Well that wasn't nearly as enlightening as I'd hoped it would be.

This article is crap. I wish I had a better word but crap is the only word that expresses exactly what it is. The only advice it offers is in the following line: Do I have to have fresh cranberries, green-bean casserole, mixed nuts and black olives for it to be completeDo I have to have fresh cranberries, green-bean casserole, mixed nuts and black olives for it to be complete? I think its fair to say that fresh cranberries are a little cheaper than rotten ones, but not by much. I'm not sure if mixed nuts are more expensive than segregated nuts. But I know that you dont save money by wearing different clothes that you already have. You save yourself the embarassment of being a pretentious twat, but not money.

I normally would just ignore this stuff rather than spending a few minutes typing this, but there is so much of this shiat out there these days that people are starting to take it seriously. The solution simple: not spending money you dont have to buy crap you dont need.

Thermal socks are a practical, cheap gift that everyone needs.

I just need to get drunk with my parents while my sisters kids go insane opening presents.

Good method. Throw a big-ass Christmas party, filling them up with pizza, sandwiches, punch, and beer. If you play your cards right, it's quite a bit cheaper than buying each of them a good gift. Do this and you can get away with giving them a small $10 gift for Christmas.

What I am doing is buying Circuit City gift cards with $1 on them. When I pass them out I tell people that they have $100 dollars on them. Because Circuit City is going out of business -they will never know the difference.

tonkin: Well that wasn't nearly as enlightening as I'd hoped it would be.

There's quite the disconnect between the headline and the article.

Typical fluff piece:

Oh the holidays
stressful
family friends
too much to do
schedule some time
remember what's important to you

I was hoping for a list of cheap presents or creative ideas.

The adults in my family stopped buying gifts for each other years ago. Instead we make not-so-serious gifts for each other. My favorite one was a pair of sunglasses with car mirrors duct-taped on to the sides so that a family member who complained about being followed by his ex-girlfriend (a figment of his imagination) could see in back of him at all times.

Capt. Happy Hour: Thermal socks are a practical, cheap gift that everyone needs.

They sure are. We can't get enough thermal socks down here in Florida. We use them all the time.

The Human Fund?

djmaverick: I think its fair to say that fresh cranberries are a little cheaper than rotten ones,

I think the author was distinguishing fresh cranberries from either canned or frozen cranberries. The article is full of fail though.

You can always try saying that the gift-giving offends your Christian sensibilities, but if your friends and family know you well enough, they probably won't fall for it.

See, the good thing about me is that since I'm not old enough to have a paying job, I get away with not buying anything =D

I think the first step would be to not write a farking article about it on the internets...

I've discovered family togetherness comes in unplanned moments.

Like when we all have to drive downtown to bail Dad out jail? Good times. Good times.

what's wrong with the Chesapeake :(

"Sure, they love sledding and hot cocoa with marshmallows, but not when it's being scheduled"
Who the fark schedules hot chocholate?
"And from 8:03-8:05 we get to blow on it to cool it down. You have to blow a lot though, because at 8:06 we have to drink it whether it burns us or not....I miss pre-crazy mommy"

Every year I make lightswitch covers for all my friends and they get to pick which one they like. They're always a big hit and I see them up in houses all the time.

All you need is
-some old magazines
-tape
- light switch plates ($0.30-0.60 each)
- many hours

I usually make like 20 of them. It takes days doing a few hours each day. But frankly I like looking through old magazine pictures.

Crosshair: quite a bit cheaper

There's a hole in the filter...?

/easily amused

Working for Starbucks and not being much of a coffee drinker I've managed to hoard a small amount of 1lb bags of coffee that I get for free.

And theres a 40% discount for me come X-mas. THATS how to be a cheapskate.

jaylectricity: I was hoping for a list of cheap presents or creative ideas.

Here's some cheap, yet creative, food ideas...all ingredients can be purchased at the dollar store:

1)Chocolate covered popcorn kernals - Buy the cheapest chocolate bars you can find, melt them in a pan, pour in the popcorn kernals, stir. Drop the mixture into clumps on wax paper to harden. Serve to unsuspecting guests.

2)Vanilla tea - fill a cup with hot water and let a vanilla scented car air freshener steep in it for about two minutes

3)Chinese Happy Fun Soup - bring four quarts of water to a boil. Drop in a package of ramen noodles. Serves 25. Cost - 20 cents

And if your family or whatever decides to give white elephant gifts, and you wish they would knock off this stupid family custom, just run down to the pharmacy and buy a Fleet enema kit and wrap it up. Trust me, no one will ask you to participate in future gift swaps again. Ever.

Need any more ideas? I got a million of them.

