John Pickering Personal finance blog. Home Contact CATEGORY: ADVICE JANUARY 20, 2020 ADMINADVICE How To Give Great Gifts Which Do Not Cost Much It can be really difficult if we are struggling financially but want to give people nice gifts. We might like to spoil others and give them gifts or we may feel pressure to do so because we want to reciprocate the gifts that they give to us. Either way, they can be expensive and if you do not have loads of money, then giving a gift can be difficult and you may even have to contemplate borrowing the money to pay for it. However, there are ways that you can still give gifts but you do not have to spend lots of money. Sales/discounts Buying gifts in a sale or when they are discounted means that you will still be able to get an item of the value that you wish to spend without actually spending as much money – or turning to short term lending for help. It is often the case that when it is close to the time that you need a gift, you may not be able to find a discounted item. This is where it pays to be organised and to think ahead. If you can buy things when you see them reduced in advance of when you need to give them, then you will be able to spend less. Just make sure that you remember what you bought and where you stored it so that you do not buy something else as well and hence spend more money rather than less. Cheaper shops It could be worth hunting for items in cheaper shops. Sometimes you might be able to find exactly what you need in a shop that you do not normally look in, at a fraction of the price you pay in the shop you regularly shop in. You may not think that will be the case or you might think that you will not be able to find such nice things, but it is worth a look as you never know what you might come across. Second hand Some people feel that buying second hand is just not acceptable for gifts, but this may not be the case at all. Firstly, you may find that some of the items in second hand shops have actually been donated and never used, so that are still brand new. Some might be antiquarian and more valuable as well. It is therefore worth having a look to see what is available. You might be surprised at how little you will be able to pay for things which are new or almost new and can make really suitable gifts. Regifting Regifting things is a great way to pass on items that you have received and will not use. Make sure that you leave items unopened and you will be able to pass them onto someone else and they will never know that you did not pay for them. Items like toiletries, bottles of wine, even boxes of chocolates can be perfect for doing this with. Home made Making a gift yourself might be cheaper if you have the materials you need already in your home. There are lots of things you could potentially make form cakes, biscuits and sweets to knitted or embroidered items. Whether you can make a clay pot, paint a picture or engrave some glass, you probably have some sort of skill that you could potentially use in order to make someone a gift. Often people will value home made more because of the effort that has gone in to it. Give services instead of gifts It could be acceptable to give a service instead of a gift. This could be anything from walking their dog, doing some gardening or cleaning for them to driving them to the airport when they go on holiday. It can be good to think about whether there are things that they might benefit from that you will be able to help them with. There are lots of ideas here and hopefully you will be able to find something that will help you out. It can be really hard to find nice gifts on a budget and not giving gifts at all or having a no present pact can resolve the issue but it is not something that everyone would like to do. It is always worth thinking about no present pacts though and discussing them with friends and family as you may find that there are others that really struggle to afford gifts as well and they might be relieved to learn that you want to stop gifting too. It might be that you could disguise it as being due to a concern about the environment and that too many items are causing damage to the planet, but may prefer to be completely honest and explain that the cost is getting too much but you do not want to stop giving gifts if they are still giving gifts to you. Developed by Think Up Themes Ltd. Powered by WordPress.