You have to get quite a few Christmas presents this year, but you’re not sure how you’re going to manage that when you’re practically broke. You want to share the joy of the holidays with the people in your life, but you can’t justify spending very much when you’re on such a tight budget. Are there gifts that you can get that won’t break the bank?
These are some ideas that you can consider.
Printed Photos
With everything being digital now, it’s rare for someone to have a physical photo album or even a framed photo in their home. Most of their photos are sitting on their smartphone or are posted on their Instagram.
So, surprise someone with a print of a special photo that you think they’ll love to put on display. Printing a single photo will cost you some pocket change. Once you have the photo, all you have to do is purchase the frame to put it in.
Homemade Treats
Do you have a knack for baking? Then, consider making baked goods as gifts. People will love getting a tin filled with delectable delights like Christmas cookies, chewy brownies and slabs of peppermint bark.
A Curated Playlist
Back in the day, when you wanted to share your love of music with someone, you would make them a mix tape or a mix CD. You’d create a special playlist of songs that they could listen to and think of you.
You can still do this by creating a Spotify playlist! It’ll take effort, but it won’t cost you a thing to put together. On Christmas Day, share the link to the playlist with them. They’ll spend the rest of their holidays listening to it.
A Beautiful Bouquet (Do It Yourself)
Ordering a floral arrangement is a shockingly expensive gift. You can easily spend upwards of $100 on an arrangement, which will turn your entire budget upside down.
Instead of taking on this major expense, you can make your own floral arrangement for much less. Get inspired by the floweracademia Tiktok account, which teaches you how to take $20 worth of grocery-store-purchased flowers to make a lovely bouquet.
A Good Book
Is the person you’re buying for a big reader? Get them a book to add to their TBR list. The present should put a smile on their face and cost you less than $25.
You can get clues about what they’d like to read based on their previous favorites. If they love a particular genre, you know that your pick should be in that realm. If they’ve read every book by a certain author, they’ll definitely want to add the newest release to their bookshelf. If the person uses a book-tracking app like Goodreads or Storygraph, you could see some of the books they have on their wish list. This could give you a good clue on what title to buy for them.
Just in case, always keep the receipt and tuck it into the book that you are giving them. If you’ve made a pick that they’ve already read or have sitting on their shelf, they can return the book and get something else that they’d like. It’s a simple fix.
The Importance of Spending Less on Gifts
When your budget is really tight, you shouldn’t push yourself to spend a lot on gifts. This is a huge financial mistake that will make you feel good on Christmas Day but will make you feel terrible soon after. Doing this could put your checking account into overdraft. It could make it difficult to pay all of your remaining bills on time. It could force you to drain your savings account, leaving you no feasible way of covering an emergency expense that falls into your lap.
If you ever make the mistake of overspending, and you can’t cover an emergency expense, you could look at a borrowing solution like a personal loan. There’s no need to book an appointment at your local bank branch for this. That’s right, don’t go far to borrow – you can submit an application for the personal loan online or over the phone. Soon after you submit your application, you’ll find out whether you’ve been approved or not. With an approved loan, you could handle your emergency expense and follow a repayment plan later on.
Do not use borrowing solutions like personal loans for non-emergencies. Those temporary funds are not meant for expenses like Christmas gifts.
You don’t have to skip gift-giving this year because of your finances. As you can see, you can get great gifts without going overbudget.
