Low Cost & Free Gift Ideas!

by Andrea Chervenak

These are challenging times for everyone. If you are unable to purchase gifts this year, here are some gift ideas that cost little or no money, but will mean a lot to the recipient!

1.  Create a video card – let the people you love know how much they mean to you in a video…you can post it to You Tube and send them the link with a nice note!

2.  Do volunteer work in their honor : select a cause or organization that holds meaning to the person you want to give the gift to. Ask the organization for a brochure or other information that you can wrap along with a note explaining that you are going to volunteer time in their “honor.”

3.  Cook their favorite meal, and make enough so there are leftovers for them to enjoy again.  Can’t afford to make a meal?  Offer to go to their home and  be their chef for the day!!

4.  Clean up their yard or take care of household chores they have been putting off.

5.  Plant seeds/ bulbs (they are less expensive than live plants) that they will enjoy in the Spring, and year-round!

6.  Give something of yours they’ve admired and that you know you can live without.

7.  Write a poem or letter expressing their importance in your life.

8.  Make a gift - knit a sweater, bake some cookies (of course using  healthy ingredients!), pick up an inexpensive craft project, frame a favorite photo, or purchase a greeting card with a meaningful message and frame it.

9.  Give the gift of your time: help with shopping, gift wrapping, and cooking.

10.  Remember that the greatest gift you can give is your love!

Interested in volunteering?  www.VolunteerMatch.org, www.1800Volunteer.org, www.Idealist.org