Three Frugal Gift Ideas for the Difficult People on Your List

Do you have people on your Christmas gift-giving list that are impossible to buy for? For a variety of reasons these people are just plain hard to buy for, maybe they are older and have everything, maybe they are picky, or maybe I'm just out of creative juices.

1. Have the person over to your home for a meal. Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner, whatever fits into your schedules. We do this for my grandparents. They really don't need or want anything. Both of my grandmothers are trying to downsize. What my grandparents really want is to spend time with my family and we enjoy spending time with them. Make it special. Use the good china. Watch a movie or old home videos. Play a game. The gift is of time spent together and the memories made will last forever.


2. Homemade Cookies of the Month Club - Do you remember the episode of Everybody Loves Raymond where Ray and Debra give his parents a fruit of the month club membership? It is hysterical. "The pears, what am I going to do with all of these pears?" But honestly I would love that as a gift. I've checked it out as an idea for somebody and it doesn't fit into our budget, but Homemade Cookies of the Month does. It doesn't have to be for the entire 12 months of the year. You could do 3-6 months of delivering cookies to the recipient. Each month could be a different cookie recipe. Create a certificate on your computer to explain the gift. Package the cookies in pretty bag or box. This is an opportunity to also include your time with the recipient.
   


3. Give the Gift of Giving - For my fortieth birthday, our neighbors across the street gave me a card. When I opened it a signed check for $20 was inside, but the 'pay to the order of' line was not filled in. There was a note attached that said, "In honor of your birthday, please fill out the check and send it to your favorite charity." I sent it to a local food bank. While I received some nice things for my birthday, I really appreciated that gift. I thought it was an awesome idea.

I love Christmas, but I don't love the stress that seems to slip into the season. The gift of time and thoughtfulness can go a long way with our loved ones, without taking a big bite out of your balance sheet.

What frugal gift ideas do you have for the impossible people on your list?

Thanks for reading FamilyBalanceSheet. If you don't already receive FBS free updates, please click here to sign up.

This post is linked to:

• Tightwad Tuesday at Being Frugal
• Frugal Friday at Life as Mom