If you’ve waited until the last minute to shop, then you’ll probably find that everything has been picked over.  This makes it hard to find a special gift for someone.  If this is the case, you may want to consider making a gift basket.  Gift baskets are also a nice gift for someone that’s hard to buy for.  You can put their favorite things, even small inexpensive things, into a basket and arrange it to be a nice present.

I thought some do-it-yourself gift basket ideas might inspire you to make your own.

For the reader - A book by their favorite author, bookmark, book light, gift certificate to a book store, highlighter, reading glasses, mug, coffee, cider, or other beverage.  You might also want to include a special edible treat.

For a family - A family gift is a great way to save money.  You could include board games, dvds, popcorn, hot chocolate, movie passes, snack foods, a Wii game,  sodas, and a little something for each person in the family. 

For the gardener - You can sometimes purchase nice gardening tools at discount stores.  Check places such as Marshall and Ross for gardening stationery, or other inexpensive gardening themed items.  Also include some bulbs or seeds and gardening gloves.  Some book stores have bargain books which are discounted.  Check there for gardening books.

For a friend - Non-themed baskets are also nice.  If you’re making a basket for a friend, consider adding her favorite things or things she can use to pamper herself.  Some ideas are nail polish, make up, bubble bath, movie passes for the two of you, a special ornament, gift card, book, hot chocolate, coffee, a nice mug, a pair of earrings.

For the coffee lover – Their favorite coffee, monogrammed mugs, a sampling of different coffees (the small 1 oz bags work well for this), gift card to a local coffee shop, coffee syrup and creamers, magazine, book, chocolates.

These are just some ideas to help.  There are hundreds of other ways to make gift baskets.  If you’re a frugal shopper, you can shop the sales or shop for clearance items throughout the year.  There are also other ways to save on gift baskets.  You might also consider a gift basket as a group gift.

Will you be giving any gift baskets this year?

image (c) Karen Weideman

I recently heard about freefroot, a newer online giveaway portal. I visited and if you like to enter giveaways this might be a good site to check out.

freefroot is a new giveaway destination where you can discover new products, shop global brands with special offers that benefit charities, and of course enter giveaways.
For giveaways you have to register at freefroot, then browse products. Find one you like, read the product article to learn more, then click enter giveaway. Submit your response to the challenge that is written in bold inside the entry box and you’re entered to win. Some of …read more

Can you believe 2010 is almost here!? It’s nuts. Since New Year’s Eve is just around the corner I thought we’d create some money resolutions.
My own money resolutions this year include cutting out even more conventional items for green items which can cost more but not if you plan well. Also, I need to set aside more cash in savings. I’d like to have a total emergency fund set up, and don’t quite yet, so I need to work on it.

If you need help choosing some money resolutions for 2010 check out these resources…

Setting Financial Goals for the New Year
Money …read more

Amazon is having another great magazine sale. They have select magazines for only $5 for a full year subscription.  This would be a great gift idea for someone special on your list and you wouldn’t need to spend much.  Since these are a year subscription, this would be a gift that gives all year long and you can get an entire subscription for about the price of one issue in the stores.

Here’s a list of magazines that you can get for $5 today and the amount you’ll save versus buying from the stores:

Southern Living – 92% off cover price, save $52.88
Golf …read more

All good shoppers need some tricks up their sleeves to save more money. Hopefully these tips below will help you to brush up on your shopping tricks – good especially for this time of year when we all want to save more money.

Don’t be pressured by sale purchase amounts: When an item says 10 for $5 you usually don’t half to buy all 10. You can buy 4 or 7 or however many you like and still get the deal.
Ignore customer limits: Along the lines above don’t let stores trick you into thinking an item is rare or in high …read more

My email inbox is always filled with sales and deals so I decided to pass some of these on to you.  I hope you’ll find something in here you can use to save money.  

Get the FamilyFun Activity Calendar for only $5.99 with free shipping and handling.  It’s chock full of creative crafts, instant boredom busters, holiday recipes, and entertaining activities for each month of the year.
Gilden Tree is having a sale on gift certificates. From now until Christmas, order an email gift certificate for $50 or more and receive a $10 gift certificate for yourself; $100 or more and receive a …read more

Layoffs can happen to anyone at any job but if it happens you’ll be less at risk if you do the following…

Use the proper chain of command. Nothing makes management more upset (in my experience) then employees who fail to follow the proper order in the chain of command. Example – you’ve got an issue with your direct manager and instead of discussing it with him first you go above him to his supervisor. Unless it’s a real tough issue that puts you in an unsafe situation (like sexual harassment) you should always talk first to lower level management before …read more

Belk is one of my favorite places to purchase clothing.  I can shop their red dot clearance sales and get quality clothing cheaper than I would at discount stores.

These are a few of my favorite purchases from today.  My hubby and I have been wanting some new sheets but I have been waiting around for a bargain.  These Wamsutta 500 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets are normally$195.00 but I got them for only $58.19. Oh yeah!  The dry erase/cork board was regularly $40. Not sure who would paid such a crazy price. I got this for my little girl’s room …read more

Dental care issues have become super frustrating in recent years as most companies shave off their dental plans to cut costs. On a positive note, saving on dental care costs is usually  far easier than saving on health care costs. Try the following.

Preventative care – obviously the best way to save is to need less dental care overall. Brush, floss, rinse, eat healthy – you know the drill I’m sure; but just in case read this preventative dental care guide. Along those lines encourage your kids to have healthy dental habits from birth.
Find a way to pay for regular check-ups …read more

My husband has been wanting a Wii for a while now. He’s mentioned wanting one a few times, but recently he began talking about us getting one for Christmas.  I’m not trying to be a Scrooge, but I can think of better things to spend my money on right now. 
If you’ve been reading Thrifty Mommy for a while, you’ll know that in the last year we’ve dealt with a poor housing market, moving, have a mortgage payment and rent, adoption, and now purchasing a home.  It’s been a financially exhausting year and I’m just not ready to lay down $200+ …read more