Why don't we use this thread to make suggestions about cheap gift ideas/strategies?

I think thrift stores and pawn shops might be good places to look, nobody has to know where it came from and you can find some pretty nice stuff for cheap. Also hand making things if you're any good at crafts...it doesn't have to be expensive if it's sentimentally meaningful.

Pastor M: All you need is
-some old magazines
-tape
- light switch plates ($0.30-0.60 each)
- many hours

Now that's a great idea.

PacManDreaming: Need any more ideas? I got a million of them.

Haha, I missed the fact that the popcorn kernels weren't popped the first time I read it.

Pastor M: Every year I make lightswitch covers for all my friends and they get to pick which one they like. They're always a big hit and I see them up in houses all the time.

All you need is
-some old magazines
-tape
- light switch plates ($0.30-0.60 each)
- many hours

I usually make like 20 of them. It takes days doing a few hours each day. But frankly I like looking through old magazine pictures.

I just want you to know that I'm stealing that idea. Brilliant!

I wasn't aware i was subscribed to a soccer mom's blog. Like i f'n care what you do around the holidays. I've never seen snow in my life, so no i can't relate to your sledding and hot cocoa. bite me, lady.

Cut a hole in the box, put your junk in the hole. Cheap present for friends and family.

Butterflew: Like i f'n care what you do around the holidays. I've never seen snow in my life, so no i can't relate to your sledding and hot cocoa. bite me, lady.
I take it you've seen "How the grinch stole christmas" though...

/or you were in it......

I usually get my family front-row tickets to see Radiohead, but then, I'm that creepy-looking British guy who's the lead singer for Radiohead, whatever his name is.

X-mas
Bit cheaper.
Bit cheaper.
Bit cheaper.

/Gift to myself this year: holiday ban from Fark?

Heh. Listen to all you poor people. I'm single, got a good job and have lots of money saved up. I'm waiting for the recession to really bite then I'm going on a spending spree for all the stuff I ever wanted. Now I'll be able to get everything at knock-down prices! I can demand a 20% discount "or I walk away". Or maybe demand the salesman roll around in a mud puddle and bark like a dog. Or request a blowjob from a saleswoman. I've always wanted to do that but never had the confidence. Now I have become a God.

This year everyone is getting stock certificates, circuit city gift cards, and stacks of one dollar bills.

What? No fake "A Donation was made in Your Name" cards?

/FAIL

Approves

Pastor M:

That's a really great idea! I think I'll try that. Thanks!

Suede head: I'm single, got a good job and have lots of money saved up.

Wait a minute...You're single, have a good job, lots of money...

Or request a blowjob from a saleswoman.

...and you're straight?!

Well I know what I'm getting my sister for Christmas this year!

Oops try that again...

I love to make things, but I never have time anymore (too much Fark I guess).

I usually make cookies and bread and give them to people. I try to find cool containers to put them in, but lately I am trying to find items that can be recycled or reused. It is not easy to find something durable that is not cheap crap.

jafiwam: What? No fake "A Donation was made in Your Name" cards?

/FAIL

Another stolen idea, this thread is working like gangbusters!

After 50 years of being disappointed to find there wasn't a Merkel 280SL or a Holland & Holland 375 double, or a Krieghoff drilling, under the Christmas tree for me, I find that the only really important thing at Christmas is love and the sage dressing with jellied cranberry sauce, some mashed potatoes with gravy and NO broccoli and rice casserole!

To be totally honest, the most meaningful gift I ever received was some hand knitted booties, made by a little old woman in a nursing home that had severe arthritis. The pain she must have suffered to make them still humbles me.

Where the f*ck is the advice?

Also, I would like to go on record as saying that I have no use for thermal socks.

For cheapskate gifts nothing beats the old homemade coupons redeemable for:

Car Washes
Back Rubs
Cooked Meals
Babysitting

Wow. I'm ashamed of all of you. No one here noticed that the article was written by Sara Noel?

How corny can you get, as a news manager, to have your reporter with the last name of "Noel" write a holiday fluff piece that says almost nothing?

ZeroCorpse: Wow. I'm ashamed of all of you. No one here noticed that the article was written by Sara Noel?

How corny can you get, as a news manager, to have your reporter with the last name of "Noel" write a holiday fluff piece that says almost nothing?


I was going to say something along the lines of "I've got a package for Noel", but just couldn't make it work right.

fish500: For cheapskate gifts nothing beats the old homemade coupons redeemable for:
Car Washes
Back Rubs
Cooked Meals
Babysitting

Just make certain you don't get Grandma's batch mixed up with girlfriend's.

http://www.blackfriday.info/

Tells you what's going to be on sale where.