Fun and Thrifty Gift Ideas for Teachers, Babysitters & Others On Your List

Magazine Subscription – Try fashion, craft ideas, music, or pop culture. This helps with her creativity and is a nice surprise every week or month in the mail.

Boxed Set of Greeting Cards- I found this amazing set of cards at Costco for $12.99 and it is stocked with beautiful handmade cards for all kinds of occasions. This is a wonderful gift so that you always the right type of card on hand. These are a great communication tool for writing to friends and family without a constant trip to the store. It has come in so handy when she has a birthday party to attend or just wants to send a note to a friend.

Monogrammed Towels – I order them after the first month as an anniversary with our family gift. I find them very reasonably at Horchow, with free personalization and free shipping offers they are about $10 a piece or $20 for a set of two. Use this link and the coupon code “WELCOME” to save an additional 10%.

Memory Books – As a special memory book I have made pages on How Fast They Grow. These photo scrapbook pages are 12×12 and fit into the standard albums you can buy at Target. The website allows you to drag and drop the images from your computer and you can custom journal the script to personalize the information. Each page is about $6 printed, so you can make a very deluxe album for about $75 shipped. The owner of the website offered readers of my blog a discount by using the coupon code “TRIPLETS” and the pages arrived in the US Mail and are beautiful.

Personalized Stationary – My husband designed some amazing note cards, magnets, calendars and t-shirts at VistaPrint. The website has promotional offers that allow you to try many products for free and you just pay for shipping. We combined several gifts for Aupairs, teachers and other friends so that the shipping cost is reduced. The custom screened t-shirts are terrific if you have a photo of your children with your Aupair or Nanny. If you are already ordering photo holiday cards from them you can add on some other items for free. Note pads, post-it notes and the hats all turn out so cute when you use their own photograph. We made the cutest calendar magnets for the following year using a great photo of our Aupair.

Free Samples – About once a week I go to Start Sampling and sign up our Aupair for a bunch of trial sized merchandise. It arrives in a few weeks and gives her a chance to try products just for kicks. I use our mailing address with her name so that it is always fun to check the mailbox. The best offers are for health and beauty stuff like shampoo, shower gels and snacks. This would be a great idea for an elderly relative too!

Holiday Clearance – I wait until about 7-10 days past a major holiday such as Valentines, Fourth of July and Halloween and I stock up on decorative items and gift products at clearance prices. I keep these tucked away for the following year. Target and CVS clearance items at around 75-90% off and we just stash them for 11 months until it is time to bring them out again. This is true for winter items like hats, gloves, fuzzy slippers and OSU sweatshirts.

Custom Made Coupons – We had our kids make these on the computer and then we printed them on certificate paper from Staples. The offers were for random pampering like breakfast in bed, a morning to sleep in, a pay per view movie, an ice cream sundae, her night to pick a restaurant choice and a custom burned CD with her playlist.

Movie Gift Card – It will encourage her to go and see the latest hit.

Written by Helene, who is a “fly by the seat of her pants” mom with 6 kids, well really 7 if you count her husband. She is a die-hard bargain shopper, designer-clad domestic diva who writes reviews to maintain a sense of sanity and unleash her creative side. You can also keep up with their busy family at their blog.