SpookyMrsGreen

Giving gifts is so much more than exchanging items on a special occasion. It’s a form of love language, a way of saying I see you and I value you to the ones you love. Sadly, giving gifts can also often feel like a great burden, especially financially.

Yet there are ways to cut the cost of gifting while maintaining the quality and the emotional significance of the items you give. Keep reading to find out how. 

Buy in the sales 

The first tactic to try here is to use seasonal sales to buy your gifts. This is because sales offer a significant discount on a wide range of mint condition products from clothing, to toiletries, to electronics. Most sales offer items that are in perfect condition, as the retailer is looking to shrink the amount of stock they have, to make way for the next season, which makes it the perfect time to grab a bargain. 

Of course, for this method to be as effective as possible, you will need to remember a few things. The first is that if you are going to buy more expensive items or a higher volume of items in the sales, you will need to make sure you have enough money to cover the cost, something you can do by saving up. Alternatively, you may wish to use a credit card, as suggested later in this post to claim the rewards, just be sure to pay off the balance before you are charged any interest. 

Next, you will need to be quick off the market to secure the best items. Sometimes this will mean heading directly to the store (like on Black Friday). Although there are often some great bargains to be had online too. With that in mind, it can be helpful to have a clear idea of the type of items you are looking for and scope out potential shops before the sales hit so you know where to direct your time. 

Shop online

Online shopping is another strategy you can use to save money on gifts either in combination with shopping in the sales on or its own. Indeed, shopping online is so useful here because it provides several ways to make sure you are getting the lowest possible price on any gifts you buy. 

The first way of saving money is to use Google Shopping, or another comparison tool to check which store is offering the lowest price. Additionally, when shopping for gifts online you can also use discounts such as the ones you will find NetVoucherCodes.co.uk to significantly reduce the price you pay. It’s incredibly easy to do this as well, as all it takes is a quick search for the right codes or vouchers, and you don’t even have to get up off the couch! 

DIY gifts

The third tactic to use when looking to save money on giving great gifts is to use your skills and talents to hand and home make items. There are so many options to consider here too, from crafts, jewellery to home-baked goods. 

Indeed, dedicating your time and effort to crafting a gift can make it even more personal and thoughtful as well. After all, what could be more sentimental than an embroidery you have poured hours of effort into, or a batch of hand-crafted luxury chocs you have made in your very own kitchen?

Buy gifts with a cashback app

It’s also possible to save money when buying gifts by using a cashback app. Cashback apps offer a small percentage of money back to you whenever you use them to make a purchase. They can do this because they collect data about people’s spending habits, which is useful to businesses for their market research. 

Of course, you may not make too much from a single purchase, but if you buy all of your gifts of the year using the same app, you can amass a decent enough amount of money. Cash that you can then put towards lowering the overall costs of buying your gifts in the future. 

Use reward points for gifts 

How does paying no money out of pocket for your gifts sound? Well, that is precisely what you can do if you use reward points that you have already earned by shopping with particular stores to pay for items you can gift. 

Particularly good use of rewards points is to buy toys for the kids from supermarket chains. There are several reasons for this. The first is that they often have special events before Christmas and at other festivals where they will multiply the value of the points you have, making them worth even more. Also, supermarkets tend to be where we spend a larger portion of our monthly budget, buying food and groceries, this means you have a great chance of building up a significant amount of points that can be traded for gifts, without many any changes to what you would normally do or buy. 

Regift 

OK, so this last option is somewhat controversial, as some people believe that regifting is rude or even cheap. However, it can work well, if you follow a few simple rules. First of all, you will need to create a space in your home to store gifts that you receive that you know you won’t use. 

Next, when you get such a gift you need to add a post-it to it stating the name of the person that bought it for you. This will save the embarrassment of gifting it back to the same persona that gifted it to you. 

Finally, regifting only works if you know that the item you are giving will be something that the recipient will truly appreciate. Therefore, if you are unsure whether they will genuinely love it, it can be better to sell the old item and use the money to purchase a gift they will enjoy. 

Final thoughts 

As you can see from the suggestions above, it is possible to give great gifts without wiping out your bank balance. You just need to think a little more creatively about your purchases. 

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Note: This is a collaborative article.