Since my friend was moving cross-country, I decided to put together a little going away roadtrip-ready gift basket. This was super cheap to put together, but is thoughtful and practical at the same time.
In my basket I included:
- 3 current magazines, purchased through trade-in credit at our local used bookstore (tip: this is a great idea for magazines to flip through while you travel, too. They sell current issues for as little as $1 at our store). Cost: $0
- 3 dollar store snacks (Corn Nuts, Yogurt-covered pretzels, and trail mix). Cost: $3
- 3 candies from Walgreens (Skittles, Lemon heads, and Rasinetes). Cost: $3
- 1 basket from Dollar Tree. Cost $1
Total Cost: $7
Another idea that I had after I’d already given the basket to my friend was to include a gift card that could be used for something to listen to. Ideas include iTunes (to download music or audiobooks) or a Cracker Barrel gift card, since you can rent books on CD from Cracker Barrel and return to any other location (and since Cracker Barrels are typically directly off of highways, its super convenient to rent and return items).
The whole basket was very inexpensive for me, but I like these types of gifts that can be meaningful (and/or practical) without having a big price tag. I feel like blogging here has really helped make me more creative in that regard (instead of just defaulting to buying a $25 Home Depot gift card for a moving-away friend as I might have in the past).
Speaking of more meaningful and low-cost gifts, I’ve been working on another Mother’s Day gift toddler craft (reminder: Mother’s Day is this Sunday!!). I’ll try to get a post up soon in case anyone is interested in doing something similar for a special woman(-en) in your life!
SOURCE: Blogging Away Debt – Read entire story here.
