Give From the Heart this Season
Beyond the mall. You won't find festive decorations and strolling carolers, but you'll love the bargains you find at alternative stores. Check out a discount art supply store for beautiful writing papers, pens and artist's brushes suitable for applying cosmetics. Military surplus stores offer a treasure trove of gift ideas for teens and outdoorsy-types on your list. Restaurant supply stores harbor sweet deals for home cooks.
Kitchen aid. Even if you are not a seasoned baker or confident cook, you can easily turn out amazing and inexpensive gifts from your kitchen. Think presentation and packaging. Find cellophane bags and Chinese take-out containers in any well-stocked craft store. They're cheap and easy to fill with goodies. Here's an idea: Dump a large bag of pistachio nuts (less than $12 at a discount warehouse club) and a couple of large bags of chocolate kisses or other festively-wrapped chocolate candy into a big bowl. Mix. Fill your bags or boxes, embellish and add tags.
Here's another idea: Melt chocolate bars, chips or melting chocolate in the microwave, following the package directions. Dip pretzels into the chocolate. Allow to dry on waxed paper. Viola! You've just created a gourmet treat with an elegant presentation. Search your cookbooks or recipe sites like AllRecipes.com for other holiday treats you can create in your kitchen. Then, package them as individual decadent holiday gifts.
Gifts of hope. Making a donation to a worthy cause to honor a special person in your life will bless both you and the recipient who seems to have everything. Be careful, though. There are lots of wolves out there masquerading as worthy sheep. You can trust Heifer International (Heifer.org) and World Vision (WorldVision.org). Both feature delightful gift catalogs on their websites.
At Heifer.org, for $20, your recipient gives a flock of geese to a poor farmer in a third world country who will raise them to produce much needed protein in the form of eggs or meat, plus feathers and down to enable a cottage industry. For $10 you can give a share in a sheep that will be raised to produce wool to help a struggling family. You can even order a gift card to announce the details of your donation to your recipient.
The World Vision gift catalog (WorldVision.org) lists more than 100 gifting opportunities, including alpacas, pigs, educational support for children, shares of water wells and care for sexually-exploited girls. By giving these gifts of hope, you and your recipient can help end hunger and care for the earth.
While gift-giving is an important and much-loved part of the Christmas holiday experience, it is possible that the best gifts are those that money cannot buy, like giving time and talent to those we love. The gifts celebrate love and hope and bring us together as friends, families and communities. No matter how much we have to spend, we all have something to give. That's what the season's all about.
Copyright © 2008 Mary Hunt. All rights reserved. Permission to reprint required.
Debt-Proof Living was founded in 1992 by Mary Hunt. What began as a newsletter to encourage and empower people to break free from the bondage of consumer debt has grown into a huge community of ordinary people who have achieved remarkable success in their quest to effectively manage their money and stay out of debt. Today, "Debt-Proof Living" is read by close to 100,000 cheapskates. Click here to subscribe. Also, you can receive Mary's free daily e-mail "Everyday Cheapskate" by signing up at EverydayCheapskate.com.
Originally published December 15, 2008.
