Thrifty Thursday: Gift Savings

My extended family is large on both sides, so we do a Christmas drawing instead of individual presents for people. There are suggested guidelines for cost depending on which side and the ages.

Well, one excellent thrifty tip for Christmas shopping is to look at the value of your gifts. There are two ways to go about this: 1) buy exactly the value you want to buy and save the rest; 2) buy the amount you want to buy and give the recipient extra gifts.

So, I did a combination of gift-giving this year. We drew five names (one side does couples and one side does people). For the ornament exchange, we are using two free ornaments that I received with other purchases. For the gift exchange, one recipient wanted candles or wolves, one wanted candles or pajama pants or a scarf, and one wanted size 2T clothes (Curious George and Thomas were suggestions). For that one, I am regifting from my increasingly large stash of candles, and creating a framed print of a beautiful wolf photograph that I will mount in a frame I already own. The toddler will be getting two shirts, one a Curious George that was on sale and one a cute tee that was on clearance.

Total suggested expenses: $70
Total OOP expenses: $15
Total value of gifts: $90

I have no qualms about re-gifting the candles, since it's something the recipient asked for. Just be careful if you regift that it is something the recipient will enjoy!