How to shop for gifts on a budget

 Only a few of us can honestly say they are lucky enough not to think of budgets when shopping. During the gift fever madness, it is easy to get carried away or emotional about gifts.
These are some tips that can help you with those tough decisions when shopping on a budget:

• Put your pride aside: This is a problem I have seen time and time again! Pride, emotion, ego or whatever you want to call it can easily take precedence when doing anything for people. Gift giving is one of the ways this can happen. Some examples can be not being realistic and taking out loans to get gifts, thinking that the person will like you more due to the price tag of a gift, thinking that the person views the world in a similar way, not learning about the person's wants/needs and giving them a gift that YOU would actually want. The list goes on ... but do your best to realise when this is happening. To learn more about knowing the person you are shopping for, see the gift tips section for more ideas on how you can do this. 

• Check out eBay, Amazon or similar : Not everyone is shopping on these sites yet but if you are on a budget, eBay for example can be an absolute goldmine! There are people wanting to get rid of unwanted items at a very reduced rate. There are also 'daily deals' sections listed on these sites as well as occassional coupon codes. Word of caution: don't take unnecessary risks just because the price appears low. Follow the recommended guidelines on places like amazon and eBay for safe shopping. If you are not quite comfortable shopping on these type of sites, then ask around for charity or thrift shops around you as they may be some you are not aware of.

• Learn a new craft or skills: Handmade gifts can be a big hit and can hold a lot of value as well being manageable on a shoe-string budget. A simple thing like cooking a good meal, especially if you do not normally cook, can be a great gift idea. Other good ideas include; getting some beads together and making a bracelet/necklace, personalizing an item of clothing, making candles, writing a love peom, etc. A note of warning: not all will appreciate a handmade gift, so do your homework :-D 

• Postpone the gift: If nothing is working out and you 'know' that things will get better in the future, there is nothing stopping you from postponing the gift! Really ...

Good luck