WFMW The Gift Box
When we oiginally moved to wilds of the Olympic Peninsula in Western Washington, it was my first time living outside of the convieniences of urban living. We quickly had to change our shopping habits as we were now an hour from the closest WalMart or mall! gasp!
After being caught short-handed and unprepared a couple of times, I instituted ‘The Gift Box’. Whenever I would see a cute toy, trinket, useful item, or “pretty”(yes, I am using that as a noun!), on sale, I would buy one, sometimes multiple ones, and stow them in the gift box.
(It is really amazing the things one can find on sale for only a dollar or two if you check those clearance aisles frequently. No one ever need know what you paid!)
The next time a birthday party, baby shower, or whatever came up, and I was not headed to town anytime soon, all we had to do was look through the gift box.
As we moved around the country with our mission training, the gift box was indispensible. Many times birthday and special occasion coincidentally fell during the time of month, or as it seemed, time of year, when finances were especially tight. No worry, to the gift box! As I had been collecting for some time now, the box held out for at least two years with little replenishing.
Now that we are in Thailand, I did not move the box with us, but clearly need to start a new one.
Sadly, there is no sale section at Target available here, (one of my favorite places to find gifty stuff), but there are many many markets where a great bargain can be had.
So now when you see a great bargain, but think to yourself, I don’t need it or have anyone right now I am shopping for, grab it anyway, stow it in the box, and I promise, it will come in handy and save you money later! This is one idea that has worked for me before and will work for me again. 
I would love to know what sorts of items you like to give for gifts, always looking for ideas, you know!
Check out the other great ideas at Rocks In My Dryer.
Rerun update: What are things you like to recieve as a present? If you were to get a present from Thailand, what would you like? What do you think of when you imagine a surprise in the mail from here? Just to give me ideas on how to stock my box! Thanks!
October 10th, 2007 at 2:15 pm
We call ours a gift closet and it has saved us a lot of money over the years. I love to keep this stocked and my wrapping supplies stocked for these kinds of occasions.
October 10th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
We also have a “gift box” (actually a space in my closet) and my husband thinks it’s crazy! But of course it has come in handy. I’ve managed to get some nice baby gifts for $3-$4 each (usually 75% off or more) and now we won’t have to spend much on the upcoming babyshowers. He knows it pays off; I think it just drives him crazy to see more stuff added sometimes! He always says…and who is that for??