Great, Inexpensive

Christmas Gifts

The holidays are a time for giving, and you can bring joy to someone's heart without breaking the bank. Those with hectic schedules, demanding jobs, and responsibilities at home often want a quick, easy solution to gift giving, but such solutions often come with a big price tag.

Perhaps we need to be reminded of the old truism -- that the money we spend doesn't make the gift, it's the thought that goes along with and into it.

Bring A Smile To Someone's Face

In addition to our loved ones, families and friends, there are many people around us we might love to give a gift to, but feel we can't afford it. For example -- people who are shut in because of age or illness, many of whom have little family left. A person like this would almost certainly appreciate an inexpensive gift that you either buy or make yourself.

In this spirit we offer the collection of ideas below to get you thinking about how you can make people smile on Hanukah or Kwanzaa or Christmas Day. Check out a few of these inexpensive gifts for the holiday season.

Think Small

You'll have better luck if you get creative when planning your inexpensive holiday gifts. Holiday gifts can take many forms, limited only by your imagination. A good gift can be any gift that you yourself might like to receive, or would like to give. Often just a thoughtful gesture is the best present of all. If you're handy in the kitchen, you can fix a special meal for a neighbor. For many of them, family members are far away or deceased, and their holidays now are only a ghost of what they were in earlier times.

Something From The Oven

When you're making Christmas cookies, make extra for giving to others who aren't on your primary gift list. The gift of a plate of cookies, or a serving of turkey and all the trimmings to warm up later may be a pleasant surprise. There are probably others in your neighborhood who might appreciate a friendly gesture, too -- someone who's lost a job, or someone with a new baby in the household.

The Key To A Mother's Heart

Almost any mother loves not having to do the cooking. Her own mother might be far away, and a trip home for the holidays is not possible either. Home cooked meals are a wonderful gift for busy moms, and can be taken to shelters for abused women and children, or for homeless veterans. Food is both a necessity and a luxury that you can share with others, and it embodies the giving spirit of Christmas.

Paper Pleasures

For those in your life who might not be on your required gift list, but deserve some recognition, there are other options for giving. For example, if you're good at calligraphy, you can print a verse, and then create a special holiday greeting card with your computer, or by hand drawing a holiday scene on folded card stock paper.

To add even more of a personal flare, write a letter or a short note about you and your family over the past year. A lot of families create newsletters with family pictures on regular paper, which does cut down on the use of expensive photo paper. This type of gift is a pleasure for those out-of-town extended family members and friends.

Hand Made Cards

Personalized thank you cards and stationery are another inexpensive way to wish someone a Merry Christmas. Making this gift can be as easy as choosing a design on your computer and printing a dozen or so hand-folded cards. Add pre-made envelopes and package them all in a pretty box, and you have a gift that's like store-bought stationery, only better.

While you're printing out thank you notes, include some for the special people in your life such as teachers, doctors, and others who deserve recognition of their service. Everyone loves to be remembered on Christmas.

Crafts And Novelties

Probably the number one resource for inexpensive gift ideas is the Internet. From craft ideas to novelty gift items for young and old, you will find hundreds of inexpensive gift ideas online. Low-cost gifts and great bargains can also be found at discount stores. For example, unique and personalized gifts can be made from store bought items such as photo albums. Add some fabric, stencil or stitch a name or initials, and you've created a thoughtful, one-of-a-kind present that will make someone's holidays a little happier.

Kid's Stuff By The Box Full

For the very young children in your life, you can begin a kid's box starting with sale items from the day after Thanksgiving. Keep adding to it with all the last-minute great deals you find until Christmas, and then give it to some lucky child who will have a treasure box of gifts to open. Start collecting items in a new box from the after-Christmas sales, and throughout the year, for next Christmas.

Look for low-cost, fun things to add, such as personalized pencils, on-sale favorite movies, coloring and sticker books, and the kind of quirky, amusing items you find while waiting at the checkout counter. The list of what you can include is endless, and next year all you have to do is wrap and mail the gift.

A Heart Full Of Treasures

Finally, when giving your inexpensive gifts to the people in your life, remember that the real treasure comes from your heart, and the spirit of Christmas doesn't wear a price tag.