The concept of gifting has totally been distorted these days. With the time and pace we live in, no one has the time to really make the act of gifting what it should be: Fun and surprising.
We’ve shifted towards the same pattern of repeated, expensive gifts, which probably no one even uses. The only purpose they serve is to rack up your Christmas expenses.
We’ve compiled the best gifting ideas, which are so cheap you won’t need to build credit to afford them, and they’re an absolute hoot!
Cooling Pint Glasses
The art of giving a gift is to give someone something useful, something that makes them remember you whenever they use it. And what’s more pragmatic for your friends than these amazing cooling pint glasses? Be it beer, iced tea, or even water in the summers; these cooling glasses work wonders.
Now there’s no need to gulp that iced tea down in large swigs. The cooling glasses, with only a few hours inside the freezer, trap enough cold between their layers to keep your beverage at just the right temperature you want it in during the long, hot hours.
Moreover, they come with silicone grips so that your glass never slips out of your hand. So go ahead, gift your loved ones something refreshing.
SAD Therapy Light
It is the season of joy and merry, but for some, this seasonal change means something much worse. Seasonal Affective Disorder, appropriately named SAD, is a condition wherein the body produces sleep-inducing chemical melatonin in huge quantities. The effect is a constant state of fatigue and ennui.
With the advancement in technology, however, this too can be addressed. Therapy lights have proven to help in this case. These lights are often used for light therapy sessions.
Working or staying under this artificial lighting can help the body secrete more serotonin to lift your mood up and are available in various colours and moods. This gift could help a lot of your friends stay in a cheery mood for the festive season.
Stocks
Well, since money is seen as a pathetic choice for a gift, we thought of tweaking it a little bit. Now, you can gift each other shares of a company under a limit of 50 pounds. The best part is that you have to spend a total of zero pounds of your own money.
You get to decide what stock you’re going to send to whom, and you can send them to any number of people you like!
A Streaming Service Subscription
There are a plethora of streaming services running in the world right now, and each has pros and cons of its own.
One of the most thoughtful gifts you can buy someone is a subscription to a premium streaming service, considering that cinema houses and theatres are probably going to stay shut for some more time, and big movie houses have announced their releases on OTT platforms.
A Mixtape or a Custom Playlist
Remember the time when mixtapes were all the rage? You liked someone; you made a mixtape for them. Well, why not gift it to someone?
People like intimate gifts, gifts that express how much the giver knows and loves them, and nothing speaks (or perhaps, sings) more about intimacy than a thoughtfully compiled mixtape.
With music streaming platforms, you can give this a modern, digital touch and create a custom playlist for your friend. Bringing music into the lives of someone is perhaps the best thing one does.
Get a Commissioned Portrait/Painting
Getting a commissioned portrait for your loved ones is probably one of the most heartwarming gifting ideas ever. Take a favourite picture of yours and get it painted or sketched by a local artist.
How great would it look to have a memory of yours painted, hanging in the living room of your friends and family, a gift that would remind them of that time?
It doesn’t have to be a painted portrait always. You can always approach a digital artist for making a personalised digital graphic.
Homemade Jewellery
Keep gold and silver for more formal events; it’s time to bring out your creative side in making gifts for your friends and family. Homemade jewellery making is an easy craft and can be learned in a matter of days, courtesy of the millions of YouTube tutorials on the same.
You can learn to make quirky clay jewellery or render beautiful designs using resin and decorative stuff. Jewellery making kits are available a dime a dozen on the online and offline marketplace, and you can score them easily.
A Personalised Dinner
The way to any person’s heart is through their stomachs, and that is exactly what you need to gift your loved ones. Chuck the dinner reservations. Instead, invite them over for a comfortable evening at your place, and surprise them with a delicious home-cooked meal of their choice.
If you’re feeling particularly special about the person, find out their favourite childhood dishes and their recipes. A 3-course meal of nostalgia is bound to be a hit amongst people.
Make a Short Movie/Video
We’re sure that you’re bound to have tons of photographs and videos of the people you love the most. You can easily stitch all these static and dynamic captured moments together to create a short film, complete with soft background music, to make a tearjerker of a gift.
Add a voiceover of yours, explaining the photographs and what time and emotions they represent, and let your loved ones know just how much they’re loved.
Make a Comic or Write a Poem
Take inspiration from the millions of little happy, sad, frustrating and equally magical moments you’ve spent with your favourite people in the world, and let that gratitude out on paper in the form of a poem, a letter, or a comic. You can create a fictional scenario or even depict a non-fictional one.
Okay, this one may be more suited to the artists, but who says gifts have to have a perfect meter or colour scheme. It’s the thought that counts, isn’t it?
Conclusion
Use any of these tips to make your loved ones happy while also staying on budget! If you are still struggling with your gifting budget due to your loans make sure your debt is consolidated. You can do proper research to find out more about debt consolidation loans.