Flexible and Economical Gift Ideas for People Who Find It Difficult to Shop
Around this time of year, I receive messages and emails from people struggling to come up with gifts for the humble person in their life. What do they get for a person who is very careful with their money and doesn’t seem to want anything?
This post was originally published on The Simple Dollar .
This can be a real challenge. I know that people in my life sometimes struggle for gift ideas for me (they told me so), mainly because the few obvious interests I have are pretty narrow and they don’t know what to buy within those interests. … and I also seem to have no interest in the more typical “male gifts”.
How can you buy a gift for someone with such a thrifty mindset? Last year, I wrote a gift guide for the budget conscious person, which included a number of specific ideas. While these are all great gift ideas, they are also somewhat impersonal . If a person is not in a particular area of interest or really does not need one of these items, these gifts may well be unused.
This year, I propose a different approach that takes into account the person you are giving the gift to. Here are some ideas for gifts for budget conscious people.
A gift card tailored to their hobby. Overall, I think gift cards are a bad gift because they seem thoughtless, but if you choose a hobby-focused gift card it can actually turn into a very good gift.
A humble person is usually someone who is very careful about spending money on their hobby. They find ways to enjoy their hobby at a minimal cost, even though there may be things they can buy that will enhance their hobby. For example, an avid reader (myself included) might get a gift card from an independent bookstore.
Why not just give them a gift card on, say, Amazon? A humble person will look at it and think about its usefulness. They are going to use a universal card for general expenses. They will use their Amazon card to stock up on toothpaste.
Using myself as an example, a gift card niche retailer that specializes in board games hobby, such as the Coolstuffinc , is a great gift, because it motivates me to really get something related to a hobby of mine, and does not use it in a normal campaign shopping as I would give a gift card to, say, Target. Knowing this hobby of mine is something that anyone who has spent a lot of time with me can easily understand.
A well-researched and reliable improvement in the quality of the item they use regularly. If you’re close to the person you are giving the gift to, take some time to study the subjects that they actually use all the time. Are any of them worn out? Which ones are cheap or cheap? If you can identify such an item, spend some time researching a really well-made and reliable upgrade for that item and you will receive a stellar gift.
It’s important to remember that mindfulness, time, and research are really important here . If you are looking for a quick gift solution, this is not an option. Instead, if you’re willing to spend a few hours really researching a gift and then spend a little to get a really well-made and reliable upgrade item for that person, you’ll get that happy response that people always want when they give a gift.
Again, using myself as an example, I would love a really well made paring knife. I have had a Victorinox knife for a long time, which is a great option “for the price,” but a very well thought out paring knife, designed to last almost forever, would be a great option. I constantly cut vegetables with a peeler knife. Again, someone who has spent a lot of time in my house has probably seen me with a vegetable peeler and may have heard me mention this.
A consumable gift in the form of food they like. Think about the food and drink that the recipient usually enjoys. Do they like wine? Craft beer? Sausages? Cheese? What do you actually see them eating or drinking?
Take what you really saw and run with it. If you’ve seen this person enjoying craft beer, for example, go to a craft beer or liquor store and ask for advice. It’s the same with wine. If you’ve seen them love jerky, go to the butcher’s and buy them some jerky or salami.
The key is to base this gift on things that you have actually seen the person enjoy. Don’t think about what you might like or what you think the average person might like. Try to think about what they would like.
For me, a six-pack or a bomber of fancy craft beer will always be a good gift, like a soup mix or fancy cheese.
Gift of “experience”. Gift “experience” – is a gift that leads directly to what the person is doing something, but not own anything. For example, concert tickets will be a gift for an experience, as will a certificate for a culinary master class.
As with the hobby gifts above, these types of gifts go very well when chosen with the individual’s specific hobbies and interests in mind. If, for example, you have a couple of football tickets for an avid football fan, then this gift will be dear to you; However, for the non-football fan, they will become items that can be safely sold on StubHub.
For me, for example, tickets to a baseball game would be a great “experience gift,” as would a trip to a game convention.
A membership card or season pass that entitles them to free admission to any place they might be interested in. It’s kind of like an extension of the ‘experience’ gift idea, but a season pass or a membership card for a particular attraction that might deserve a return visit can be a fantastic gift indeed.
Again, this works best when you consider the interests of that person. If you have a friend who always wants to visit an art museum when he visits the city, then a local art museum membership (if he doesn’t have one) is a good gift, but for those with no interest in art, it is not a great idea. …
For me, for example, the annual family pass to the Living History farms is a great example.
What if they might already have it? Think about how to find out this information in a conversation. There are many ways to do this. You can ask their advice on how they cook vegetables, for example if you want to get a good look at their knives. You can call them and ask about art museums in the city, and then pretty quickly find out if they have a pass to the best one.
What if I don’t have a clear idea of their interests? This can often be true if you are buying a gift for a relative you rarely see, or if your interests do not overlap too much. You may literally not know what that person’s interests are, even if you love and care for that person.
The easiest way to figure this out is to simply view their social media profiles. Almost everyone cites at least some of their interests on social media, so you can usually find at least some that they are interested in.
If this area of interest alone is not enough, take it and include it in your conversation with the gifting subject. Get them to talk a little about their interests and give them attention . In their words, you will almost always find something to work with.
After all, it’s not the things that matter to the frugal person, but a portion of your thoughts and time. The humble person is much more likely to value a cheap but well-thought-out gift than a showy and expensive but inappropriate gift. Think a little and you can almost never go wrong.
Flexible Holiday Gift Ideas For The Budget Person | Simple dollar