154 Cheap or Free Gift Ideas for Everyone

As a person who absolutely LOVES to give gifts- no matter the holiday- it has been very difficult for me to be frugal over the past few years. I’m working on getting out of debt right now. But, many of the following are gift ideas that you could give anyone year round!

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If you have also struggled to come up with ideas for inexpensive “gifts” to give others, that are still be meaningful, read on. We have to stick together and keep from spending too much.

So, here’s a great round-up of the best sites to find ideas for cheap or free gift ideas, to help you get some really worthwhile options to start working on today!

1. 20 Gifts that Cost Nothing to Make

This was published on the Huffington Post Contributor platform and is by Liz Evans of Simple Simon and Company. She has some fantastic ideas for gifts for kids, loved ones, parents and more. Our loved ones will appreciate these deeply thoughtful gifts, don’t you think?

My faves are:

• “Blank” of the Month Club (like soup, bread, movies, etc.)

• Housekeeping Card (because I’m crazy like that and I love to clean!)

• Also the “Tell-Me Notebook, which I truly wish I had thought of when my grandparents were still alive.

2. 100 Free Gift Ideas that People Actually Want to Receive

Another fantastic and extensive list with lots of out-of-the box ideas, this time from the Penny Hoarder. From tons of items you can cook or bake, to finding creative ways to re-gift items that you might already have, as well as “memory” gifts, creative gifts and more. We can do these!

Some you might try:

• Baking cookies and giving along with the recipe included on a festive index card

• Gift Cards- if you’ve had a gift card in your wallet for more than 6 months, chances are you’re not going to use it- give it to someone who will!

• Gifts of labor could include more than cleaning-how about a massage? Babysitting, pet sitting or pet walking, so many to choose from!

3. 25 Cheap Gifts for Christmas Under $5

These ideas from Crazy Little Projects are more on the crafty side, but are definitely on the less expensive side to create too! Plus I’ll bet you will have a blast actually making them. If you are a crafty chick or not! 

People love homemade or handmade gifts like these:

• Food to “make” or “bake” themselves, with a cute gift tag

• Cute hand towels that are transformed into a holiday decoration

• Gift jars of treats- like s’mores, hot chocolate mix, homemade salsa or other item you’re great at making

4. My Top 5 Amazon Gift Ideas- $20 or Less

The best thing about these options, if you are going to spend a little money, is that during the holiday season Amazon is offering free shipping on all items with no minimum purchase amount! Free shipping is something we all need, yes?

Here’s some suggestions that our gift recipients will love:

• Amazon Gift Cards: I’m only including this deal because you get “free money” with it! If you purchase $50 in Amazon Gift cards, you get a free $15  to spend on yourself of someone else, on a later purchase.  There are lots of options in any denominations from $10 and up- and some come in really cute tins or envelopes. (Okay, this one is sort of not $25 or less, unless you just get 2 $10 gift cards… ha, it still works!)

• This water bottle for $10—this would be an awesome gift for anyone on your list really, but especially for the one who is very active, or likes to hike, or just likes to be well hydrated! This is a really cool looking fold-able, and inexpensive water bottle.

• This Toiletry bag for $10—I love toiletry bags! This one is especially cute because it has a hook to hang it up. It’s not too big and looks like it would fit just the essentials that you might need on a short trip. It has lots of pockets and loops- perfect for your girl who’s a makeup queen!

• This lovely necklace for $12.99—It’s just so cute and simple! Plus it’s 18k gold plated and there are several options of pendants to choose from!

• Pocket Monkey Utility Wallet Tool- 2 for $21.90 or 1 for $12.89–  Personally, I purchased this as a gift for a friend years ago and kept the other one for myself—and let me tell you how many times I’ve used this or it’s saved me or someone else? A LOT! It may not look like much, but trust, it’s an awesome tool for anyone. You can fit into your wallet and there’s never been an issue at the airport with it either.

5. Lastly, a Few Additional Gift Ideas for You!

During the research and writing for this post, I came up with a few other ideas that I hope you might like. Here you go:

• Professional Assistance: If you’re good at something, that someone you know needs help with, you could offer things like Resume help or LinkedIn profile reviewing, or tutoring on a subject. Think of someone who is not happy at their job and they need a little motivation to start looking for something new. We pay for things like this, no? Would be a valuable and personal gift.

• Chore Elf: For a busy mom or grandmother or anyone who has a lot of gifts to wrap- why don’t you offer your services and be their personal elf? Your gift to them could be to wrap all of their gifts to give. Seriously, if I’d thought of this when I was a kid, my mom might have paid me to do this! She hates wrapping.

• Cleaner-Upper: Along those same lines, your gift could be to clean-up someone’s house after Christmas morning or after the big family dinner. What host or cook wouldn’t love that?? We can find so many ways to help others.

• For the Reader: This will cost a little, but for someone who LOVES to read, consider giving them the gift of Kindle Unlimited for a year- the first 30 days are free! I would absolutely love this gift myself. But it’s something I’d definitely use if it was gifted to me, because I might be too cheap to buy it for myself. Click the link below to learn more:

>>Get Kindle Unlimited- with Free Trial<<

Well that’s it! Let me know what you think of these ideas in the comments below- and/or please Like and Share this post!

Have you found any great lists as well? Or is your site posting any? Share them here!

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