by Eve Lopez

Created on: July 30, 2009

Everyone's looking to cut costs these days, while some people are just scraping by. Millions are out of work. Unfortunately, celebrations that require gifts don't stop just because your paycheck does. Birthdays and holidays still show up, and you still need to give meaningful gifts to the people you love. Forget about giving cheesy greeting cards, IOUs or "love coupons." Give a classy gift that costs little or no money, but will still be genuinely appreciated.

Give flowers. All women love flowers, except in rare cases of allergies. Here are some tips on getting them free or super cheap. First, never buy flowers from a supermarket or flower store; the prices are outrageous. Either pick the flowers yourself, or find a local farmers' market - farmers' markets are the best way to get cheap flowers. You can sometimes find huge bouquets for as low as $3. Also, get to the farmer's market right when it's about to close and either negotiate a lower price, or dumpster dive - some merchants throw out their flowers if they didn't sell that day. Wrap the flowers in paper, not plastic.

Give a picture in a frame. This is a nice gift for men, women and even children. Find a picture of you and the recipient, and buy a nice frame (glass is always classy) at the 99 cent store.

Give a photo album filled with pictures. For moms, give them an album of photos you've taken of her children. For grandparents, give them an album with photos of their grandkids. This is a great gift idea for special days like Mother's Day or Father's Day. Photo albums can be found at the 99 cent store, too. Pick one in the gift recipient's favorite color.

Give baked goods. This only works if you're a good cook, but almost everyone can make cupcakes out of a box, or chocolate chip cookies from those store-bought tubes. The key to this gift (and all inexpensive gifts) is in its presentation - the baked goods should be wrapped in an elegant way, with paper and plastic covering, and tied together with some ribbon. Wrapping a gift elegantly turns a cheap gift into a classy one.

Whatever you do, avoid giving used gifts, things you found at the thrift store (unless it's brand-new in its orginal box), cheap trinkets that will never be used and other lame gifts. You're broke, but that doesn't mean you're a barbarian.

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