To show your appreciation, care, and concern to a particular individual you should present them with a parsimonious present of proper proportion. To be even more frugally minded, make sure it is a poignant personal production. All alliteration aside, (sorry..couldn’t resist) for those who want to give gifts but either aren’t able to afford expensive items or want to keep costs low, good gift giving needs to be creative and personal. It truly is the thought that counts and to make an impact that someone will remember just requires thought and time, not necessarily a lot of money.
Here are a few ideas that might help you the next time you give a gift.
- The personal touch will always be more touching than a standard gift. Try giving a picture of you with them together matted, framed, and ready to hang. Every time they see it, the thoughts will be of you.
- A scrapbook with some pictures of you and them already in it is a great and inexpensive gift idea. The time you take to put the photos in the scrapbook will make the difference. There is nothing like sharing memories, this reminds them of the memories you made together.
- Another possibility is to give things that are used often, like bath oils, lotions, pens, and journals. They are inexpensive but provoke memories when they are used.
- To add to the personal touch, take the time to write a letter or short note on stationary. Make sure you hand write it, in today’s fast paced world of texting and email the personal touch won’t go astray!
- A great idea that will take some time and effort on your part will be worth it in the end. Take the time to talk to the person’s friends and family and get recipes from them all. Ask for recipes that they know the special person likes or have been handed down in the family. Collect them all and make a recipe book specifically for them.
- If you know how to can foods and jellies, a great gift idea is to go to a local market when fresh fruit is in season and pick it yourself. Then take your fruits home and make jams and jellies as gift items. It is best to choose fruits that you don’t commonly see as jellies and jams. It makes your gift stand out all the more.
- Along with the above, give some fresh homemade bread. Nothing like pure homemade to make people feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
- Use a large canning jar and fill it with all the necessary dry ingredients for your favorite cookies or sweets baked items. Include a recipe and top the jar with ornamental cloth and ribbon. A great personal gift that will be remembered when it is used.
- If you know the person well, you could burn a CD of their favorite songs and give them their own personal play list.
- Print up a personal coupon booklet. Include tasks that you are willing to do to give that special person a break or spice things up a bit (if they are really special).
- For the connoisseur in your life, specialty coffees, teas, and spices are a great gift. You might even try getting a bottle of wine from a local winery (less expensive) as a gift that your friend can share with you to build more memories around.
There are a lot of ways that you can give gifts that don’t ruin your budget while still giving a warm and heartfelt gift that will be treasured and remembered for years to come. Imagination and ingenuity will be your guide. Use some of the ideas above and try to come up with other things to do as gifts. Some will work great and others might not. The key is to give gifts that are not out of your expense range but also not at the expense of the recipient.