Guest Post: Creative Grocery Deal Gift Ideas!

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Guest post by Candra from Creations Made By MOI:

How to take the great grocery deals, and turn them into gifts for family, friends, co-workers, & neighbor’s

My name is Candra and I have been reading Collin’s blog for about 6 months now and cannot thank her enough for all the money she has helped me save. Almost a year ago I quit my job to stay at home with my daughter, 3 and was expecting our son, now 4 months old. Quitting my job was a big leap of faith and at times I felt foolish for not helping contribute towards our income while my husband is going to school for dentistry. I wanted to find a way that I could contribute and help stretch our money without having to be at work 40 hours a week. A friend introduced me to Collin’s blog and I have been hooked ever since. I love going to the various store’s and watching people astonished when they see the total on the screen verses the things in my cart. It really gets some good conversations going let me tell ya! Coming home and telling my husband that I spent $5 and saved $40 feels so good, and I now feel confident that I am a contributor to making our pay checks go as far as possible.

I know most of us get stressed out around the holidays. There is so much to do…. Decorations, cooking, shopping, getting the house ready for company etc. and for me, it’s the one time of the year that my budget generally goes out the window. Not on purpose, but because there are so many “little gifts” and extras that really add up. You know the “little gifts” that I’m talking about…. you or your spouse’s work secret Santa exchange, the many of gifts you hand out to your neighbor’s and friends, the gifts for all of your children’s teachers etc. The list goes on forever. It’s important to give those gifts, but more important not to break your budget by doing it. This year I gave myself a challenge to set a budget for the “little gifts” and STICK TO IT (that’s the hard part!)

So here are some cute ways I found to jazz up those GREAT DEALS Collin has helped me find!

First off, remember the sparkling cider deal at Walgreens a few weeks ago? I got 2 bottles for $1. Well I made a tag that says “Wishing you a Sparkling Holiday Season”. Put a couple of rhinestone’s on it, a ribbon and its ready to be delivered to a friend of mine that LOVES sparkling cider!

The next one is from a Target deal on Chex Mix. I got each bag for $0.50. The saying that goes with this pretty thing is “Remember Santa “chex” his list twice to see who’s been Naughty or nice… So be good for Goodness Sake! I got 6 bags and these are going to my husband’s co-workers!

This last one is my favorite, mostly because its light hearted and funny and we all need that around the stress of the holidays. This would be a great gift for the friend that has a great sense of humor, a white elephant gift ect. It is a bottle of Root Beer that I got at Walgreens this past week for $1, and a can of pork n beans that I got from my local Fry’s for less than a $1. The saying that goes with this is, “Have a ‘Rootin’ ‘Tootin’ Christmas.

There is nothing like homemade goodies during the holidays. Last week my Fry’s had raspberries on sale for $1 each. I grabbed as many as the limit would allow, went back a few more times, and threw together a couple of batches of raspberry jam. Now I know from experience that any of my friends would take this delicious sweetness off my hands so I made my list and got to work. I made 9 containers of jam, and put this saying on top, “Jelly is like Love, you can’t spread it around without getting some on yourself!” Happy Holidays.

This jam would go REALLY well with some homemade bread. Here is a loaf that my sister did for me attached with the saying, “For being there when you were ‘kneaded’, For ‘Rising’ to the occasion, for never ‘Loafing’ on the job. No matter how you ‘Slice’ it, we hope you have a Merry Christmas”

This would make a great gift for extended family members that you want to do something for, or a teacher that has gone above and beyond.

I hope this gives you some ideas for cute, inexpensive gift ideas. It is so important to tell all those special people in your life how much you love and appreciate them and as always it’s the thought that counts. I am a big believer in doing those “little” things that will brighten someone’s day. Thanks to Collin for helping me be able to do all the little things in a budget friendly way. I hope everyone has a great holiday!

If you are interested in seeing more ideas for simple Holiday gift ideas or to purchase the tags shown on the gifts above you can visit Candra’s blog at www.creationsmadebymoi.blogspot.com!

