3 Last-Minute Christmas Gift Ideas For Your Budget

It’s officially less than a week to Christmas, and I’m pretty sure if you’re reading this post, you’re one of the many people who are yet to buy gifts for their friends, partners, parents, or anyone really. 

You probably just can’t think of what to get, or all your options seem to be really expensive. This post is going to give you three suggestions for a last-minute Christmas gift, taking two major factors into consideration.

The first is time. Let’s not act like we don’t know delivery can take weeks even if the store is located on the same street as you. This is even more so with the rush that comes with the festivities. With dispatch riders, there’s always something. So, yes, we’re factoring that in – considering these are last-minute gifts.

The next factor is budget. This word means different things to different people. And frankly, there’s no way to write one post that would cover everyone’s budget. To one person, “budget” might be 10,000 naira. Meanwhile, to Elon Musk, for instance (yes, I went that far), a budget gift may be around $300K (God when?). Who are we kidding? That’s if he knows what “budget” even means. 

Oh well, let those of us that do, get right into our post and ensure we stay within our budgets while gifting this season:

Buy a gift card from their favourite store

Seeing money that you worked hard for is sweet. Letting your money work for you is even sweeter. But you know what tops both? The money you didn’t work for. It just hits differently knowing that someone else paid the price for your enjoyment, and just handed it to you.

This is the reason gift cards always make for great gifts – especially from stores where the receiver would typically go. The great thing about this is you don’t have to worry about logistics or late delivery, plus you can spend the exact amount you planned to.

They would have spent their own money otherwise, but no, by your swipes they are free.

“Anon” to the rescue

This is very similar to getting them a gift card. Actually, just think of it as giving them a gift (card) in the presence of an applauding social media audience of thousands. 

You could place an order for something you know they’ll love, or open a tab for them in a store they like, and get the store to tweet at them anonymously (anon). This does two things – saves you the heartbreak of ordering something that won’t get to you by Christmas, and adds some points to your receiver’s street cred.

Stash them

Nothing screams Christmas cheer louder than a good ol’ credit notification. Chances are that while you’re here trying to find a way around gifting, your friends are doing the same too. Everyone is trying to save money for the 1000 days of January, so go a step ahead.

Do a free transfer (of the amount you planned to spend) with Stash to their username. You don’t need to ask for their account number. See? The perfect last-minute Christmas gift. A brilliant way to be proactive without ruining the surprise.

These are more “gifting ideas” than they are “gift ideas”, because there are millions of possible combinations of gifts based on people’s different lifestyle choices. Hopefully, this helped point you in the right direction if you’re trying to put a last-minute smile on your loved one’s face without doing pass yourself.

If you’re just reading this post and you’d really like to send gifts but can’t afford to do that this year, don’t worry. This might just be a reminder for you to create a “Christmas Gifts” plan so you can start saving towards it for 2022.

For now, I’d just butter you up with probably the most comforting 5 words that anyone with good intentions can hear: “It’s the thought that counts.”

Share this post with someone if you found it helpful, and stay a little longer here to snag a few tips to grow your money in 2022.

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