The festive season can be pretty daunting for those on a budget, especially when you want to shower your loved ones with everything they deserve. The best gifts do not have to be the most expensive ones, so I’ve put together some of my own tips to save your coins while still making sure you spoil everyone.

Firstly, set up a savings account that you can put spare money into every week leading up to the holidays. Even if you can only add small amounts at a time, it all adds up and helps with having money to spend when it comes to Christmas shopping. This technique also saves you from taking a huge hit out of your paycheck at once.

Once you have the money put aside, the next step is to make a list of the people you want to buy gifts for and allocate how much you’d like to spend on each person. Divide your budget across the list and decide who you’d like to spend more or less on. If you stick to the amounts you write down, you should be able to organise your gifts better. There are great Christmas budget printables online that you can download to help visualise this planning process.

To beat the rush of the festive season, try to shop for anything you can directly online. This way you can avoid picking up unwanted items, and can make better selections of items based on your budget. You could also try shopping at discounted or factory stores to find good products at cheaper prices. When shopping in a store, withdraw your money and use cash to pay for items so you can physically see the amount you’re spending, and how much you’ve got left.

Of course, another option for gifting when you’re low on funds, is to get creative and DIY something. DIY presents mean you can add a personal twist to whatever you make. You can also provide a more sentimental value to a gift by making it yourself. This is also a great way to include the kids in the gifting process, and get them in the holiday spirit while also having fun. There are so many gifts you can create that you’ve probably never considered making before. A quick Google search will pull up a horde of results and step-by-step tutorials to get you started with some DIY projects.

Here are a few ideas that I have researched myself which stand out as great ways to gift on a budget.

First of all, picture frames. It is a lovely idea to capture a special moment and gift it to someone who will appreciate it. Developing photos in stores is reasonably priced, and many places will get good quality prints back to you within an hour. Photo frames are available almost everywhere, but if you’re trying to save a lot with this gift then department stores usually have a sensibly priced range of photo frames. Gift stores are also an option if you’d like to get a bit fancier. Regardless of the frame, a meaningful photo will be a sentimental present that can be easily displayed and cherished.

Another gift that will save you money is baked goods. It’s always nice to receive some fresh, homemade baking that you know someone has really put time and effort into. This is another activity that the kids can also get involved in helping with... whether it be measuring, mixing or decorating, they are sure to have some fun while being a part of a special gift. You can wrap up what you make in a nice gift basket with some cellophane and ribbon from the dollar store to give it that special twist.

For those of your loved ones that need a bit of a pamper for Christmas, DIY self-care products are an ideal and natural way to show someone they deserve to relax. If you don’t know where to start and have never made anything like this before, again there are super easy beginners' guides for simple products online. I have gifted a few of these to my family before, and have made lip scrubs, body scrubs, bath bombs, face masks and bubble bath after following tutorials I found on various websites and YouTube. Many of these can be easily done with ingredients you can find at the supermarket, along with some essential oils and colouring if you want to get creative. You can store these in cheap, reusable jars from the dollar store or department stores, and label them for a final touch.

Saving money this Christmas shouldn’t be too hard if you make sure you’re organised, plan ahead, and get creative and personal with your presents! Don’t let a small paycheck hold you back from spoiling your loved ones, it’s really the thought that counts!