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15 ideas to save money on gifts ๐ŸŽ

ideas to save money on gifts

15 ideas to save money on gifts

Introduction ๐Ÿ‘‹

When it comes to your hard-won money, saving every penny counts! ๐Ÿ’ฐ

Here are our top 15 ideas for saving money on gifts. ๐ŸŽ

Disclaimer: This website provides information for guidance and educational purposes only. The Grown-Up School does not provide regulated financial advice. You can seek independent financial advice from a suitably qualified and regulated professional advisor. Check out our disclaimer policy for more information.

1. Make gifts by hand ๐Ÿคš

If you make gifts by hand instead of buying them, you give them a personal touch. ๐Ÿ’ž

Handmade gifts can also be made cheaper than buying!

You could do things like:

  • baking/cooking ๐Ÿง
  • creating art
  • knitting clothes ๐Ÿงถ
  • crocheting toys
  • up-cycling house decorations ๐Ÿชž

2. Don’t feel pressured to spend a lot of money ๐Ÿ’ธ

Social media can create a lot of pressure to spend a lot of money. ๐Ÿ˜Ÿ

Places like Instagram are full of posts of wealthy people giving expensive piles of gifts – or even people who’ve made themselves completely broke, just so they can show off gifts they’ve bought! ๐ŸŽ

Don’t feel pressured to spend tons of money on gifts!

People you care about probably would be really upset for you to spend more than you can afford on gifts for them.

For example, very few people would want you to:

  • Sacrifice necessities like food and paying bills, so that you can buy gifts instead ๐Ÿฅช
  • Take out loans to buy people gifts ๐Ÿ’ฐ
  • Spend all of your money on nice things for others, and not on nice things for yourself ๐Ÿ˜ฅ

Focus on what’s affordable for you, that won’t worsen your financial situation. ๐Ÿ’ž

3. Work out what you can afford beforehand ๐Ÿ•ต๏ธโ€โ™€๏ธ

Have you ever gone gift shopping and ended up spending way more than you thought you would? ๐Ÿ’ธ

Shops are designed to encourage you to spend money, and can easily tempt you into spending more than you meant to. ๐Ÿ›๏ธ

Before you go shopping, work out what you can afford and agree a budget for gifts.

Stick to your budget, to spend less money! ๐Ÿ’ฐ

4. Plan ahead ๐Ÿ“†

Are you the kind of person who always forgets special occasions, and rushes to buy gifts last-minute? โŒš

This could be costing you money!

If you’re in a rush, it can be easy to accidentally overspend on gifts. ๐Ÿƒโ€โ™€๏ธ๐Ÿ’จ

Things like next-day delivery costs to meet tight gift-giving deadlines can really add up. ๐Ÿšš

Plan ahead to avoid buying last-minute gifts that could derail your budget!

5. Find other ways to make people feel special ๐Ÿ’–

Don’t feel pressured to buy gifts for every occasion!

Why not find other ways to make people feel special instead? ๐Ÿค—

You could do things like:

  • spending quality time together
  • giving them kind/positive words
  • physical touch
  • helping them with something important to them

Check out our article – 133 ways to make someone feel special ๐Ÿ’– for ideas on other ways to make people feel special.

6. Consider giving “time vouchers” โŒš

Rather than using your money to give a gift, why not use your time instead? โŒ›

Consider giving gift vouchers for your time

You could give time vouchers for things like:

  • Babysitting
  • Dog walking๐Ÿ•
  • Fashion advice
  • Homemade meals๐Ÿ›
  • Baking
  • Doing chores ๐Ÿงฝ
  • Walks in the park together
  • Cups of tea โ˜•
  • Breakfast in bed
  • Film nights ๐Ÿ“ฝ๏ธ

If you think about the things that the other person loves you doing, it can turn into a really memorable and heartwarming gift. ๐Ÿ’ž

It’s also really fun to cash in time voucher gifts when people give you them!

