Extremely Cheap Gift Ideas for Christmas

Colorful Christmas gifts

Finding the right gifts for your loved ones at Christmas can be a stressful job, especially if you are on a tight budget. Fortunately, with a little time and creativity, you can still give a great gift to each person on your list without breaking the bank. With a few supplies, you can create gifts for pennies apiece.

Gifts From the Kitchen

Homemade Christmas gifts holiday cookies image by palms from Fotolia.com

One way to save money at Christmas is to give your friends and loved ones something that you have cooked just for them. Many recipes for cookies, confections and other treats require ingredients that you likely already have. Even if you have to purchase all of the ingredients, a bag of flour, a bag of sugar and a few other inexpensive ingredients can yield dozens of gifts.

If your talent does not run to cooking and baking, you can still make simple, cheap gifts with kitchen items. Use baking soda and sea salt with herbs to put together bath additives. Tie them in baggies with a colorful ribbon and you have festive gifts for just a few cents each.

Other Handmade Gifts

Make your own Christmas gifts. crochet image by Lytse from Fotolia.com

Inexpensive craft supplies can be put to good use creating gifts to delight your loved ones at Christmas. You can pour resin into molds to create jewelry and decorative magnets. Tint the resin with food coloring, add glitter or use items such as pictures, words cut from magazines or dried flowers. These will be permanently suspended in the resin when it dries. Once the item is dry, simply pop it out of the mold and use superglue to turn it into a magnet, drawer pull or eyelet for a pendant.

If you know how to knit or crochet, find some inexpensive yarn in the gift recipient's favorite color and use it to make a scarf to keep them warm in the colder months.

Gifts of Time

Give the gift of time. clock image by Clark Duffy from Fotolia.com

Perhaps the cheapest gift you can give is the gift of your time. Give coupons that your friends and loved ones can redeem to have you do something for them. Those with children would appreciate a night of free babysitting so that they can go out for adult time. Or, offer to clean the house, paint a room or help in the garden.

If you have expertise in a subject your friend is interested in, give him a free lesson. Maybe he would like to learn to knit, cook Italian food or work with stained glass. Whatever your hobby is, you can share it with a friend and enjoy spending time with him while teaching a skill he will put to good use.

References

• Recipe Zaar: Popular Inexpensive Recipes
• Cut Out + Keep: How To Make Resin Pendants
• Kodak: Gift Coupon Book