How To Give A Cheap Christmas Gift Without Looking Cheap

Here's the situation - you have a long list of people you need to get gifts for and not a lot of money. What you really need is a cheap Christmas gift that doesn't look cheap. Sound familiar? There are ways to get great Christmas gifts that won't break the bank or empty your purse or wallet.

We’ve all gotten a terrible cheap Christmas gift that is clearly something that was picked up at the last minute without any thought, and obvious that the giver did not spend much money. The situation was even portrayed on the NBC television show "The Office", where in an office gift exchange a giver gave the ultimate cheap Christmas gift - a used flannel shirt that was the wrong size for the recipient. It was later told that it was just grabbed from the givers own closet that very morning of the exchange.

Side note - don't try this. OK you probably already knew that but I just wanted to make sure you knew this is not something I'm advocating.

It is completely understandable that there are situations where a gift giver does not want to spend much money on a gift, whether it be because of an occasion like an office gift exchange where you don’t know the recipient that well, or because of overall finances for all gifts for this year. We have all been in a situation where we have wanted to give a relatively cheap Christmas gift and have ended up frustrated beyond belief because we haven’t been able to find something that didn’t look like it cost five dollars.

There are ways to give a cheap Christmas gift without coming off looking like a holiday scrooge or a cheapskate. One of the best ways to give a cheap Christmas gift is to dress it up in fabulous wrapping. Presentation is everything, and if you put some time and effort into the packaging you will be surprised how much better that cheap Christmas gift will look. Using things like paper mache boxes and thick ribbon can make all the difference in the world.

Everyone always appreciates homemade goodies during the holiday season as well. Make up a batch of spiced nuts, chocolate covered pretzels or your best banana bread and package it in a gift box with some raffia and the recipient will think it looks like it came from a specialty bakery, but with the great taste of something homemade.

Of course when giving a cheap Christmas gift, it is usually helpful to know the recipient. In those cases you can usually know of something that is under ten dollars that they really would want and use, whether it be their favorite scented lotion or a box of their favorite golf balls. Giving a cheap Christmas gift is not the easiest task in the world, but when done with caution it can turn out fabulously!

One other idea, look for the unusual. There are a ton of specialty stores online that specialist in gifts that are just plain weird. Most of them are pretty inexpensive and you can pick out something that matches the personality of the recipient. If you match the gift to the receiver, then there's no way you can look like you ran out at the last minute and picked up the first thing you saw.