you can choose the dollar amount yourself in order to keep it under your twenty-five dollar gift budget. This allows you to be creative in a combination of gift cards so that can go shopping and have a meal in the same trip if they want. Never think of gift cards as not being personal enough. When you give a gift card to an individual's favorite location, you are showing that you listen to them and know what they like. It also gives the idea that you want them to be happy with the gift and be able to have whatever they want or need.

Although these are just a few holiday gift ideas costing under twenty-five bucks, they may give you a few additional ideas. You should just be sure you know what friends and family enjoy have fun with it and be creative. Gifts do not have to be expensive in order to show that you care. Bargains are everywhere; you just have to look for them. The receivers of those thoughtful, yet inexpensive gifts will be grateful.