Tip Diva | Top Ten Tips - Alternative Gift Giving

Top Ten Tips - Alternative Gift Giving

By Tip Diva | Dec 12, 2007

Categories: Baking, Budget, Charity, Cheap, Christmas, Coupons, Creativity, Family, Food, Free, Freebies, Fun, Games, Gifts, Holiday, Household, Makeup, Money, Recycling, Savings, Shopping, Tips

Gift giving during the holidays can be expensive and sometimes even out of control. Who wants to spend the day battling crowds at the mall or maxing out credit cards? There are many other ways to partake in the Season of Giving, and here are a few unique ideas:

Hold A Secret Santa Exchange - For a Secret Santa exchange, a group decides on a gift price range and a date to exchange the gifts. Each person picks a name out of the hat and is that person’s “Secret Santa.” The gifts are put in a box and distributed to the recipient on the chosen day. Each person has to guess who their Secret Santa was.
Play ”Yankee Swap” - Decide on a gift price range, and then everyone brings a wrapped gift to the game, which is put on a table or in the middle of a circle. Pull a number from a hat. The first person picks any gift and opens it. That is their gift. The second person now can either choose a present from the pile or take the first person’s gift. If he chooses the latter, then the first person gets to choose another gift. The third person can take a gift from the pile or take the first or second person’s gift. The game goes around with people “stealing” others’ gifts until everyone has something. Then the first person gets to go once more, either keeping his gift or swapping with someone else. You never know what you’ll end up with!
Declare A “No Gift” Holiday Season - This can be very welcome to a person on a limited budget or big families. Instead, enjoy each others’ company and the simplicity of the holiday.
Pool Money To Donate To Charity - Declare a ”no gift” holiday season, and pool what you would have spent on gifts and donate it to someone in need. Great holiday charities include: Heifer International, Toys For Tots, Angel Tree and The Salvation Army.
Exchange Baked Goods - Who doesn’t like cookies, brownies and other baked treats? Everyone should bake enough treats to exchange with every person in the group. Have everyone bring a plate so they can take their goodies home.
Give Coupon Booklets - No, I’m not talking about Valpak. Create a coupon booklet uniquely tailored to the recipient. For instance, one coupon might be for dinner and a movie. Another might be for shoveling snow. Think of what the person likes or tasks that need to be done.
Create Recipe Books - Gather favorite recipes from your family and friends, type them up, and print them out on postcard-sized paper. Bind them together with staples or ribbon, decorate the front cover and give the “cookbooks” as gifts.
Exchange Unwanted Items With Friends - Do you have clothes, household items, makeup, accessories and other knicknacks you don’t want anymore and are in good condition? Gather them up and have your friends do the same. Choose a location and have a “free for all” event, where everyone puts in their unwanted items and picks through everyone else’s. As they say, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Donate the leftovers to charity - The Salvation Army and Big Brothers Big Sisters will even pick them up.
Have An Ornament Exchange - Make unique Christmas ornaments or pick out ornaments that remind you of a friend or family member. Have them do the same for you, and exchange. You’ll have a tree full of special ornaments and memories.
Give To Charity In The Name Of Someone Else - Find out the recipient’s favorite charity, and give a donation in their name. Many charities will provide cards that you can give to the recipient, noting the gift.