We’re all feeling the pinch this year with the recession in full swing and unemployment on the rise. But that doesn’t mean you can’t give nice, thoughtful gifts. Your nice, thoughtful gifts just have to cost less. A lot less. It may take a bit more creativity and a little footwork, but it’s doable. Here are our five favorite gift ideas for under $5 that will still bring joy to the lucky recipient.
#1 – The Homemade Coupon
This is hands-down our favorite low-cost gift and one that will be especially loved by a spouse, parents or grandparents. Who says a Christmas gift has to cost money? Spend a little time creating a homemade coupon good for a free back rub, 5 nights of doing the dishes or a week of breakfast in bed. What mom isn’t going to love receiving a coupon from her kids worth 2 hours of “quiet time” or a coupon from her husband for a week of diaper-changing. You can even spring for the $2.99 Christmas card to enclose the coupon.
#2 – A Framed Photo
Find a great photo of you and the gift recipient. There may be a digital photo sitting somewhere on a computer hard drive. Maybe it’s on your Facebook or Flickr account or in some long lost folder. Dig up a great photo and have it printed in 4×6 or 5×7 size at any one of the many online printing services. Most offer extremely low-cost prints as well as free prints for new accounts.
Then buy a nice little photo frame. You may be surprised to find that there are well over 200 photo frames available in all shapes and sizes for less than $5. Check out Pronto Home for all the sizes and styles. The one featured here would make a great gift and is only $3.12 at Sears.
See the Photo Frames
#3 – A Christmas Ornament
The holiday ornament is a very nice gift that will be used year after year. It’s an inexpensive gift, often less than the cost of a scented candle, yet can look like it cost much more. Our favorites are the blown glass ornaments or the old-style wooden or metal ornaments that look like something out of a Norman Rockwell painting.
CB2 offers a handblown frosted glass snowman for only $1.95. It’s simple, sleek and is a modern take on a traditional ornament. With a nice box and wrapping paper, this will make a great little gift.
We found hundreds of holiday ornaments for under $5 from great stores like Pottery Barn, CB2, Target and more.
See the Ornaments
#4 – Holiday Sugar Cookies
Flour and sugar are cheap and water is free. Get the basics for making cookies for less than $5 at your local supermarket and spend the afternoon baking sugar cookies in all the traditional holiday shapes. What to pack them in? Here you will need to do a little recycling and regifting. Use last year’s cookie tins or some of the gift bags you’ve received in the past and stored in the closet.
#5 – A Bottle of “Inexpensive” Wine
Notice that I didn’t say cheap. The quality of wine is subjective and when someone doesn’t recognize the brand and has no idea of the price, more often than not, they also won’t know the difference. Don’t go to the liquor store for this one as these smaller stores are less likely to have wines below the $5 threshold. Try a local supermarket that runs good sales or weekly specials. Don’t buy a mainstream brand and judge the wine based on the label. A simple, elegant wine label will make the gift recipient think you bought this special wine while touring through the Napa Valley back in 1997. Who knows, you could have been storing it all these years just for this special occasion. Enjoy.
Even though you probably shouldn’t start decorating for Christmas until after Halloween, that doesn’t mean that you can’t shop for unique Christmas decor all year long. In fact, Springtime can be the best time to score major savings on the holiday merchandise that didn’t move last year. Your local discount retailers (i.e. Ross, Marshalls & TJ Maxx) are a great place to scope out post-season Christmas decorations and other holiday gifts, but you can also score fun and funky deals online, especially during months without any major holidays.
