Gift Ideas on a Budget

For all that I’m always proclaiming to love Christmas, I’m more than aware that it can put quite some stress on your wallet. I mean, I’m a student, and I have a bunch of people to buy gifts for – and that’s not always easy. So here are some of my favorite gift ideas on a budget!

1. Start in time

Now, my first tip is probably not going to be a lot of use right now, but here it is anyways: start in time. Quite often, you can find things that would be perfect as a gift for *someone* and aren’t too expensive. If you come across those – buy them, and save them for later. You never know when you might need an impromptu gift, or won’t have the cash right at that moment to get something cute!

2. Work with what you’ve got

Linked to the previous one: keep track of what you have. Maybe you once got a lovely personal care set, that you haven’t used everything of? Maybe you’ve got a book lying around that you don’t like, but you know someone else will love it?

When giving gifts, the most important thing is not how much money, but how much time and thought you spent on it!

So, remember that, and work with what you’ve got. The fact that you’ve gone through all that effort just to figure out something that would be perfect for that other person? Worth way more than any cash you could’ve thrown at it!

3. Use your local dollar store

I’m a huge fan of this myself, just because these types of stores usually have a ton of cute little things that you can use for gifts. Now, that doesn’t mean you just spend $1 per person (although, if you’re very crafty and can do that: good for you!). However, if you can find a couple of cute things, combine them, and make them into 1 bigger gift, you’ll still have spent less money than you would’ve if you just bought one big gift!

For example, Pretty Providence has this really cute gift idea where you basically get a pair of cute (and not necessarily expensive!) slippers, and then fill them with little stuffers. Not only does this make for such a cute gift, but you can actually personalize this really easily – and all of that without breaking the bank!

4. Nothing like us-time

If you’re really stuck on what to get someone, and you want to keep your budget as low as humanly possible, gift yourself! This could be anything from a date with you, to a little booklet of coupons for a movie, a massage, … Does the person you’re getting a gift for hate ironing? Offer to do it for them! Do they have a dog and not enough time? Give them 10 coupons for you to walk the dog for free!

Quite often, people will enjoy the experience of spending time with you more than they could ever love something material. Or, you’re taking over some of their work load, in which case they’ll just love you all that much the more 😀

5. Some actual gifts

Don’t worry, of course I wasn’t going to leave you hanging here with no actual gift ideas – so here are some cute, budget-friendly, easy gift ideas that you can find at a ton of places. And that I would quite *love* getting myself as well!

(I even added in some links for the stuff on Amazon that I personally like best in every category! Those are affiliate links 🙂 )

(And: final note: when I say budget-friendly, I’m talking, like $10 tops – when you don’t have a lot of money, anything feels expensive!)

Scented candles
- Shearer Candles Orange Pomander Scented Candle
- Shearer Candles Vanilla and Coconut Scented Candle
Christmas ornaments

Warm, fuzzy socks
- Ladies Fluffy Stripes and Polka Dot Socks
- Ambielly Owl Socks
A throw blanket
- Throw, Super Soft Blanket
A new, fun type of tea
- Basilur Tea Specialty Classics Ceylon Orange Pekoe Foil
- Twinings Cranberry/Raspberry and Elderflower Tea Bags

Tote bags
A cute mug
- Harry Potter Marauder’s Map Mug
- Set of 4 Winter Porcelain Mugs

Anyways, so that’s that! That’s some of my tips for budget-friendly (cheap) Christmas gifts! Be sure to let me know what you’re best tips are for cheap gifts – I know I could always use some more!

Also: don’t forget to come back for the rest of this year’s Christmas series!

-Saar