You don't want to spend money on a gift that won't be appreciated. You don't want to give cash or a gift card that can be lost or expire. Yet you wish to give something. What is a frugal person to do?
What can you give that they need and appreciate?
Give "gift certificates" redeemable for one evening of free baby sitting for new parents or lawn mowing for shut in relatives. ' If you don't want to chase a toddler or do the heavy duty chores, there is always the recipe card. Gift cards worth one free meal, picked by turning in a card with a specific recipe, are always useful. Harried professional friends who'd enjoy a home cooked meal. Older relatives who would enjoy someone else cooking for once.
Print a "This is forgiven" card. They can be used toward forgiving a small loan or personal favors that cannot be returned or simply old grudges.
Gifts do not have to be monetary or pricey in order to be priceless.
In my family, we give each other services as gifts. I have a huge combination room (living/dining/kitchen) that was in dire need of repainting & even tho it was a huge task, I planned to do it myself (& it happened to be around my birthday). My Mom said for my birthday gift she'd help me paint for 8 hours. I can only imagine how much it would have cost me to pay someone to paint so I'm sure that gift was worth hundreds of dollars. I also had some home repairs that I would normally need to hire a handyman to do. Well, my Dad gave me the gift of handyman services & fixed everything that needed to be fixed. Now that I'm a homeowner, I value these "gifts" moreso than a traditional gift because I know paying someone to do what my parents have helped me with would have cost me in the thousands!
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