Coupons, Photo Books, Entertainment and More.
Last year, our business had a big tax bill to pay. Business was good, but actual spending needed to be tight. It can be difficult when you’re running a business to explain to your loved ones that you can’t lavish them in expensive gifts (at least, not right now).
But what you can do is give gifts that show you care, but don’t involve your opening up your tightly-controlled wallet.
Christmas shopping can drain away your savings, however careful you are. But there are plenty of gifts you can give that don’t cost anything. Think outside the box and you’ll hit on all sorts of alternatives, including gifts you can’t even wrap and others you can make yourself. Here are ten ideas to start your planning – and saving.
1. Coupon Codes and Vouchers
Just like the coupon books people use to sell in the 90’s, you can collect online promo codes from popular coupon websites and put them into a little book for your loved ones. A popular gift people seem to like to give is DNA and family history tests, for example. You could find an Ancestry DNA coupon code and copy it into the book.
A gift like that shows that you know what they want, and you’re trying to give them a way to get it for cheap. You can even use the coupon codes to buy these things together later in the year.
2. Garden produce
If you make your own wine, beer, chutney or fruit conserve, or any other type of food or drink, and have samples to spare, give them as gifts. Just tie ribbons around the containers and add your personalized gift tags, and you’re done.
3. Live entertainment
Perform a dance, recite some funny or beautiful poems, or sing a medley of songs. If you’re a natural comedian, get your family giggling, or if you play an instrument, give a concert. Make a DVD of the show as an extra gift.
4. A scarf knitted from recycled wool
If you’re a knitter, this will make an enjoyable project for you. Unravel the wool from an old, discarded sweater, or use leftover wool from your own handiwork, to reuse for scarves or mittens. Knitted warmers for cups and coffee pots also make handy gifts.
5. Electronic photo album
Gather photos of yourself and relatives, dating back through the years. Scan the old, paper ones and put them all together in a computer document for your older relatives to enjoy. Alternatively, select your own best photos, perhaps of scenic places, interesting faces, winter themes or humorous events, and email them, with captions and personalized messages, to friends and family members.
6. Outing or visit
An elderly person or one with mobility problems would appreciate an accompanied outing to a place of interest or beauty, or even a stroll around the park with you. You could suggest this as an alternative to a gift, perhaps rounding off the day with fireside games at your place or theirs.
7. Poetry
If you’re at home with pen and paper, think up some funny rhyming couplets or limericks for your friends. It would be fun to include some riddles, too, with answers written backward in tiny letters. Perhaps include a personal poem for each recipient, too. Present your verses as with the jokes above, copyrighting them with your name to show you’re the author.
8. Home-grown indoor plants
Take some spring flower bulbs, either from a packet or your garden soil, and hothouse them indoors so they’ll be in flower by Christmas. If you have any flowering plants in your backyard right now, you could cut the stems to make bouquets instead. Wrap and tag them festively, and they’ll be ready to give.
9. Homemade mobile
Use scrap paper, old greetings cards or recycled wrapping paper to make models. Cut and stick shaped pieces to represent a chosen item, such as a flower, butterfly, bat, rocket or other figure, colouring as necessary, then fasten threads and tie them at the end to hang from a ceiling. Browse paper modelling sites to see what else you could make.
10. Decorative pot
Take a spare plant pot, vase or jar and paint a beautiful pattern on it with acrylic paint. Perhaps fill it with a bag of home-baked cookies. The paint should be on the outside only, so as not to make contact with anything edible inside.
11. Joke collection
Build a list of jokes or funny quotations to present as email attachments or printed pamphlets. Invite friends not on your gift list to contribute suggestions and browse joke books and humorous websites for more. Type them up in bright colours, with a title and Christmas message, personalizing each copy with the recipient’s name. Insert a border and any decoration you want. Print and package in homemade covers or send online, selecting the fun-lovers in your circle. They’ll be chuckling all through Christmas.
Encourage friends and family to give home-produced presents, too. It doesn’t just save money – it makes giving more meaningful.