Want to create time vouchers for cheap days out? Here are our best ideas –

100+ really cheap days out ๐Ÿž๏ธ

The possibilities for time vouchers are endless, and don’t have to cost any money! ๐ŸŽซ

7. Save money for presents ๐Ÿ’ฐ

Borrowing money to buy presents can make them really expensive. ๐Ÿ’ณ

For example, if you used a credit card to buy presents and couldn’t pay it off straight away, you would have to pay extra money to say thank you for the loan (interest – What is interest? (easy explanation) ๐Ÿ“ˆ)

Saving money for presents early can help you to avoid borrowing money for presents last-minute, making them cheaper! ๐Ÿท

Set up a “gift budget” and save money towards it, to help make present-buying cheaper. ๐ŸŽ

8. Consider shopping online ๐Ÿ’ป

In-person shops are designed to encourage you to spend lots of money, which can make it easy to lose track of how much you’ve spent. ๐Ÿ—บ๏ธ

Consider shopping online to help keep track of your spending, and avoid getting enticed into more expensive deals in high street shops. ๐Ÿ•ต๏ธโ€โ™€๏ธ

9. Buy high quality gifts ๐Ÿ’ƒ

It can be tempting to buy people lots of poor quality gifts to make it seem like you’ve spent lots of money.

Even though the gifts aren’t great, the costs can really add up – especially if you’re paying for delivery. ๐Ÿšš

Instead of this, why not consider getting one high quality gift per person? โœจ

It also means that you’d have to think of just one present, and pay for delivery once!

Perhaps you could look at buying from a small/local business who needs support, to help your local community. ๐ŸŒŽ๐Ÿ’ž

10. Combine delivery costs ๐Ÿšš

Are you someone who buys gifts randomly, without really thinking? ๐Ÿฅด

If you plan ahead, you could order lots of gifts together, to combine delivery costs.

This means that you’d only have to pay extra for delivery once! ๐ŸŽ‰

11. Make gifts meaningful ๐Ÿ’ž

The more meaningful a gift is, the less expensive it needs to be, because it still makes the other person feel special. ๐Ÿฅฐ

Instead of spending lots of money on gifts, why not think of cheaper, more meaningful gifts instead like:

  • making a heartfelt video ๐Ÿ“ฝ๏ธ
  • framing a picture
  • buying them something that will make them laugh ๐Ÿ˜
  • making a scrapbook
  • buying them something little that they’ve always wanted ๐Ÿ’
  • giving a gift where you can spend time together

12. Consider reusable wrapping paper ๐Ÿ—ž๏ธ

The cost of wrapping paper can really add up. ๐Ÿ’ธ

Consider using reusable wrapping for gifts such as decorated cloth bags that can be returned to you or reused. ๐Ÿ‘

This can help reduce waste from gifts, but also save you money on wrapping paper! ๐ŸŽ‰

13. Check out second-hand shops, antique shops, and charity shops ๐Ÿช‘

There are lots of interesting places to find high quality, cheaper gifts. ๐ŸŽ

Check out second-hand, antique, or charity shops for potentially cheaper, interesting gifts ๐Ÿช‘

14. Agree a spending limit with friends/family ๐Ÿ“Š

It can always be difficult to know what your family/friends expect you to spend on them for gifts, and end up overspending “just in case”. ๐Ÿคทโ€โ™€๏ธ

Agree a spending limit with friends/family for gifts, so that nobody feels under pressure to overspend. ๐Ÿ”

15. Look at “collection only” gifts ๐Ÿ—บ๏ธ

On secondhand seller sites like eBay or Facebook marketplace people tend to offer better deals if you can collect from their local area. ๐Ÿ“Œ

You could try and haggle local sellers down to lower prices for items because you can collect! ๐Ÿ’ธ

Items listed as “collection only” might be cheaper for you, than ordering something and having to pay delivery costs. ๐Ÿšš

Conclusion ๐Ÿ‘

So that’s it!

Hopefully these 15 ideas have helped you on your way to saving money.

If you know any friends or family members who might benefit from these ideas, share this post with them!

Finally, don’t forget to check out our similar articles below!

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