Frugal Christmas Ideas

Well, for kids, you'd be surprised what toys the dollar store has. for adults, what about those cookies in a jar? You add all the dry ingredients in a canning jar layered so it looks nice. Then you attach the recipe with what other ingredients they need to make it. My feelings are, if you can't afford gifts, your family should understand.

Do you have a Dollar Tree or other store that everything costs a dollar in your area? That store has a lot of good gifts you can buy, and they are all a dollar! Just don't go too crazy though, the blessing is also a curse. Everytime I go in there with a good amount of money, I get to loading my cart with all types of things, thinking to myself "It's only a dollar" the whole time. Then I get to the register and the bill is only like a hundred dollars, but its worth it!!!

wow. A thousand dollars really raises the bar. This year, we are trying to be frugal on gifts because we have to give so many. I am knitting hats galore, and we are doing things like using points to get gift cards and stuff. Other years I've made family calendars - on the computer, I've made up a calendar and then in the place of pictures put photos. I usually do the entire thing on the computer and print it on nice paper. I put in everybody's birthdays, too, which is actually the difficult part because I didn't know all of my more distant cousins' birthdays. My siblings and I do a joint gift for our parents. We get them something big, like an air conditioner, and then everyone chips in. Then we also get them little stocking stuffers. My husband and I do the same thing with his siblings. It cuts down on the cost, and we make sure to get something they'll like. About how much are you looking at actually spending?

I always celebrate the holidays "on the cheap" and my gifts are the ones most of my family remembers! I learned how to crochet, so many gifts to my female cohorts (all ages) are afghans, ponchos, scarves, etc. For my dad and hubby, I make up greeting card poems for them reflecting some moment we shared and then impose it onto a picture. They love it! They always have fresh photos. For my uncles, unless I have drawn their names, then I give them nothing, as they do the same. Male coworkers get something from me reflecting something that I know each one likes, for example, a framed photo that I snapped with my camera of: nature for the hunting friends, water landscape pics for my fishing buddies, sports dudes cause me to spend a little extra as I don't attend sports events so I can't take pics for them. I usually go out and buy their gift according to what teams they root for. Some friends and family may be blessed (?) with my cow patties (a chocolate dessert snack, for those of you who don't already know) in a christmas-y tin or gift bag that I buy at the end of the previous Christmas season for 75% less! I just have to be burdened with the storage of those items for almost a whole year! Hope this helps.

I used to make a lot of my Christmas gifts, and some where such big hits I had requests for more, lol and I was just trying to be frugal! One idea, don't even remember where I got it, is bath salts for the ladies, go to garage sales, thrift stores, etc and find unique glass containers, with lids. then take ebson salts, add a few drops of food coloring, a few drops at a time til you get the color you want, and no this does not stain the skin, and then add a few drops of perfume, shake in a baggy til well mixed, then pour into container.

Well. It totally depends on who you are giving them too...so here goes. Go to the Dollar store and buy a whisk. Fill the bottom with a small bag of candy and put a tag on it saying...whisking you a merry christmas...or a soup ladel..do the same but wishing you a souper holiday season. Big serving spoon....dishing up Christmas wishes. For the kids buy the large candy bars....make an envelope out of Christmas paper.....add a ribbon and slip them inside. I do these and put this little poem on them that I wrote... My Christmas Fudge! The snow is gently falling There’s magic in the air. The malls and stores are filled With folks Who run from here to there! There’s packages to wrap and send The tree’s in need of lights. There’s cookies left to bake I think If I’m reading my list just right! So for as much as I would have liked to Not even with a nudge. Could I find the time to make, A creamy Christmas fudge! So not to disappoint you I found this to be handy! Just close you eyes and let’s pretend That this is my Christmas candy! You can also go to the dollar store and buy the two year daily planners. Take them out and put a new cover on it..personalize it for each person you want to give it to. Just use your imagination. I just had a cousins weekend and did the planners for a gift for my cousins and sisters and they loved them! Good luck!

You've got some good ideas so far! If your family won't understand that you can't spend a lot because your husband is out of a job, I think I'd try to explain it to them. Or just tell them you won't be buying much because you don't have much money and let it go at that. That said, do check the thrift stores. Sometimes you can really score if you pay close attention. They sometimes have new things with tags still on them, and sometimes have things you would pay a lot for in an antique store. You don't have to tell anyone where it came from. Between that and the Dollar Stores, maybe you can make it work.

You have been given some really good ideas so far....My suggestion is 'getting your crafty on' ;-) You could make scrapbooks, baked goods gift baskets, various other gift baskets (like an arts & crafts kids basket or a bath basket for an adult, tea/coffee basket, family movie night basket etc etc), if you are handy with a sewing machine you could make blankets, sweaters, etc etc (this yr I'm making my kids each a blanket, some hoodies and a skull backpack purse for my daughter)...

When we are hurting around Christmas time, we just tell everyone we are hurting and that we are just going to do Christmas for the kids this time around. And we send cards out to everyone else. Christmas isn't always about gifts anyway. If we have extra cash we will send out gift cards to other family members, or I will put together something. Candles are always a nice gift for any adult. Kids, well Wal_Mart has cheap toys & so does Aldi's. But if you are really short on funds, I would just get for the kids. Adults can understand.

If you know what the folks on your list like to read, you can find like-new, books in Fine condition at thrift shops, flea markets, church fairs, estate sales etc. It's amazing how many people read a book once and then get rid of it. (Sometimes, they don't even bother to read them.) Remember those books cost at least $30 new (Way more for coffee table books)and if you shop around, they can usually be had for a buck or two in the same condition as in the shops new. I know. I buy those books for almost nothing and sell them for almost full price and sometimes lots more if they were from low editions. Good luck whatever you try.

Well, I don't know if this will be of any help or not, but it is something I'm going to do this year because I don't have much money free to spend. I'm going to buy a regular blank CD, and then with my cokerewards or some other reward thing I have, I'm going to use those to download some songs from itunes or some place similar or cheaper. The rewards won't cover them all, but they are like 99 cents at the most. It's going to be a mix of my mom's favorite songs, with a few new ones I think she will like. Even if it is 5 songs, it is something she can play in the car, or when she is on the computer. And she wouldn't have to buy all different CDs, because although they would be on one CD, but they wouldn't have to be the same artist. I'm going to ask my sister to use the computer to design a paper to use on the cover of the CD. Just something anyone could do on the computer. All together it could be just about 8 dollars. And that is if a person doesn't have rewards on sites. Sometimes friends and family have an extra blank CD, so you may be able to get that free if no one needs it. For children, if there were only 3 songs even, they like the songs enough, they won't care that they play over and over.

Well, if it's something they'd appreciate, you could put together a box of homemade cookies and candies for the adults. Cookies, fudge (the simple recipe on the back of a marshmallow fluff jar is great), rice crispy treats - you can stir in all sorts of stuff to make them different: some caramels or peanut butter (in with the marshmallow and butter), chocolate chips, mini m&m's, sprinkles, etc. You can make peppermint bark, chocolate covered pretzels, etc. To buy the ingredients would probably cost about what you'd pay on 1 or 2 gifts, and make enough to give to all of them.

I used to make fudge for everyone, it didn't cost a whole lot and it was the fudge recipe on the back of the marshmellow creme jar. I put it in those throw away silver pans and just wrapped them up after the fudge cooled in them with a card. Everyone loved it and actually looked forward to it every year. -Amberina