Seven Priceless Holiday Gifts That Won’t Break Your Budget

Do you get butterflies in your stomach, thinking about crowded shopping malls and a fruitless quest to find the perfect holiday presents without maxing out the MasterCard? If you start soon, you can create the perfect holiday gifts and stick within your budget. Here are seven ideas to inspire you.

Share Memories

“I’ve created cookbooks with handwritten recipes and stories, memories, or comments for each recipe,” says Mary Reed, an Austin-based personal finance writer and book publicist, who adds that she handwrites her cookbooks to keep them personal.

She says she has also written letters to friends and loved ones as gifts to convey special thoughts. She has even written short stories as gifts, recounting her memories of Christmases past, when she was a young girl and her family would travel to her grandparents’ farm for the holidays. “What I wrote captured many of the memories of everyone in my family,” she adds.

If you aren’t as comfortable putting pen to paper as Mary is, you can record your sentiments on audio or video. And even if you aren’t the next Laura Ingalls Wilder, those recorded memories may be treasured for generations to come.

Capture the Moment

It’s easier now than ever before to transform your photos into gifts. Jessica Cooper of Sarasota, Florida gave her mother a digital photo holder ($20) the size of a credit card. “It’s great to download photos, and grandma has two hundred photos in her purse at any given moment to show her bingo buddies,” she laughs.

Last year, my sister Gail bought inexpensive jeweled ornament photo holders and filled them with pictures of all the grandchildren. Then she bought an iron photo tree to hang them from (the total cost was less than $30). It’s a gift my parents will treasure each year when they decorate the house for the holidays.

Give a Living Gift

I loved my friend Susan’s suggestion of giving a tree as a gift. She recounted how she and her sister gave a fruit tree ($20.00) to their father when he married their stepmother. The couple planted it outside their window and when the tree finally was old enough to bear fruit, they called and shared their excitement at being able to make their own orange juice for breakfast.

They have been married for fifteen years and that tree sits large outside their window, bearing fruit each season. Under that tree now also sits a bench their daughters gave them another year so they could sit and enjoy their time together. Not only does the tree mean a lot to them, but it is also a marker of their years together for everyone to see.

Another friend, Jessica Cooper, told me that the best gift she received from her husband was two rose bushes (approximately $6 each) and two beautiful large planters made from mosaic tiles.

While you may not be able to plant a tree or rose bushes in December in many parts of the country, a potted tree or plant can make a cheerful holiday gift. Live plants give off oxygen while absorbing harmful carbon dioxide. They provide shade, help lower temperatures, and prevent soil erosion, as well as providing a habitat for animals and insects. And they are beautiful as well.

Music Speaks Louder Than Gift Cards

Create a CD of your recipient’s favorite songs is what debt expert Alex Viecco suggests. “Music can be so powerful and moving” he says. And a collection of handpicked songs is more personal than an iTunes gift card.

If you are creating a CD for your partner or an old friend, it won’t be hard to dig out old songs that bring back memories. But you can also surprise them with some new tunes. If you know a few of their favorite artists, you can use Music Map to find others they are likely to enjoy.

Be Your Own Starbucks

If you are on my gift list this year, you may get a pound or two of my home roasted coffee beans. After reading how frugal maven Mary Hunt roasts her own coffee beans for better flavor at about half the cost, I’ve decided to give it a try. Following Mary’s advice, I purchased a Westbend Poppery II popcorn maker off eBay ($20) to roast my beans. You can also buy coffee roasters at SweetMaria’s or even follow their instructions for roasting your beans in a skillet. My coffee beans come from U-Roast-Em.com and cost less than $4 a pound. They also sell a package of 24 Glassine-lined glossy red gourmet coffee bean bags for only $8.39. I can add my own label to a one-pound bag of my gourmet beans for a unique custom gift that costs less than $5!

Not a coffee lover? Leeners will show you how to make your own gourmet cheese, wine, yogurt, beer, candy, hot sauce, vinegar, and more. It makes me wish I had my own goat to make Camembert cheese…

Give a Gift To Enjoy Together

On one of our walls hangs a beautiful but bedeviling puzzle that took my husband nearly a week to assemble, beginning on Christmas and ending on New Year’s Day a few years ago. My father gave him the puzzle for Christmas and then mounted and framed it for his birthday. It was two gifts in one. Since then, puzzles have become part of our holiday tradition.

Jigsaw puzzles are a family favorite, agrees Linda Keller of Sarasota, Florida, who adds, “There are so many ‘themes’ available; you can almost certainly find one that suits everyone on your gift list!” One of her family’s favorite web sites is jigzoneshop.com, which offers hundreds of puzzles with different skill levels to choose from in almost every category you can imagine. Many average $15 to $20 with free shipping. You can also have your digital photos transformed into custom puzzles ($38.99 to $74.99 with free shipping). Many other sites (including the photo sites I mentioned) have similar offerings, and you’ll find free instructions for creating your own puzzle with photo paper on HP’s website.

Get Crafty

My sister Gail gets the Martha Stewart award in our family for her handcrafted gifts, and I’ll admit I am a bit jealous of her artistic talents. But since I am often a recipient of her beautiful presents, I can’t complain too much.

Each year, for example, I hang a beautiful welcome sign outside our front door. She hand-painted a snowman (freehand no less!) on a slate tile she purchased at a crafts store, adding a personalized Happy Holidays greeting. Last year, she bought a small shiny shovel from a farm supply store, painted a Happy Holidays greeting on it, tied on a raffia bow, and gave it to her in-laws to decorate their door. It’s simple and memorable.

Not terribly inventive? Check out the Micheal’s craft store website for all kinds of do-it-yourself projects, from holiday cards to jewelry to candle making. If you have children or grandchildren, consider a holiday project you can all complete together. You won’t just be making gifts – you’ll be making memories.

And fond memories are the most priceless gift of all.

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