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Does anyone have suggestions for gifts that I could buy for
people in the office without looking cheap while still
remaining frugal? I should buy for six people and I don't
have a ton of money, since my loan payments are coming up.
Ideas? Birthday gifts? Christmas gifts?
Holiday gifts? Are they for female or male co-workers?
Are they all to be given at the same time or over a period of time? |
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-When in doubt, give something edible. I've gotten various pieces of
junk over the years from co-workers, both store bought and home made,
and while I appreciated the sentiment, it just cluttered up my desk and
eventually went into the trash. (They were mostly inexpensive gee-gaws,
not the kind of thing you can give to Goodwill). Unless you know the
person well enough to give them something they'll really appreciate,
give them something that they won't have to dispose of at some point in
the future. If they don't want to eat it themselves (diet, allergy,
preference, whatever) it's easy to offer it around to others or give it
to the child/spouse/neighbor/dog when they get home. (Serious allergies
notwithstanding, if anyone is dangerously allergic to peanuts or some
other food, don't even try to give food, it's too iffy.) And as a bonus, edible gifts are generally very frugal, even if you
don't cook. Of course, homemade goodies are the most frugal, and these
days people practically fall over in a faint if you can make the
simplest cookies or cakes. But you can often go to the dollar store or
the discount store and find inexpensive tins and fill them with
inexpensive but nice bought goodies. I've seen "prepackaged" tins that
sell for 10x the price. And finding out what co-workers like to eat is
pretty easy, whether it's a coffee jones or a sweet tooth. -Idea 1
Since there's only 7 of you, speak up and suggest the office establish
a charitable fund rather than buying each other gifts. If no one goes
along with it, say you want to respectfully drop out of the gift
exchange because you don't feel right exchanging gifts when there
are so many needier people who could really use the money. Idea 2
Tell them you can't afford to buy 6 gifts this year. Maybe the
practice could be changed so each person buys only 1 gift. Establish
a limit of $10, $5, or whatever. Idea 3
Tell them you really can't afford to exchange gifts at the office
at all this year. |
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