Join The Discussion

Comments 72

  1. Collin (Mrs. Hip)

    I like the 100 dollar limit…in the past we spent sooo much money on my husband’s family…this year through couponing I can get all their gifts for 50 bucks. I realized everyone loves a gift basket that has stuff they can use, so I am making gift baskets of all these pretty much “free” stuff I have picked up.

  2. Collin (Mrs. Hip)

    On the Target Raincheck question. I know that SOMe times WalMart will honor them especially if you go in and tell them how sick of Target you are 🙂

  3. Collin (Mrs. Hip)

    If you check out Candra’s blog, she has some ideas for saying to go with candles.

  4. Collin (Mrs. Hip)

    creative ideas, but only for the right person. some people might not appreciate getting food as a gift, especially if they are on a diet. i would feel weird giving food as a gift.

  5. Collin (Mrs. Hip)

    These are great ideas, thanks for sharing!!! THis site is amazing!!!

  6. Collin (Mrs. Hip)

    to cute!!!! 🙂

  7. Collin (Mrs. Hip)

    Thanx for the great ideas!

  8. Collin (Mrs. Hip)

    I would love to hear somethings she comes up with for the body products and such.

  9. Collin (Mrs. Hip)

    That’s a great idea. xD Another thing that a friend does is by those little 99 cent stockings, and put things in them like chap stick, hand sanitizer, and other cheap little things. They’re so cute, and great for tutors or teachers!

  10. Collin (Mrs. Hip)

    You can take the batteries that you got at Target, and put them in a baggie and put a topper on them that says, Gift Not Included!.
    For a neighbor You can take a box of Ho Ho’s and Ding Dongs and wrap them with a bow and a tag that say Ho Ho from the ding dong next door.

  11. Collin (Mrs. Hip)

    such a good and thoughtful way to remember someone and still stay w/i budget. i am fairly new to couponing. i get really good deals but end up spending alot overall during the week. but it is good to use the stuff i have stocked up to present to someone as presents.
    thank you

  12. Collin (Mrs. Hip)

    Thank you Candra for such a wonderful post!

  13. Collin (Mrs. Hip)

    thanks i’ll have to try that walmart suggestion!

  14. Collin (Mrs. Hip)

    Aren’t you smart I am going to make a copy of those and use them every Christmas!!!Too cute!!

  15. Collin (Mrs. Hip)

    We make candybar letters a lot. Using the candy for key words. Like you are such a ‘lifesaver’ Or You’re worth $100 grand. You can get creative and silly, but the kids love them.

  16. Collin (Mrs. Hip)

    Awesome!

  17. Collin (Mrs. Hip)

    Candle idea:
    Thanks for being such a “scent”sational friend or for the candles
    You “light” up the world

  18. Collin (Mrs. Hip)

    Cute ideas, thank you for posting them!!!

  19. Collin (Mrs. Hip)

    You can make your own body scrub and put it in cute little jars-

    1/2 cup epsom salts and 1/2 cup sugar mixed with 1/4 cup sunflower oil. Add a few drops of your favorite essential oil for scent.

    A second recipe is-
    1 cup sugar, 1 cup vegetable oil, oil from one vitamin E capsule, 1 or 2 drops of lavendar or orange essential oil. Mix well and transfer all to a jar. Use: contents will settle so mix before using. Scoop a teaspoon or two of the scrub onto on your hands and gently massage in circular motions on to your skin. Leave on for 3 to 4 minutes; the scrub will tighten on your skin. Thoroughly rinse off the sugar scrub with water. A note of caution; because of the oils in the sugar scrub, your tub may become slippery. Scrub can be stored at room temperature.

  20. Collin (Mrs. Hip)

    I thought this was cute for the Glade candles we ALL have!- “May your days be happy, your heart be light, your Christmas be merry, and the New Year’s Bright!” (This was on Candra’s blog)

  21. Collin (Mrs. Hip)

    Thanks for sharing. If you are looking to promote your brand in a unique way or want to add that special touch to your gifting solutions, an ideal option is to use customized gifts like t-shirts, pens, mugs, bags which have your company logo imprinted on them.

  22. Collin (Mrs. Hip)

    I love all of these ideas. I have a great tray to do a practice one, and was hoping to make some as gifts if it turns out well, Yours is a nice blog. Liked it!!!

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