4 Frugal and Clutter-Free Mother’s Day Gift Ideas

4 Frugal and Clutter-Free Mother's Day Gift Ideas - picture of man vacuuming

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Yes, I know it’s only the middle of March.  I’m painfully aware of the fact that Mother’s Day is almost 2 months away. But I hate winter, so I vote that we should skip through this last lingering bit and jump right into spring.  Shall we?

Over the past few years, Greg and I have gotten into a bit of a dysfunctional gift giving pattern.  It goes a little something like this:

“Greg, don’t get me anything for (insert holiday here).  I don’t want anything.”  Then, Greg decides to buy me something anyway.  I usually end up getting something that I never wanted in the first place and end up returning it.

So, I decided that this year things would be different.  I am going to make all of my gift wishes known early.  I also thought this would be a great list to share with our readers since everything on my list is cheap and clutter-free.  Enjoy!

Cheap Mother’s Day Gift Ideas

A Clean House

Occasionally, Greg will have a day off and I will come home to a clean house with all of the dishes and laundry done.  Whenever it does happen, I am honestly thrilled!  I can not think of a better present than someone else doing all of the household chores for a day.  Even if my husband hired someone to clean our house while he was working, it would still be money well spent.  Hint! Hint!

A Massage

I love being on the receiving end of a relaxing massage from my man, Greg.  I even love foot massages.  The best part about it is that they are completely free.  I actually prefer being massaged by my husband instead of at a salon or something.  Greg has bought me a few massage packages over the years, and I feel pretty weird getting massaged by another woman in a dark room.  Does anyone else feel this way?

Love Letters

When Greg and I started dating, he sent me love letters all the time.  In fact, I still have almost all of them and have even laminated a few of them.  Those letters are truly priceless, and I will hold onto them for the rest of my life.  It’s amazing how something completely free could be so touching and meaningful.

Charitable Giving

I am at the point in my life where I have everything that I want and I don’t want anything else.  Seriously.  However, I think that a charitable gift in my name would make a great gift.  Mother’s day gifts in the form of charitable giving show that you care not only about the mother of your children, but about others as well.  Make sure to check out charities like UNICEF, where you can gift anything from Measles vaccines to mosquito nets.

So, there you have it.  That’s my list.  What is your favorite cheap and clutter-free Mother’s Day gift idea?  Please share your ideas by commenting below.

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19 Comments

  1. DH is regrouting the master shower for my birthday. I know it sounds unromantic, but removing things that bug me is so much more thoughtful and wonderful than flowers or chocolate. (Also he’s making me a cake, which is something we always do for each other’s birthdays.)

  2. wow you are never too early! I like the idea of charitable giving, although my mother is so selfless the rest of the year I like to give her something to treat herself, like a spa day or a pass for 10 movies at the theater.

  3. Taking care of all the little things you do in a weekend to keep the house running. Cleaning the house, doing the grocery shopping, laundry, ironing clothes, etc… That’d be a perfect gift. I also totally hear you on massages. I am not a huge fan of them and they are something I view as medicine not bliss. I get too weirded out about being touched by people I don’t know to relax the way most people do in a massage.

  4. We celebrate Mother`s Day in February, and what I did was that I gave my mom a travel magazine as an inspo for future travels, and I baked a cake! Didn`t cost me more than $10, and she loved it all! 🙂

  5. We also often trade in acts of service for these sorts of holidays. Breakfast in bed is assured on Mother’s Day, though now that Jen works full time, she often gets that at least once a weekend anyway.

  6. Along with Valentine’s Day, Father’s Day and Mother’s Day, why wait for a particular day to show appreciation. You can show your love in many different ways and it doesn’t even have to cost anything.

  7. Justin@TheFrugalPath says:

    I think these are some great ideas and are much more personal than a dozen red roses or carnations that will wilt by weeks end.
    I used to write the Mrs. poetry when we first started dating. Some were terrible, but she still loved them. We have one framed on her dresser, it’s pretty horrible but she loves it.

  8. A massage – yes! This is what my husband gives to me every birthday, anniversary, Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day. I appreciate them more than any store-bought gift he could get me!

  9. The clean house is a given, every mom would love that. My wife always says to never buy her gifts, so I don’t. lol. She would do the same, return them as well as she would rather have the love letters and the clean house. We still have all the letters and emails we wrote when we were dating and it’s fun to go back and read how giddy in love we were and how much more we are in love with each other today then we were back then!!

  10. It’s Mothers Day in the UK, and I forgot!! It wasn’t until after I commented I thought about it and sure enough. My mum is OK with celebrating when the Canadians do as well because I always seem to forget about special occasions back home now that I’m in Canada! So your post was perfect timing !

  11. “Cheap” is not the word I would use to describe your gifts; “meaningful” would be a better term. I am a frugal senior citizen and most of my favorite gifts are inexpensive or free. If you want to give your mother or grandmother a wonderful gift, give her time. Help her plant her garden or complete a chore; spend time with her.
    The letters are a great idea. About eight years ago, my daughter entered me into a makeover contest; my husband and all three kids wrote letters as part of the contest. I won an outfit, shoes, jewelry, a cut and color, manicure, pedicure, and a facial and that was great, but I will always, always treasure those letters. We often neglect to tell the people we love just how much and why we love them. Good post!

  12. It’s never too early to think about Mother’s Day!! Like you, I feel that I have everything I need, so just having the day with the family with simple gifts, often homemade from the girls is all I need. Although I will confess that I have no problem with getting a massage at a spa, but my husband’s massages are pretty darn good too!

  13. Holly, great ideas on the gifts, I tell you I struggle for gift ideas every Mothers Day, birthday, anniversary, Christmas, etc, etc. I really like the charitable giving, my wife and I are so blessed we want to find ways to give back and this would be a unique way to provide help to those in need. Thanks so much, great post!!

  14. I pretty much have given up on holidays, or at least the gift-giving part of them. The rest? I put it toward paying down debt or savings 🙂

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