Tips, Gift | featured news

Ok. So you’ve waited to the last minute and you don’t have a Valentine’s Day gift for that special someone in your life. And, in these trying economic times, you might not be able to afford anything extravagant. But you still want to do something special.

My daughter participated in a Christmas gift exchange in her young-adult-usher ministry. Every teen but my daughter brought gift cards. She came with a movie to exchange. Her gift was not so popular. My, how times have changed. Forget the crazy-colored scarves or the overly bold-smelling lotion gift packs. The gift card is the go-to present when you don’t know what to get someone. My husband and I laughed that the teens could have put all the cards in a bowl and then selected the one each wanted.

Take heart, sisters and brothers: While it is assumed that you will not let that woman a) prepare a meal, b) wash a dish or c) touch a vacuum or broom on her one special day of the year, you can also surprise her with one of these five frugal gift ideas.

There’s still a lot of holiday gift buying left to do in the next three weeks. Here are 10 tips designed to help you find the good deals and stretch your holiday dollars.