How to Save Money When Buying Gifts for Friends and Family

It is always nice to give gifts to your friends and family, especially if it’s a special birthday or wedding anniversary. However, sometimes your best intentions are restricted by the amount of money you have to spend. That doesn’t mean that you can’t still think of things that will be special and be personal to them and you. Here is how you can save money while still buying gifts for your friends and family.

Bake Something

If you know someone that loves cakes or candy, then this is a great opportunity to give them a special gift while also saving a little money. Cakes and candy are always better made to order than bought from a store, and something that you have made especially for them will be even better. Another reason this can be a good idea is if they have a food allergy or they are not allowed to eat something. It can sometimes be hard to get food, especially nice food in stores, so you can make all their favorites and omit the things they cannot have.

Give a Gift Card

For those people that are hard to buy for, it can be difficult to find something without having to ask them what they want. That is why giving them a gift card can be a great gift, they can spend it on what they want, and you won’t be buying something that they won’t use. You don’t have to give them a gift card from an expensive store, there are many that are accepted in various stores, so they are the best plan. It will give them the chance to choose where they want to spend it, and you can get a smaller amount. To make it extra special why not design and make the card for the gift card yourself? It will add an additional personal touch.

Get Them Something Personal to Them

Sometimes, you don’t have to spend a lot of money on a gift; you only need to buy them something that matters to them. For example, if they were in the armed forces or worked as a firefighter, then you might want to get them a nice coin that represents what they do such as those you can view here. Whether they are still serving or have retired, they will love to have something from that career they can keep and show to their friends.

Go to Clearance Sales

If there is a store near you having a clearance sale or a closing sale, then this is the perfect opportunity to go there and get some bargains. Even if there are no events coming up, it will still be great to have things standing by. You can store them in your attic or basement and wait until an event comes up that you think will be suitable. It is best to try and get a variety of things so that you aren’t trying to gift fifteen food mixers to people.

Give an Experience

One thing that can make a nice gift is to give someone an experience of a day at the beach or at the local park for a picnic. You can take control of the day and give them food and drink as well as the nice scenery. Another idea is to give them a surprise party that you can invite all their friends along and have lots of food. Everyone who is attending has to keep it a secret which can be difficult, but with good planning and plenty of time, you can make it a success.

Buy from the Seasonal Sales

After the holidays and other seasonal events have passed, there are always the sales where they try to sell off their old stock ready for the next season. It is a great opportunity to get some bargains that you can save until next year. As well as wrapping paper and cards that are usually heavily discounted, you can also buy little presents that you can keep for a birthday or the same event the next year. It won’t matter that they are a year older, as long as they are still appropriate for the event. Some items such as decorations you might be able to keep using for many years which will save you having to spend more money each year.

Buy Gifts Online

There are some items that can be bought far cheaper online than they can in stores. In fact, some stores have online versions that offer discounts. It is a good way of finding things you might have seen in a store that was too expansive to buy at the time. There are also many online stores that will resell items such as those on auction sites that are new but pre-owned. These can often have a reduced price and are ideal gifts that you can keep for any occasion.

Make a Family Picture or Movie

For many family members, especially parents and grandparents, there is nothing they like more than to have something from their family. You can start the year before and collect pictures or video clips from important events and put them together for their birthday. It is also something you can do every year, so they can see their children or grandchildren grow up and have a nice record of it. Traditionally, pictures of this type were made by sticking individual pictures into a frame. However, you can now use software to do it for you, or there are companies that will create it for you if you send them the photos electronically.

When you are trying to save money, it can be hard to find the cash to buy gifts for the ones you love. However, there are now many ways that you can use your bargaining tactics to find those sales or end of season reductions to help you. You can also use your own talents of baking or making things to create your own gifts.