Giving an unexpected gift to those in need may be more appreciated than you could ever imagine. In these rough economic times even the smallest gift is appreciated. By watching for deals and using coupons you can often put together a fantastic gift basket for under $10. For the joy you will spread it is money well spent. Here are some ideas for easy to make gift baskets that are low cost when you plan ahead a little bit.
Movie Gift Basket
In a Movie Gift basket you can add a few DVD’s or a gift certificate to rent a movie. Red Box has movie rentals for just $1. They don’t offer gift cards but you could put a Visa gift card in the basket or even a few dollars in an envelope. Add a couple bottle of pop that can almost always be found for $1 a 2-liter on sale and some microwave popcorn. Maybe a couple candy bars or a bag of potato chips and you are set. The movie gift basket I made included $5 for movie rentals, 2 boxes of Orville Redenbacher popcorn, 2 bottle of pop, and 2 bags of chips. My grand total was $12. The popcorn was free after sales and coupons, the chips were buy one get one free, and the pop was $1 a bottle.
Baking Gift Basket
In the baking gift basket you can include everything needed to make tasty treats for the family. You can include baking pans or other supplies. Cake, cookie or brownie mixes and icing. Or you can add the stuff needed for baking homemade goods. My gift basket included a cookie sheet, a cake pan, 4 cake mixes, 4 icing, 4 brownie mixes, 4 cookie mixes, 4 ready to bake cookies, 1 dozen eggs, and a bottle of vegetable oil. My baking gift basket cost $12. Both pans were few with purchase, cake mix and icing was $1.50 for all after sales and coupons, brownie mix was $4, cookie mix $4.20, ready to bake cookie $0.60, eggs 88¢, and oil was $1 after coupons and sales.
Now this gift basket will cost a little more than $10 to make. To the gift basket you will want to add a ham, bag of potatoes, rolls, dessert, vegetables, and whatever else suits your fancy. My holiday meal gift basket included a ham, 10 pounds potatoes, 3 bags of frozen vegetables, 1 bag frozen rolls, 2 cans crescent rolls, 2 can sweet rolls, 1 frozen pie, and some homemade cookies. My grand total was $19. The ham was $15, potatoes $1.99, Frozen pie $1.74 after coupons and sale, and the sweet rolls, frozen rolls, crescent rolls, and frozen vegetables were all free after sales and coupons.
As you can see it is easy to make some fantastic gift baskets for families in need for a relatively cheap price. When you plan ahead, watch for sales, and combine money saving coupons you literally pay pennies on the dollar.
