Christmas GiftNow we’re heading into the holiday season, and many of you will be celebrating Christmas with your significant other, partner or spouse.

The holiday season is a time to really spoil each other with love, affection and in the American way — with gifts. However, it is really important to remember the true meaning of Christmas.

Christmas is not about buying the most expensive present when you can’t afford it. Christmas is not about strapping your budget to buy gifts to make the retail stores happy. Christmas is about celebrating your love with your significant other, partner or spouse.

Having said all of that, keeping to a limited budget does not mean that you cannot give someone an amazing and really special Christmas gift. To give you some ideas, here are seven fantastic ways to show your love this Christmas that won’t break your budget:

  1. Write Them An Old-Fashioned Love Letter: The way to actually do this is to buy a really cute and adorable Christmas card, and then write a love letter to the other person inside it. Then you wrap up the card in a box with a bow, and have them open it up like a gift on Christmas morning. In that love letter, you profess everything you feel about that person, and express your gratitude for the amazing relationship you have with them and the amazing time you’ve spent together during the past year.
  1. Unlock Your Indoor Inner Child: What do I mean by this in the context of Christmas gifts?  I mean bake, bake and bake! I don’t care whether you are a man or a woman, bake a holiday cake, a pie or some Christmas cookies for someone as a Christmas gift.  Christmas gifts don’t have to be expensive to be special. The fact that you took the time it takes to bake something just for them will be very special and meaningful.  Remember that Christmas is about celebrating love, not buying love.
  1. Unlock Your Outdoor Inner Child: If you live in a cold climate, go sleigh riding (or “sledding” for those of you not originally from New York). Go out and buy some sleds – or even borrow some sleds from some neighborhood kids – and go to a local golf course or neighborhood hill and go sleigh riding together.  Afterwards, snuggle up together while you have a cup of hot cocoa. Once again, it doesn’t have to be an expensive gift to be special.
  1. Take Them On A “Christmas Date”: Go out and spend a “Christmas night” together. Go out and look at store decorations. Listen to Christmas carols. Go window shopping and enjoy all the beautiful displays.  Share an evening together doing this. Gifts don’t have to be presents under the tree. You can just spend one great night going to see a tree get lit, going to hear some Christmas carols sung or enjoying a drive to look at the beautiful Christmas lights that are on the homes in your neighborhood. It doesn’t matter what you specifically do, it’s all about celebrating Christmas with that person.
  1. Give The Ultimate Love Gift: One of the most amazing gifts you can give someone is what I like to call “the ultimate gift of love.”  On Christmas Eve, cook them an incredible dinner.  Then get some massage oil and give them a Christmas rubdown, the kind of massage that person has always dreamed of getting from you.  Light candles.  Listen to some music.  Light a fire.  In America (and really all over the world), we spend so much time and focus on getting the fanciest, most expensive gifts we can find.  Sometimes, however, it is your time and your attention that is worth more than any gift your money can buy.
  1. Create A Christmas Eve Christmas Tree: A really great Christmas gift is to get a Christmas tree, but wait until Christmas Eve to get it when they are all on sale.  You can negotiate great deals on them if you wait until Christmas Eve night.  Then you spend the entire night decorating the tree together while you tell stories, listen to Christmas carols and share some incredible moments connecting with your significant other, partner or spouse.
  1. Make Christmas Day Special: On Christmas Day, one of the very best and most special gifts you can give someone is a day spent together with you, friends and loved ones without the stress of  financial constraints marring the joy of the day.  So on Christmas morning, take a long walk with that person and enjoy some private time connecting with each other.  Then later on, invite people over for a potluck meal.  A potluck meal allows everyone to be able to join in even during tough economic times like these.  This will allow you both to get together with all the people who are most special to you and really celebrate your friendship and your love.

Christmas is not about what you can buy someone.  It is about showing someone how much you care about them and expressing yourself in so many ways.

All of these ideas in this article can also be modified and used at any time during the year.  So for all of you who do not celebrate Christmas and for any of you who may have budget issues at other times during the year, these are great basic ideas you can modify to come up with special yet inexpensive gifts to give for any occasion.