Exploring Alternatives
Today’s world is fraught with the three “i’s”: inflation, intrigue, and insecurity. People don’t know what’s coming next, and they’re trying to conserve their resources as best they can. Accordingly, this Christmas season, finding a gift for a lady can be difficult. You want to seek valuable options, but it may not be wise to do so right now.
Beyond situational realities of the unexpected modern world, there’s this to consider: sometimes money is just tight. What’s the solution? Well, you need to be a little strategic before you go out buying gifts.
Inform your purchases by separating relevant gifts she’ll love into categories, then ticking off the boxes of those categories. Here we’ll go over five frugal gift ideas for women not only this Christmas, but for any occasion where giving a gift makes sense. By no means are these all your options, but hopefully they get your imagination going.
- Building, Fixing, and Crafting Things for Her
Women like men who fix things, period. If you’re a “handyman”, not only will she appreciate what you do, she may even find it attractive. So fix all the “honey-do’s” one day when she doesn’t expect it, and surprise her at an opportune time. This can be a bit of an undertaking, if you’ve got a lot of honey-do’s. You might start with less obvious ones.
For example, maybe you’ve been meaning to finish the basement, and she never goes down there anyway. Finish the basement by degrees, and then save the more obvious repairs for when she’s out, so the surprise is better.
Barring that, build something for her if you’re handy enough. You can probably build a cupola or a pergola in the backyard over a weekend for only a few hundred bucks, if you do it yourself. If you’re crafty enough, you might build furniture or something similar. Building and fixing things take time, and they take energy; as a result, they’re often quite appreciated. - Seeds: If She Loves to Garden, Buy Exotic
Seeds are extremely cost-effective, and perhaps one of the best possible ways to preserve your budget while keeping her happy. Here’s the thing: if she’s not into gardening, this is probably not the way to go. You might stimulate a desire for her to cultivate with the gift of seeds, but you might also disappoint her.
However, if she already has a notable interest in gardening, this may be the perfect budget-friendly gift—especially if you can find seeds for plants online that don’t naturally grow in your region. Be sure you know the best practices in growing anything exotic. It’s not much of a gift for you to give her seeds that end up becoming a daily chore.
Also, see if you can find plants that will be easy to reproduce as time goes by. Fruits are especially desirable–but they can be hard to grow if they don’t get enough attention. So do your homework.
3. Flowers: Gathering Your Own and Finding Deals
Speaking of foliage, what woman doesn’t like flowers? If you’re really in a budget crunch, you can just pick some yourself; but that option isn’t viable in northern states during winter. Even if you’re in southern states, it can appear a bit too “cheap” if you only ever give her what flowers you could find on your own.
Another, and by many accounts better option is to go online and find places where you can get great deals on flowers. The site in the link has astonishing deals; maybe browse through and see if anything speaks to you.
Do try to be sure whatever flowers you end up buying are the kind she prefers. If you can get her talking about the sort of floral arrangements that inspire her, you’ll know what to look for.
- A Pocket Projector That Can Work With A Smartphone
You can pick up a pocket projector for just under $70—maybe even cheaper, if you’ve got rewards on Amazon.com. These things are small enough you can almost fit them in your pocket, and they can be used to turn any blank wall into a theatrical screen.
If she loves tech, and doesn’t have one, the novelty alone can be worth it; and it’s pretty affordable. While ladies don’t tend to be “gamers” in the traditional sense, some are, and here’s something that’s downright amazing: a gaming session with a projector throwing the game on the white roof deep into the night.
Also, if she likes neither games nor movies, you could have the projector show a scene of the beach, or maybe some other white noise area. In terms of decor, a room with a blank wall in a darker area of the home can become a room with a surprising window to the outdoors of another geography; that’s a neat decorative twist she might like.
- Is She A Reader? Find Used Books She Likes
Used books tend to average about $3 per copy—you can find some fine old editions for just $1. Is she a big reader? Get her something to read! Here’s the thing: you can’t just buy any old book.
Just as with flowers and preferences, books have a very specific quality to them. Maybe she likes romance, maybe poetry, maybe classics, maybe fantasy. You need to buy books that “speak” to her. Fiction, fact, recipes; what does the woman you’re buying for like?
If you’ve got $100, you can buy between 100 and 33 books, prior to any associated local taxes. Wrap each book individually and put a little mysterious message on it for her to read before she opens it. Do keep in mind, though, that some books can be quite expensive, especially if they’re rare.
Still, if you can spend $70 on some 1800s original printing of an author like George MacDonald at a rare book shop, you might really excite her. Some books can’t even be found on the internet. Often, too, used book sellers don’t know what they have, and might not price it unreasonably.
Buying From the Heart and Preserving Your Budget
Books, projectors, flowers, seeds, and “projects” all represent cost-effective gifts she’ll love, and which you can afford to buy. In fact, you can get some of everything on this list for under $100. Get her a book, some seeds, a projector, some flowers, and make her a DIY coupon for “honey-do’s” around the house.