If you’re in need of inspiration for small, frugal gifts for friends or co-workers check these out! You don’t need to spend a ton or do anything crazy. Just taking time to think what people will use and enjoy is enough for a gift that says ‘I’m thinking of you’.
It’s almost Christmas and I don’t have any gifts!
It can be a bit of a stress sometimes to realize all of a sudden you don’t have all the gifts you would have liked to have given to all the people!!! People you work with, friends, teachers, extended family you don’t see super often, the mail man, your hairdresser, etc. Your list may be longer or shorter but we all have people we’d love to give gifts to but not something super elaborate that will ‘break the bank’ so to speak in that there will probably be a larger volume of these sorts of gifts. We’re looking for something that lets people know that you love or appreciate them, and are thinking of them during this Christmas time of the year.
Personally, I don’t like giving gifts that aren’t useful in some way. This doesn’t mean it has to be something ‘practical’ per say. Something that is just beautiful can be practical too if you know the person receiving it will get great joy from it.
Some ideas for frugal gifts are:
- travel sized bar of soap and tea (as seen above)
- chapstick, nail polish
- bracelet
- packets of hot cocoa in a mug
- homemade seasonings for soup, meat rubs, etc.
- homemade mulling spices
- homemade granola
- homemade trail mix
- homemade sweet breads, sourdough, or any baked good
- cookies with tea packets
- chocolate dipped spoon for coffee or hot cocoa
- coffee with a mug
- gift cards for local coffee shop
- wine
- mini cheeses and summer sausage
- deck of cards with a pencil and tablet of paper
- homemade hot cocoa powder in a mason jar
- coffee mug- From a thrift store, Walmart, Target, etc.
- cute tea cup and saucer from the thrift store with a tea packet and shortbread cookie
- nuts
- fruit basket
- chocolates
- bath salts
- small artwork(maybe bought on Etsy)
- earrings
- something hand painted by you
- a hand-written letter or card
- organic simple syrup
The true reason for giving gifts
With the true spirit of the season (we are Christian) I think it’s important to remember that this needs not to be something to stress about. If you’re not able to gift anything (due to time, finances, etc.) just tell the person how much you love or appreciate them, the value they have as a person either in words or in written form. Your gift doesn’t have to be something monetary at all! These are just ideas as options, that’s all.
It won’t be everyones cup of tea to make something homemade either. Sometimes making gifts is something enjoyable, sometimes it’s not. Sometimes you have time, sometimes you don’t. So, there are always options of purchasing smaller things and packaging them up together in a lovely way to make a gift. Both are included in the list of frugal gifts above and many can be mixed and matched in a combination of different ways.
a frugal gift idea with price breakdown
If you have people you’d like to gift something to but think it’s not in the budget, a price breakdown may help you realize that it might be a little more affordable than you think. This year I made little packets with a travel sized bar of soap ($2.15 + shipping) and then tied three bags of tea to each one. The boxes of tea were about $3 each and I bought three different kinds. So, in total I spent about $40 on gifts for 14 people! That’s about $2.85 per gift.
If you want to check out the Bend Soap Company (Again, I’m not affiliated with their company).
If you have more ideas I’d love to hear them!
~Emily
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