Budget-Friendly Gift Ideas
Gift shopping can be a time-consuming and often painstaking endeavour. When I hear statistics like Australians waste 400 million dollars on unwanted gifts. It can be stressful trying to find the perfect gift that won’t go to waste.
THE BEST GIFT GIVING ADVICE
TIP 1: The best advice I ever got is to make a note on your phone everytime someone mentions something that they want. So that way, when the time comes to buy a gift, you already have a list of ideas.
TIP 2: Ask your friends or family the following questions and base a gift around their answers.
1. Do you have any new hobbies or interest you are interested in?
2. What are your new year goals?
3. When are you at your happiest?
TIP 3: Keep the receipt so the item can be returned or exchanged.
TIP 4: Op shop or thrift the gift. Lots of op shops sell new items that have been donated. It’s the thought that counts and is good value for money. Plus, all proceeds go to charity.
If you have left it to the last minute, then here are some ideas to get you inspired.
Minimalist
An experience, whether it be a breakfast date or a weekend away explained in a lovely card. For more ideas, visit Groupon or Airbnb Experiences.
A Digital membership or Subscription for them to try out for a year. Examples include Spotify, Audible, Skillshare, Netflix etc.
Refill or replace something they already own and use
Ethical Goods
Support a local small business, for example, buy from local producers of honey, coffee, chocolate, flowers or alcohol.
Visit the markets for ethical handmade products, in Australia visit The Finders Keepers Marketplace
Eco-Conscious
Green alternatives to products they already own for example if they regularly use disposable coffee cups and razors.
Plants, a few indoor plants that are fairly easy to look after include;
You can go a step further by transferring the plant into a nice pot.
Favourite blogs on ethical and sustainable products are: Biome, The Good Trade, Good on You and The Green Hub
Creative
Creative Work-Shops there are so many classes available, from Hand Lettering, Cheesemaking, Metalsmithing to Houseplant Propagation. It could be a fun activity that you can both do together!
Design Book, The Anatomy of Colour: The Story of Heritage Paints and Pigments
Tools to learn a new skill such as Calligraphy and Brush Lettering
Art Prints from Society6, a few of my favourite stores include Carla Llanos and Tasiania. I also really like the art prints from Brisbane based creative Jasmine Dowling. If you are looking for a classic frame to pair with your print, you can’t go past Country Road Frames from the Adler Range.
Photo Frames, there are so many ways to frame photographs then just your standard photo album. I like these magnetic frames from Kmart for $5 for regular photos and for Polaroids the Fujifilm Instax Magnetic Shadowbox Frame from Officeworks for $14
Self-Care
Planner & Diaries
The 5 Minute Journal
Dot Journal from Kmart $4.00
T2 Tea Kit French Breakfast $35 AUD (a great starter kit as it comes with brew tools) or T2 Hall of Fame $40 AUD (5 x Loose Leaf Tea flavours)
A multipurpose facial spray from Mario Badescu Skincare. There are three Facial Sprays to Facial Sprays to choose from or you can buy them in a pack from Mecca. Individually they cost $10 for 118ml or $18 for 236ml from MECCA.
Social
Monopoly Deal $5 from BigW
Matching Pajamas
Organise a picnic
DIY
Gift Box (for inspiration I highly recommend Pinterest, I have created a pinterest board filled with ideas for hamper boxes and DIY gift ideas). You could easily make a hamper with the following items;
Kmart Facemasks
Frank Body Scrub
Dusk Candle
Bondi Sands Tanning Cream
Toni & Guy Salt Spray
Kikki.K Notebook
Mildliners from Daiso
Ceramic Tumbler
Perfume
Nice smelling sunscreen from Ultra Violette
Bake something or prepare the ingredients so they can bake it themselves, e.g. Brownie Mix in a Jar