Spinoff: Gifts for hubby..ideas needed for frugal wives

[newcastlemama]

My husband and I give eachother gifts at Christmas that have to be less than $10
Last year I got a hymnal at a used bookstore and engraved it with his name($8)
I wrote him a song for our anniversary

What frugal gifts for husband do you make or do????

[CerridwenLorelei]

one lady I know online

does coupon books like "good for one back massage" kind of thing

do you make a certain type of cake or cookie or bread that is his favourite? you could do that with the colored glad wrap and a bow..

[captain crunchy]

Since I have spent the last 4 months covered in spit up and wearing yoga pants (new baby lol)... I think a great frugal gift for a dh would be if you had a trusted friend or family member sit your kiddo for an evening (even just a few hours) and suprise your hubby with a really nice candlelit dinner, complete with cloth napkins, a bit of wine, dessert...while all dolled up in your favorite (or their favorite) dress, hair done, make-up etc... have some grown-up conversation that doesn't involve the kids --or if you talk about the kids, only good stuff, no discipline convos or problems -- flirt, laugh, enjoy a leasurely dinner and dessert, then if you are both in the mood...who knows...

I know my hubby loves and cherishes me no matter what, but I think he would like that, he hasn't seen me looking like that for a while goodness knows :LOL and our "lovin" time is usually "she's asleep, ya wanna?" ... or right in the middle ..."did I hear her cry"? :LOL

[umami_mommy]

kids for kids

one place i really love for giving inexpensive gifts is heifer international.

they give gifts of animals to families worldwide, give support and then ask them to pass on the gifts of the animal's offspring to other needy families. it's a really winderful organization.

you can go to their website, contribute as little as $10, print out a card for someone and they never know how little or how much you donated. i regularly give $10 donations (because that's what i can afford) and no-one i know is as needy as the families that heifer helps out. (seva internaltional is another great organization, esp if you want one that has no religious ties) and frankly, does anyone you are buying or making a gift for this year actually "need" anything? all the people i know need more room to put more junk in, that's all.

they are having a kids for kids program right now, giving goats to families with children and you would be AMAZED at how much one goat can improve the life of a child. it can mean the difference between eating and having some schooling and starving and being illiterate.

rowan and i are going to gather all his change together and donate it to heifer so he can "buy" a kid for a kid.

http://www.heifer.org/

check out their site, today is world food day, BTW.

[Austin'smom]

Thanks for sharing. We will definetly be doing at least a couple gifts from heifer international this year!

[sarah_bella1050]

How about some homemade massage oil made from generic baby oil and a few drops of lavender oil in a nice thrift store bottle and a promise to use the entire bottle by next christmas . Also you could do paint handprint on a piece of paper with a picture of your dc on it (that's what I'm doing for my dad). I'm sure that I can think of somemore, maybe I'll post back later.

[tara]

Massage oil is a good one - I would recommend canola or sunflower oil instead of baby oil, though (baby oil is usually mineral oil, petroleum product, blah blah blah). Also, I made aftershave one year out of vodka, aloe gel, water and essential oils. Lip balm is really easy and inexpensive to make.

[Snowdrift]

I'm trying the news to DH that we can't afford a new videocard..even if we say it's a "Christmas gift".

My *real* gift to him will be a batch of fudge for him and his gaming buddies. I gotta go with the cookly-bakely things always. fudge is extravagant enough in flavor and in the cooking process to be an appropriate spousal gift, plus he gets to show off my mad kitchen skills to his single buddies, something he *loves* to do!

[sarasprings]

My husband loves good tasting stuff to put in his coffee. I used to buy him a bottle, but now I make Kahlua or Baileys. Every year I give him a little framed photo of us from the previous Christmas in a little frame with a ribbon so it can be an ornament. I've made him little gumdroppy fruit jellies with real fruit in the past, too. And I've bought him a 6 pack of his favorite beer that is hard to find here. He's not picky and doesn't expect anything, luckily.

[jilly]

I second the coupon book. I make one for dh every year and it is always his favorite gift.

Now that you can do enlargements so cheap with those digital kiosks, find a nice picture that is significant to you both and / or turned out really well and enlarge it and find a cheap frame to put it in. I just did this for dh and he really liked it.

[Chalex]

Not exciting but, my DH wants a cell phone cozie because of all the scratches it gets. That should be easy enough to make.

[root*children]

The coupon idea is great. At first I was thinking "Okay, the massage coupons he would love, but what beyond that? Of course, he'd love some "personal favors" , but you'd be crazy if you think I'd fill a whole coupon book with that!"

But now I'm thinking ... well, some could be for getting up and making him lunch/starting his car to warm up, etc. Give me more ideas! :

[*Lisa*]

I made coupons for DH last Christmas... I included 12, one redeemable each month. The things I included were... a back massage, foot massage, a batch of chocolate chip cookies, a morning of sleeping in late on the weekend (this one went over REALLY well given how early DD gets up every day), and an extra turn picking out a movie to watch. I think I included two of each of these, complete with expiration dates

[Emilie]

I got three books for dh off the trading post for $10 for Fathers Day. They were dated books by Al Franken- etc- but still enjoyable reading.
I routinely buy him books at yard sales- for a 25 cents....

[sciencemama]

i had a brilliant idea for dh the other day (if I do say so myself )... i've asked my parents to dig out my old Atari 2400 from the basement and I'm going to give it to dh for christmas... i think he'll LOVE it.