On the green touch 1.0, which I mentioned in my very first blog post, I wrote an article called “Tips for green presents”. My focus was environmentally friendly gifts and I even included “green ways” to wrap your presents (fine, since you’re curious I’ll include it at the end of this post). My focus today is to give you present ideas that won’t cost you an arm, and it turns out my tips from back then are still valid. Here are some new ones too.
1 – Brainstorm with your family
In 2012, 24-year-old me wrote “What I don’t like about Christmas is that it is so materialistic! It’s like you’re forced to buy something, even if there are many chances that the person won’t need/use/like it. But you have to anyway.” I don’t feel the same today because I simply don’t buy anything for my family unless I randomly come across something that makes me think “Oh, this would be perfect for Mom / Dad / Sister / [insert person name].
This all started a few years ago when we agreed all together “no Christmas present this year (and the next one), so we can save money and all go on a trip together”. We did in 2019. I left from Norway, they left from France, and we all met in Thailand. Since I live abroad and don’t see my family more than twice a year outside pandemic years, this was worth all the random Christmas presents I didn’t get.
Whether you have a project to do something together or not, it can be a good idea to have a discussion with your family, especially if you’re struggling this year. You can all agree to lower the bar, give presents to kids only, or even try secret Santa!
2 – Think Secret Santa
Oh well, the name might be wrong cause it doesn’t have to be a secret. With Secret Santa, you’re assigned one person (and yes only one!) to whom you’ll give a gift. My sister-in-law’s family does this successfully every year. What I love about this idea, is that having only one gift to think of, they are more likely to put a lot of thought into it and actually find something that will be perfect for the receiver.
3 – Think!
Think as in “Plan in advance“. Again, a good gift is a well-thought gift, not at all the kind of gift you buy when you grab something on a shelf last minute to avoid coming empty-handed. By planning in advance, you can get yourself some good discounts, in addition to spreading the costs over several months.
As I write these words it is Black Friday week. If I had something specific in mind I would totally buy it now, at a cheaper price. In other words, I myself haven’t thought in advance, but I’m not worried because of my capacity to apply the next tip.
4 – Think outside the box
Gift an experience, something immaterial. In my 2012 article, it made perfect sense to suggest a virtual gift card or concert tickets. However, these “experiences” are not necessarily cheap, but you can make them.
How about you create your own gift cards? Gift your parents a completely homemade meal (by you) next time they’re on a date night. How about offering a course or a service? Teach somebody something you’re really good at. Or, if you have young parents among your family or friends, they’ll be more than grateful to cash in a babysitting or grocery shopping session, anything that will make their life easier. The idea here is to gift quality time, whether it’s with you, or for other loved ones to spend together.
Funny thing, I gifted my mum a 15-minute massage (me being the masseuse), which she loves. We both forgot about it, but she found my little paper voucher as I was visiting last September. I had no other choice than to do it 😀
5 – Think vouchers and gift cards
I’ve already mentioned gift cards but this tip is different. Check second-hand websites for those, and set an alert even. You might find them for a cheaper price than their actual worth, as the seller might not be able to use them in time. You can then use them to buy Christmas presents.
6 – Think second hand
The beauty of 2022, compared to exactly 10 years ago, is that buying second-hand is much more accepted now, and this is based on everything I have bought and sold myself. This makes me think that if more people are open to buying second-hand objects for themselves, they might also be open to receiving such objects from others.
Second-hand presents don’t necessarily look “cheap” or in bad shape. The market is full of perfectly good products people don’t want anymore. It’s also a good way to offer good quality/expensive gifts you could not have afforded otherwise.
Something from the 2012 article I had forgotten and just need to share here: “We offered a small bike for a little girl’s birthday; we could afford it and she was the happiest in the world”. <3
7 – Think homemade
I am really appreciative when someone has put thought and effort into making something for me. Are you good at something, and have someone in mind whom you know will be grateful for it (not everybody is), then go for it.
Over the years, I’ve often gifted homemade soaps. You can make them months in advance (in my experience the older, the more foam!). And just yesterday I baked some cookies as a thank-you present for my neighbor. The only thing you need (or not even) is a pretty cookie packaging bag.
8 – Gift a charity
If you still struggle to find gift ideas for someone who has everything, you might consider offering vaccines, food, and other necessary supplies in their name, to groups of people who really need them. Check out for example Doctors without borders and Unicef, and/or any other organization that you know matters to the giftee.
Bonus: Wrapping paper
You get this for free in most places here, but in case you don’t, here are a few tips:
- if you don’t rip the paper off, you can use wrapping paper again (and again and again).
- recycle material: catalog pages and newspapers make very nice packages. Even better, use foreign newspapers if you can, so that it looks a bit exotic.
- by using strings and yarn you can avoid scotch tape and make adorable packages.
- Make name labels with old free postcards.
Hope all these tips will be useful. Happy (soonish) Christmas!
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