Cheap Christmas gifts you can easily get for P500

Cramming your shopping? Try out these inexpensive gift suggestions we’ve picked out for you.

The seasonal holiday rush isn’t hard to picture: packed shops, horrible traffic heading to and from malls, glaring “SALE” signs on every storefront, and (the most dreaded mental image of all) the words “Insufficient Balance” on your bank’s ATM screen. 

But who says Christmas gifts have to take a huge chunk out of your budget for them to be meaningful to your loved ones? Have a look at some gift-worthy items worth at most P500 that you could totally afford before Christmas arrives, and you can get them for your friends, your family—and even yourself!

1. Planner

Nothing brings more order to the chaos of living than writing stuff down. So why not encourage your loved ones to turn over a new leaf (pun intended) and fill the pages of a brand-new planner with their ideas and resolutions for the new year? 

It’s the best way to kickstart the new decade, and you have a range of planner designs to choose from—a standard blank notepad for the repressed artist to unleash their full potential or a fully laid out and ruled planner for those who cherish organization. You can buy different kinds of planners from various stationary stores such as Papemelroti, Muji, The Craft Central, and so on. Heck, you might even encounter some surprising finds at National Bookstore for less than P100!

2. Succulents

Cacti make the best of indoor companions. They’re quiet, their extraordinary patterns bring a sense of calm, and they don’t require a lot of maintenance. Nothing says, “I wish you peace and companionship” better than the gift of a succulent for your loved one. Plus, with our tropical climate all year round, these plant babies can thrive at any time in any season—even the holiday season! Cacti of different kinds can be bought from your neighborhood gardener or landscaper, but you can also order them from such stores as Dangwa Succulents, The Green House Project PH, and Abby’s Succulents for a couple hundred bucks.

3. Laptop sleeve

If you’ve got an eye for color, get your office friends to spruce up their dull work laptops with decorative sleeves! Reversible nylon sleeves are especially snug and have variable designs inside and out. Plus, they’re soft enough to cushion any kind of laptop, so they can be carried around anywhere, even by hand. Tech stores and kiosks at shopping malls usually sell decorative sleeves for cheap along with their laptops and tablets. Candy Shield and Halo boast laptop sleeves with sleek and sophisticated looks. On the other hand, if you feel like supporting local crafts, check out Woven PH for some colorful handmade gems!

4. Organic beauty products

With tons of organic and eco-friendly products on the beauty and skincare market, you can easily get your family members and besties to look as lovely as ever—while helping out the environment! The best part about the holidays is that stores offering organic beauty products create ready-to-gift packages for your convenience, so getting one as a gift would be like getting them a portable spa experience, with all the needed essentials. You can get some healthy and affordable items from such stores as SESOU Nature Source, Healthy Options, and Skin Potions.

5. Board games

Board games, especially big ones with several components, are notorious for costing thousands to the ordinary hobby enthusiast. But their pocket-sized counterparts just prove that great things can come in small packages—and can help throw the wildest of holiday parties. Visit hobby stores such as Gaming Library and Hobbes and Landes, and if you dig deep enough, you can find card games, party games, and other fun paraphernalia that’ll cost you mere hundreds and make you the life of the party! So you can go ahead and cross off “Monopoly: Game of Thrones Limited Edition” from your shopping list now.

If you’ve got other fun and affordable Christmas gift ideas to give to loved ones, let us know in the comments below! Happy holidays!