Thoughtful Gifts that are Free

December 12, 2009 Comment

With the economy iffy, natural disasters increasing, a pandemic upon us and a more serious pandemic threatening, and the increasing threat of terrorism, more and more of us are taking the time and making the commitment to become more self reliant. Our family is being much more frugal this Christmas season as we have all made preparing a priority. Many are cutting down because they have become unemployed or are having to support family members who have lost jobs.

If you have no money there is always something you can do, you can give of your time and talents. Please do not spend money you don’t have. Give an IOU. Some suggestions….

Last year was our year of Seven Steps, seven things every week to be better prepared by the end of the year. One of those steps was to make a household inventory. We discussed the importance of an inventory for insurance purposes in case of a house fire, burglary, hurricane, earthquake or any other natural disaster. As your gift volunteer to take digital photos around the house, and then download them. The person who receives this gift can then go through the pictures and add labels and information. The inventory will then be ready to record onto a disc to be mailed to their out of area contact as well as having a record in their home. A friend just had this service done and it cost them $700.00.

Give an IOU to teach a class. This could be a class for several friends or for an individual. Teach car repair, bread making, sewing, fire and/or shelter building, cooking from your General Store, how to survive if the power fails, and more.

Help a family by answering one of the excuses many people have for not beginning or expanding their food storage, space. Give an IOU to help them find that space by analyzing the ways in which they are using their space or by building shelves in the back of closets or above existing closet shelves. There is always so much wasted space in a closet and many other areas of our home.

Don’t just encourage gardening but give a gift certificate and plant a garden for someone. This doesn’t have to be extensive. A few zucchini plants will more than feed a family. There are many other vegetable plants which produce lots and with just a few plants of a few varieties can provide a garden no matter how small their space. If there really is no room plant a container garden for them or fill a planter with herbs. They can provide the plants and/or seeds, you provide the labor.

Another of our Seven Steps was to add photos to our 72 hour kits. Again, digital photos are free. Set a date to take pictures of the family, download them and they can decide which photos to print and add to their kits, or display on their walls. Remember every 72 hour kit should have a picture of the family as a group, including pets, and also an individual picture of each person in case you are separated.

For something fun but not directly self reliance oriented, give the gift of Scrap Book pages. If you scrap book you will have paper, ink, stamps, stickers, all kinds of supplies. Give a gift Certificate for 6 scrap book pages (or more, or less). Gather photos from the family and make the pages from supplies you already have on hand.

No matter how little money you have this year there is no reason you can’t give a thoughtful gift. Don’t purchase a gift if you can’t pay cash, instead, be creative and give the gift of yourself.