Christmas gifts for the person who is having a hard time making ends meet…
Let’s face it. This is a rough economy. There are a lot of people without jobs or who are behind on their bills. Movie tickets are fun or a gift certificate for a manicure is nice, but sometimes, practical gifts are more appreciated and necessary. What good are movie tickets if you have no gas to get to the theater? That manicure might actually stay nice for a long time when there’s no food to prepare, but well, you get the point.
Consider giving gift cards for grocery stores or all-purpose stores like Wal-Mart. How about gasoline gift cards? Or restaurant gift cards for a special Holiday meal out of the house? This enables your gift recipient to choose just what they want, which might be simply what they need.
You meet a practical need by providing food or gas or even grocery money, but you are meeting that “you-are-awesome-here’s-a-really-cool-gift” target as well.
Consider a Safeway, Publix, Kroger or Ingles Gift Card
for groceries.
Another idea is one of my favorite sites, featured on my blog before.
Grass fed beef. Yum. Practical, nutritious, delicious. You meet a practical need by providing some food, but you are meeting that “you-are-awesome-here’s-a-really-cool-gift” target as well. My favorite place to buy? Open Space Meats.
How about you? Do you have any enjoyable gifts that can also meet a need?
I love the idea of practical gifts – how about an “Italian” gift basket w/ pasta, sauce, parmesan & seasonings? If it was feasible, you could even include a pound of ground beef for the sauce…not sure how “practical” it is to give GRASS-FED beef to people who don’t have much money though…. You could get 2-3 # of regular hamburger for what you would pay for 1# of grass-fed!!
My sister-in-law put herself through nursing school. The year she started clinicals we gave her the stethoscope she needed. This was one less school supply she had to buy.