I would like to say shopping green for the holidays on a budget is easy, but the truth is it isn’t. It can be expensive, especially with all the hype lately about living and buying green, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t any hope for those of us on a budget. Below are tips for saving money here and there if you are interested.

Tip 1. Shop at thrift stores, consignment stores, and garage sales. Places like these are good for finding fabrics (to wrap gifts), baskets (to make gift baskets), and a variety of little nick-knacks that don’t have to necessarily make the main gift, but can accessorize the main gift if you wish. If you are a great shopper you may be able to find a wonderful main gift in places like these as well. Consignment stores are an especially good place to find decorative things for the home and garden.

Tip 2. Shop online. Shopping online will save on gas and will help reduce pollution. You will also save your sanity and can look at a variety of products without having to wait in line with your kids running all over the place. In addition, when trying to save money, like with regular shopping, look for discounts, free shipping, and point back programs that work with green online stores.

Tip 3. Buy locally. If you like bath gifts baskets handmade soaps and skin products are growing in popularity so instead of going to a place like Bath and Body works go to a locals farmers market or locally owned business near by and shop there. Consider buying something like handmade soaps, organic teas, recycled mug, etc. Then use an old basket (from the thrift store) some colorful shredded paper (red and green), some jewelry boxes or holiday bags you have saved up from last year and put it all together nicely into a homemade gift basket. This will hopefully save you some money. If nothing else it will at least be much healthier for the person you are giving the gift to and for the environment.

In addition if you shop locally you have some room to bargain down some of the prices with the business owners, especially if you are a loyal customer.

Tip 4. Don’t buy. Make it. You don’t need to buy wrapping paper, labels, ribbons or greeting cards. Wrapping a gift can be creatively done with old gift bags, kids artwork, brown paper bags, maps, fabric, newspaper, old scarves, old calendar pages, raffia, aprons (for baked goods) filler paper you’ve saved up from other gifts and so on. Be creative. Make your own cards out of recycled paper or fabric too. Go to the library and check out a book on homemade cards made from recycled material for great ideas.

If you are good with the sewing machine make your own fabric bag or learn some great useful ways to wrap your gifts in fabrics here.
Here and here are some great ways to make you own gift boxes out of recycled material.
Here you can learn to make your own gift tags.

Tip 5. Buy it green. If you feel these wrapping ideas are too unfashionable or not classy enough feel free to buy recycled, hemp or organic wrapping paper, greeting cards and so on, but they will be pricey. Look for them on sale. After the holidays are over buy some more and save them for next year. Places to find green wrapping to buy are here.

Tip 6. Buy in bulk. If you have a few family members that wouldn’t mind getting the same kind of gift, go ahead and buy more than one of the same thing, especially if it saves you money. For example, if you know a few people that would love to receive handmade soap you can buy a loaf of soap, especially if its on sale, then take it home and divide it into individual pieces with a regular knife. Wrap each piece with a recycled ribbon or place in a pretty reused box and add it to the gift baskets you are making.

Tip 7. Freecycle

No one is making you buy 100% green gifts if you can’t afford it. Hard as it may be, don’t feel guilty if you can’t afford green gifts this time. You can always try next time. In the meantime keep living green and enjoy the holidays.