Affordable Gift Idea for Men: Personalized Coupons
Do you need an affordable, last-minute gift idea for your man? I know many women who lament over the difficulties they have with buying the “perfect” gift…or just any gift really…for the men in their lives. I, too, have many times when I just have no clue what to give that is both thoughtful and affordable for my father, brother, brothers-in-law, nephews, or significant other. I don’t want to just keep giving them socks, picture frames, paper weights, and gift cards.
If the men in your life are anything like those in mine, it is of no help at all to ask them what they want or ask them to make a wish list! Most of the time, they just shrug and say “I don’t know,” or they forget to make a list in time. So, like many other women, I quickly run out of time to buy something or come up with an idea.
So, if you’re almost out of time, or if you just can’t seem to find the inspiration you need to get a nice gift, here is one quick and easy solution for a creative and thoughtful gift for your man!
Personalized Coupon Gifts
Instead of gift cards or certificates for stores, you can make your own personalized coupons filled with actions that you offer for the man in your life – whether he’s a father, brother, boyfriend, husband, friend, or relative. Making your own gift coupons is one of the most affordable and most thoughtful gift ideas for men!
First, let’s start with the container. You’ll want some sort of container to put the coupons in to make the gift more creative. Let’s say you buy a simple wallet for your man, but you want to give him something more. Place a personalized coupon into each pocket and fold of the wallet.
Buy a container based on what your man likes so that he can use the container later. If he likes gardening, get a nice flower pot (maybe a ceramic one). If he likes sports, get him a baseball cap. Other possible containers include a mug, soup/ice cream bowl, wine glass, beer mug, or wooden box.
Next, fill your container (if it’s something larger than a wallet) with whatever dry food your man likes – dry fruit, nuts, candy, sweets, gum, mints, etc. Once you’ve bought the container and fillers, you still have an inexpensive gift, and the rest costs nothing at all!
Finally, put your personalized coupons on top. When I did this, I put caramel candies in a blue mug and put the coupons on top. I made about 15-20 coupons out of neon-colored 3×5 index cards (which I cut in half to make two coupons per card), but you can choose whatever stationary you wish to use for the coupons. I just chose the neon index cards because they’re sturdy enough to withstand wear and tear in a wallet and because they’re bright enough to make them difficult to lose.
Now it’s time to make the coupons! There are a few basic principles to follow when you’re deciding what to write on the coupons.
First: the actions that mean the most will be the ones where you offer an action that is something he loves to do that you don’t particularly like. For example, if he loves to go fishing and you don’t usually willingly go out fishing with him, then write a card where you offer to go fishing with him. (Be sure that when you write cards like these that you maintain a good attitude about it when he hands over the coupon to take up your offer.) It’s an excellent gift when you make these coupons and think of them as ways to be selfless toward a man in your life.
Second: make coupons that contain actions that you rarely do with or for the man (though it doesn’t necessarily have to be something you don’t like). These actions may be things that you both like to do but that you don’t have a lot of time or money to do. An example of one of these that I made for my fianc� was a mini road trip just for fun; we both like road tripping, but we don’t often have time to do so.
Third: hold true to your offers. When the man presents the coupon, be sure to follow up with your promise. Have fun with it and enjoy having the opportunity to give him the gifts that you promised.
The following are some ideas for actions that you might write on your personalized coupons. For the actions that have no defined start and finish point (such as massages), I wrote a time limit on the coupons. You might want to add the words “One Free” before each action. I wrote the actions below as you might write them on the coupons for your man. Hopefully, most of these actions are individually affordable for you as well!
Back massage
Foot massage
Any general massage
Home-cooked meal of your choice
Breakfast in bed
An evening playing video games together
__ Number of days doing your chores Car Wash
Dinner out (my treat)
Mini road trip for fun
Any baked goodies of your choice
Canoe Trip
Fishing Trip
Camping Trip Horseback Riding Night at the movies (my treat) Watch a movie of your choice
Get out of an argument
Afternoon doing what you choose
Think about your father/brother/boyfriend/friend’s likes and dislikes in order to branch off of the above ideas with more specific ideas. Perhaps you could offer to allow your male friend to teach you to play paint ball.
Consider the man’s life circumstances that may yield some excellent personalized coupon ideas. Maybe you could offer to baby-sit for your brother’s children so that he can go out with his wife. Offer to pack a lunch for your husband so that he doesn’t have to buy lunch every work day.
Depending on the man’s personality, interests, and current needs, you might also be able to offer your own skills and services on your coupons. For example, I could offer my nephew or my brother one free editing of a paper since they are both in school and I am good at editing. If your man has an interest in learning something that you know how to do, then offer him a free lesson or two.
There are a multitude of actions that you can include on personalized coupons! When you give multiple coupons as a gift to the man in your life, you can be almost certain that it will be a very meaningful gift to him. Meanwhile, you’ve saved money and utilized creativity to make an inexpensive gift.
Remember, the best coupons are the ones that have no expiration date! Have fun!
