Another gift for close friends and family members: have your family portrait taken and present the framed portraits as cherished gifts that most people don't normally take the time to give. Portraits taken somewhere like Walmart will cost you less than $30 for several different poses and more than a hundred pictures. You also get to view the finished portrait before you leave the sitting and can have the picture retaken right then if it didn't turn out.
Give people things they can use, like cookie mix in a jar, a gift certificate to their favorite espresso bar, new stationery and a pen, or a gift certificate to their favorite book store.
One way to save money at Christmas is to spend less on wrapping paper and Christmas cards. Make your own wrapping paper by buying inexpensive paper used to prepare packages for mailing. It comes in rolls and can be found wherever mailing supplies are sold. Decorate the paper with rubber stamps, sponges dipped in craft paints, or raw potatoes cut in half lengthwise and carved into Christmas shapes by imprinting Christmas cookie cutters into them and then slicing away the extra potato around the imprint, similar to the appearance of a rubber stamp. Dip the imprint into craft paint and have fun designing your wrapping paper! Try a combination of brown wrapping paper and twine in the place of ribbon to give your packages a rustic appeal.
Re-use old Christmas cards by cutting them in half and using the picture portion as a postcard, if the back side of the picture has not already been written on. These postcards are great for people you just want to send a quick note to and require only .20 postage!
Put some thought into your holiday gift giving. My husband was given an antique china cabinet that needed some major refinishing work, but he did all the work himself and presented the finished cabinet to me as a priceless gift. Think of things people wouldn't normally buy for themselves, like tickets to the movie theater, a gift certificate to the local pet store, or a month's unlimited tanning. Many of these gifts are easy on the pocketbook and will surprise and delight the gift recipient. Even hard-to-please people wouldn't pass up a free manicure.
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