I personally love low-cost Christmas gifts! These low-budget gifts put more onus on the person than the gift. To me, the key is selling the effort and thought you put into them. Here are 7 ideas, and I am going to include my ‘sell’ for each of them:

The Share Present: Put your and your child’s name on an experience based gift. It could be something as simple as a voucher for a coffee shop or a promise of a trip to the beach together.
The sell: Wrap the voucher in a big box with a note that says, “I can’t wait to do this with you. I wrapped this in a big box because, to me, it’s the best gift under the tree.”

Create a Reel: Create a reel of photos and videos that reflect your favourite memories of the person. I recommend making it funny. Tweens and teens love a good laugh.
The sell:  Say, “Go get your phone or iPads because this gift needs to be Airdropped!” If you’re lucky, they will want to see each other’s reels. They might even show them to company that drops by.

Timecards: Give kids ‘time’ cards they can cash in with perhaps 24 hours’ notice, asking for 20 minutes of your time to do anything they would like. I would suggest you have a few timecards up your sleeve to give to them in return!
The sell: Add a note that says, “I can never get enough of you. These are just incase you don’t get enough of me.”

The Family Experience Box: Everyone writes one no-cost experience they would like to do and anonymously pops it in the box. They might include things like a walk at 10 pm, a cupcake-making competition, or a sleep-in. Then, read them out, and see if you can guess who wanted that experience and how to schedule it into the week between Christmas and Boxing Day.
The sell: Offer prizes for those who can guess who wrote down the experience.

Spunking up the Essentials: Gift them things you have to buy anyway, but that you know have meaning in their lives. Items like their favourite hygiene products or dance lessons have merit because they champion their growing-up years. Items like new school bags, hats, or pencil cases are about their next step in their school journey.
The sell:  Write clearly on each gift: “You have to guess this gift accurately before you unwrap it.” If some gifts are still unwrapped in the afternoon, so be it. This makes for some great interactive moments where kids are touching, feeling, and shaking… sometimes weeks before Christmas Day.

Secret Santa: We want kids to be involved in giving and not just receiving, and a Secret Santa is a great cost-effective way of doing this. Try giving kids $30 and letting them loose in Kmart, Big W, Target, or any bargain shop. Watch the adrenaline rise as they dodge, weave, and try to hide from each other.
The sell:  There are rules to this game. If you accidently bump into the receiver of your gifts, you have to choose a new set of gifts.

The Snack Pack: If purchased all at once, this one is not low-budget, but if we plan ahead, it can slowly come out of our weekly grocery bill when things are on special. Kids all receive a Christmas gift bag with their favourite, personalised grocery treats inside. I find my kids curled up watching a movie with their snack packs on Christmas evening, and again on Boxing Day. It’s an all-time favourite gift and a great way to end the day.
The sell:They don’t have to share with anyone else. Who doesn’t love that?