Tips for Frugal Christmas Giving
I wonder if consumers will change their approach to buying this Christmas due to the economy. You’d better believe retailers are anxious to know, because a great majority of them count on that holiday money to carry them until Valentine’s Day when people start spending again. But we all have to face facts, and retailers might just have to deal with the fact that it’s been a hard year for many people.
There are ways, however, to save money on the holiday without having to seem like a Scrooge. For instance, there are gifts found online that are free for all intents and purposes. A good example are free Christmas gift certificates available for download that let you give the gift of you. After downloading and printing a certificate, you simply write in the free gift you’d like to give the recipient. This can be anything you can dream up: lawn-mowing, babysitting, cooking and house cleaning are just some examples. And you might be surprised, the gift of your time might just mean more than an expensive gift to some of your friends or family members.
If you’ll be giving the gift to parents of small kids, try making Santa letters with detailed information about each of the children. These use From the Desk of Santa Claus letterhead artwork to give the impression that Santa sent them himself. Even though the children won’t know that you’re the one who sent the letters, their moms and dads will! So it’s actually a gift for them, as well as for the kids.
If a homemade present won’t do it, there are ways to save money when buying a gift. An easy way to do that is to save on shipping costs. You can find plenty of online holiday gifts that don’t need to be shipped. You might be surprised to learn there are gift certificate choices that can be downloaded and printed. These come from just about every major retailer and some smaller companies and vendors, so it’s usually not hard to find something suitable for everyone on your list.
With so many choices available this holiday season, you can give like Santa Claus without shelling out big bucks. Now that’s definitely a recipe for a merry Christmas!