If you don’t have time to shop or you really don’t have extra money to spend on a gift, 
you can give the gift of your time instead. Spend a few minutes making a homemade gift certificate for your loved one or friend offering a special service that would be meaningful to them.
For instance, if you are giving a gift to a busy stay-at-home mom, offer to give her the afternoon off by taking care of her kids. If you are friends with an accountant, offer to make her a meal during tax season. If you are friends with a farmer, offer to help him by cutting his lawn during harvest time. Or, if you have friends who are elderly, offer to drive them around or pick up their groceries, or just offer to make them a meal and spend time with them.
There are lots of things you can do and it will likely mean more to them than if you had just gone out and bought them another knickknack. Gift giving doesn’t have to be expensive, but it does have to be from the heart. Your time can be a priceless gift.
If you enjoy buying fresh-cut flowers, buy them at a grocery store rather than from a florist. 
You will save a lot of money and the flowers last just as long! A neat way to prolong the life of cut flowers is to add a quarter cup of soda pop to the water. The disadvantage of any fresh cut flowers is that they eventually die, even if you use the soda pop, so, what I like to do instead, is buy a small potted plant. Over time they often die, too, but they last a lot longer. So, if you are thinking of doing something sweet for your friend or loved one, consider buying them a small potted plant – the gift that keeps on giving by staying beautiful for a long time.
It may seem ironic that I am suggesting giving generously on a blog about saving money, but my husband and I have truly experienced the concept that it is better to give than to receive. When you give generously not only do you feel great about it, but you are often rewarded unexpectedly afterwards. Here are some recent examples of what we have experienced. We gave some money to some friends of ours who are struggling financially and within a few weeks my husband was informed that he got a raise! Another time we gave a friend some money and the very next week my husband was given a tip from a satisfied client for the exact same amount that we had given to our friend! Although you don’t always see your money coming back to you like that, the sense that you have done something great for someone else is rewarding in and of itself. Even though you may be going through some tough financial times right now, I still want to encourage you to give! I can guarantee you won’t regret it.
