$1 gifts. How many can you think of?
Last night a reader named Vicki asked this question in a comment:
"I have to give 11 little gifts that cost no more than $1.00, it is for my group. I have no idea what to give them. I don't want to give them a lot of junk? Thank you."
I had a tough time coming up with suggestions. But generally if you are low on money or have a strict spending limit, go for gifts with high sentimental value. Here are some ideas:
- Write a thoughtful note on a card (many stores have a 99-cent card section)
- Give them a print of a picture you took. If you cannot find a $1 frame at a garage sale or thrift store, perhaps create your own homemade frame by gluing the photo on cardboard and then cutting out a frame from cardstock or other thick paper you may have at home. I think with such a strict limit your friends will understand why you made it yourself.
- Give them each a single flower. Perhaps if you tell the florist what they are for and buy 11 of the same flower you can get a discount.
- Buy 11 sheets of nice paper (as your budget allows, of course) and, in your neatest handwriting, copy a poem onto each sheet. Find a poem on Poem Hunter/
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About The Bargain Hunter
Daily News staff writer Julia Scott loves to find bargains on everything from groceries to Gucci. Her tips will help keep your hard earned cash where it belongs - in your pocket.
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I love the 99 cent store for gifts of this nature. They have some wonderful items that don't look like junk. They have perfume, cologne, shoeshine kits, bath loofahs, puzzle books and more! They even carry Bibles! Different stores have different selections. My favorite is off 170 and Sherman Way.
Shelleyfofelly
CVS Pharmacy has 99c chapstick on sale.
I went to my Red Hat group holiday gathering Saturday, and nearly everyone brought an individual inexpensive gift for the whole group (in addition to one item for the gift exchange). I had made scarves throughout the year (yarn bought on sale at Michael's), so had one for each member. Another gave hand towels (cheap at 99 cent stores (there's one at Van Nuys and Vanowen), etc.), one gave jewelry from the downtown jewelry mart, another homemade cookies. The list goes on and on.
Target usually has cute cosmetic bags for $0.99 in their travel size section. Target also has a $1 section. Usually it's messy and unorganized (at least at my Target) but the often have good stuff for inexpensive gifts. Such as note cards, pens, lip gloss, jewelry... and usually seasonal stuff. Right now they have little kits to plant "snow" (white ground cover flowers) and Christmas tree's. Includes tiny pot, soil, and seeds. Could be a cute gift (and I know from experience that they really do work)! They often have seasonal socks, cookware, hand towels, etc.
Michael's usually has a pretty good $1 section. Cute packs of blank note cards, little frames, note cards with initials on them, pens, etc.
The 99 cent store has a nice red tin box that has whitmans on the front and is filled with 4 pieces of chocolate. it is very nice and can fit in a purse and allow one to have a secret stash of chocolate.
Jen,
Sounds like this would be a great gift for someone else or for yourself! ~Julia
I prefer home made gifts particularly baked goods. They are far better than store bought plus bake goods that you have all the ingredients on hand in your pantry are quite inexpensive to prepare. You can make 1) small loaves of wheat bread, or banana or pumpkin OR 2) dozen cookies OR 3) my daughter and I put together a dried soup mix that costs about .80 cents per mix. (The glass jars were given to me free through freecycle,)
Pauline,
I'm intrigued by your suggestion of putting together dried soup mix as a gift. How do you do that? ~Julia
Dollar Tree has some nice pen/paper sets for $1. They also have a nice assortment of bath products (hand creams, loofa, body butter, back brushes, etc. Gift bags are really cheap, too.
Michaels has a bin with items that are $1. I gave all my co-workers (20) a container of the body butter ($1each), purchased small bags (16/pkg) and popped them in, folded the top over and attached a little curled ribbon and name tag. Everyone enjoyed the body butter. Last year I purchased candle tins and gave them out.
Whatever you give, it's nice that it's personal. Remember that "it's the thought that counts".
How about a family recipe on a nice card.