Are you shopping for a few people, or a single person? Small items are usually a nice touch when shopping on a budget. Some people like to find lots of little creative 'stocking stuffers', i.e. little gifts (think hand sanitizer, decorative soaps, mini board games). And I have friends who prefer to make their own gifts, like one friend last year who gave me a knitted black cashmere scarf. If you're good with making small gifts, or wish to engage your creative talents, it's perfect for Xmastime. As an example of what I used to do for my college profs - bake them something, wrap it up nicely, and maybe include a bottle of wine (especially if I did well in their courses, lol).
How can you be new to Christmas? Religious reasons? The cheapest gifts? MAKE things. My favourite one to make involves mixing peanut butter and icing sugar together into a thick dough--as thick as you can make it. Roll it into little balls not much bigger than marbles, and put them in the fridge. When they're chilled, melt good dark chocolate (I do it in a double boiler on the stove). Drop the dough into the chocolate one at a time and cover them in chocolate; pull them out before they melt and put them on a tray with wax paper over it. Put them back in the fridge. Makes little peanut butter chocolates that taste like healthy Reese's cups.
MAKE SOMETHING! Seriously, it always frustrates me to no end when people feel they need to buy something for someone else because it's Christmas. The idea of Christmas is to give a gift with the recipient in mind; it's the effort that counts. So if you can't think of something to buy them, make something! For me, for example, I'm pretty into photography. So usually for one celebration (whether it's Christmas or birthdays or whatever) I'll go on a picture-taking afternoon and frame one of the nicer shots. My grandma has a ton of pictures around her house, so it's usually a nice addition, and I know she appreciates the thought. Baking is always a good option too. (note: I'm not against buying gifts, but rather the idea of frivolously buying something that the person might not even want just because you feel you should)
Depending on the person.... Get some jewelry off of eBay. Last Christmas I got some beads cheaply and made my mother a charm bracelet.
What type of personality does he/she have? You can find a nice t-shirt/top for under $50. Baking for someone always warms my heart. And it's pretty cheap too, :icon_bigg.
Yes. Was a Jehovah's Witness. I'm getting him a new yoga mat and I'm baking him some gluten free deserts. Because he can't have gluten.
Another "budget" idea is giving the gift of time or your talents. For example, make a coupon good for a few evenings or a weekend of babysitting for friends with a young child, an afternoon of general fix-ups around the house or spring/yard cleaning for a grandparent/elderly relative, family/couple photo session if you're good at that, etc... Things that won't cost you much, but are difficult to do for someone else...
it mostly depends on what you're looking for of course, but i find a lot of great things at dollar stores and thrift stores and flea markets. also if you have any creativity in you at all you can make things for people, lots of people love handmade stuff. if you bake then sometimes cookies in a nice tin or on a nice platter make a great gift. a friend of mine got some clear plastic ball ornaments and cut them open and put little figurines and stuff in them, they look really cute and are easy and cost maybe $2 to make. also places like tj maxx, marshalls, and home goods are good for finding random neat and nice things for less monies. all in all, it's not about the gifts anyway merry christmas!
Holy crap 50 bucks is a cheap gift? Lol but yeah making something can be really thoughtful and it's inexpensive. I'm painting things for my family this year
