One of the best gifts you'll ever get anyone is something that will save them money either on the short term or over a longer period of time. For instance many people spend a lot of money on energy bills because they use [old] incandescent bulbs which use a lot of energy. Buying them LED bulbs which use 90% less energy and last an eternity [as a gift], could help these friends of yours save a lot of money. More ideas, please?
That is a great idea. I have also as a gift chosen one of their utilities bills and paid it for them. It is always nice when you have one less bill to pay even if its only for a month. You can get gift cards for their cell phones to help with the costs. Some people like to play Facebook games so you can get gifts cards for that or i-Tunes.
I love to receive vouchers for the grocery store I usually use. To me, they are as good as cash so are always welcome. I'd always choose something practical like this as a Christmas or birthday gift any time.
I agree, it would be very nice to not have to worry about one bill that month, which can be accomplished as stated above, by paying that particular bill, or giving the recipient a gift card or cash. Another idea might be to take their vehicle in for a service, which could save them some money over the long haul, such as if you got them a tune up or oil change. I think another thoughtful gift could be something like a membership to AAA or another roadside service, or if they use public transportation, a metro card.
I like to receive Visa or Mastercard gift cards as gifts because I can spend them any way I need to. If I am low on money I can buy food with them or use them to pay a bill and it is like the person who gave me the gift card helped me out that month. My parents gave me a food sealer a couple of years ago and that has saved me a lot of money because I no longer have to worry about food going to waste. I just vacuum seal it and stick it in the freezer.
That is true and very practical. Food can even be counted on the list, like a sack of rice so that it will get them to save money or a basket of fruits. Anything that they regularly eat would be preferred.
Some of the cleaning products at Dollar Tree are excellent, like The Works toilet cleaner and LAs Awesome cleaner. So I think a reusable laundry basket full of cleaning supplies and sponges and scrubbers would save a friend money and be very thrifty to put together as well. If you wanted to be fancy, you could throw in a fancy bottle of lavender or lemon verbena dish soap from TJMaxx and it still wouldn't make the basket that expensive.
This is an interesting idea. I never considered this before. Not everyone would appreciate this type of gift, but I know many who would. I have given gift certificates before, but just not money saver items.
