At one time or another we’ve all had this thought: I could really use some extra money.
Well, that’s what side gigs are for, and there has never been a better time to find one. Apps and websites have made finding side work easy and instant, drawing some 50-to-80 million people into the gig economy.
Maybe you’re tempted to join their ranks but don’t know where to start. Here’s a little guidance from some over our favorite side gig stories of 2019.
1. Makerspaces: Community Hubs to Learn New Skills (and Launch New Gigs)
You don’t want any ole side gig. You want one that really has some flair and requires a unique set of skills. Think of makerspaces as your side gig’s testing grounds.
Maybe you don’t have a spare room to rent out. You can still make money with Airbnb through Experiences. It’s a fairly new feature, which allows you to list tours or activities that show off something unique about your city.
Sarah Lemp, a stay-at-home Michigan mom of five, wanted an affordable way for her family to travel. She bought a 1950s trailer and renovated it herself. Once her family outgrew it, she sold it on Facebook Marketplace for a profit.
That set into motion Lemp’scamper-flipping side hustle, which has earned her $22,000 in profits (and plenty of business opportunities).
5. Want to Start a Side Gig While on Disability? Know the Rules First
For many people with disabilities, working while receiving benefits from the Social Security Administration is a delicate balance. The benefits aren’t always enough to cover necessities but picking up a part-time job or starting a side gig could jeopardize eligibility for assistance.
In this corner, we have DoorDash. And in this corner, Uber Eats.
The top two food-delivery apps battle it out in this in-depth guide for prospective gig workers. We took a look at pay, available locations, driver perks, job and vehicle requirements and more.Here’s how they squared up.
7. Teacher by Day, Furniture Upcycler by Night
Sara Chen, a North Carolina teacher, didn’t start her side hustle for the money. She was searching for a creative outlet, but she found much more than that.
Chen scans websites for deals on mid-century modern dressers. Then she gets to work cleaning, sanding, patching, resanding, priming and painting them before reselling the upcycled pieces on Instagram or Facebook. Chen finds fulfillment inher newfound furniture-flipping gig. (And sure, the extra $3,000 a month doesn’t hurt.)
8. A Paw-fect Side Gig for Animal Lovers
Love animals? Looking for extra work? Consider becoming a pet sitter.
The gig allows you to get paid to watch over animals while working a flexible schedule. Sitters we spoke to earn up to $300 a weekend. They shared their tips on what it takes tolaunch a side gig as a pet sitter.
9. Notary Public: A Highly Official Gig
Did you know that notaries are technically public officials? They also get paid for their signatures.
If you’re looking for a way to make a little extra money on the side — or maybe even land a full-time gig with decent pay — a notary public commission might be a good fit. The startup costs are relatively low, the work is flexible and the credential will give your resume an extra boost. Plus, becoming a notary public offers some pretty good earning potential on its own.
The secret is to find your niche in real estate, legal or wedding services. Here’show to get started.
10. Find Other Gig Workers on Reddit
Reddit dubs itself the “front page of the internet,” and it functions like a content aggregator and a forum.
If you know where to look, Reddit can be a great place to get side hustle ideas and feedback. We compiled a list of15 Reddit side hustle communities, aka subreddits, perfect for budding gig workers and entrepreneurs.
Adam Hardy is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. He covers the gig economy, entrepreneurship and unique ways to make money. Read his latest articles here, or say hi on Twitter@hardyjournalism.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
As you stretch out on the couch to binge-watch your Netflix guilty pleasures, it dawns on you: You’ve paid off most of your debt. You’ve done a great job at saving. You have a 401(k) that’s inching its way toward respectability. Now, maybe it’s time to set your sights on investing in the stock market beyond your 401(k).
To do that, you’ll need a brokerage account. While that may sound daunting if you don’t know how to open a brokerage account, don’t let it intimidate you. You can have one up and running in no time, and guess what? You won’t even have to leave that comfy couch to do it.
What Is a Brokerage Account?
A brokerage account is an account where you can put money that you want to invest. You can open atraditional or Roth IRAif you’re investing for retirement or a taxable investment account.
You can choose to invest your money instocks,bonds,mutual fundsand more. From there, you work with the licensed brokerage firm that actually invests your money for you. The firm acts as a middleman between investors and sellers.
How to Open a Brokerage Account in 4 Simple Steps
If you’re ready to open a brokerage account, follow these four steps to start investing in no time.
1. Decide How Much Investment Help You Need
Not all brokerage accounts are equal. Some come with all the bells and whistles including a personal financial adviser. Others follow a more DIY approach. Step one to opening up a brokerage account is to do your research and find out which type will be a good fit for how you want to invest.
Here are two basic types.
Managed Account
A managed account is a type of brokerage account that comes with some investment management. That means that either a human financial adviser or a robo-adviser will help to manage your accounts.
Pros
As the market fluctuates, account managers can make changes in your investments to maximize your gains and minimize your losses based on your predetermined preferences andrisk tolerance. Like it or not, they probably know more about the market than you do.
Cons
Those advisers are not free. The average fee for a human financial adviser is about 1% of the managed assets, i.e. your money, up to the first $1 million dollars invested. It may not seem like much, but that eats into your profits a bit.
Discount Brokerage Account
If you have studied up and you’re ready to take on your investments on your own, you may want to sign up for a discount brokerage account. You can still invest in the same products. You just need to be prepared to make your own choices, though some discount brokerages offer robo-advisers.
Pros
You keep that percentage. Some online brokerage accounts may charge a fee for each trade you make, but many of them don’t do that anymore. The online competition is stiff, so you really want to shop around.
Cons
You’ll have to learn how to navigate the website, which in some cases can be a bit daunting. You’re also on your own in choosing your investments.
Once you’ve decided if you want to go the managed or online route, it’s time to find the account that is the best match for you. As you shop around, here are a few things to consider:
Minimum balance: How much are you planning to invest? Some accounts have a minimum balance requirement. Make sure you find one that will fit comfortably with the amount you are willing to invest.
Research and education tools:If you’re looking at an online account, do you want it to have tools to help you learn more about investing and research the best investments out there for you?
Fees:Keep your eye open for fees. These companies need to make money somewhere. You want to be sure that it’s not coming out of your account in ways you didn’t expect.
Ease of use:Play around on the firm’s website to get a feel for how easy to use it is. Your money is at stake, you want to be comfortable with your brokerage account.
Human vs. robo-adviser:Do you like the idea of a robo-adviser running all of the algorithms to keep your account at peak performance, or do you prefer a more personal touch?
3. Apply for Your Brokerage Account
You’ve done your due diligence. You’ve figured out how to open a brokerage account. You’ve found the account that is going to be perfect for how you want to operate. It’s time to hit the gas. Click on that “Apply now” button and get started!
Here’s what information you can expect to provide to get your account set up.
Personal info: Yes, they’ll probably ask for your Social Security number, address, phone number, and maybe a little about your financials and assets. That’s to be expected and it should be perfectly safe.
Tax status:Are you a single filer? Married filing jointly?
Risk tolerance:How adventurous are you willing to be with your investments? Bigger risks can mean bigger returns, but a higher chance of losing money, too.
4. Deposit Money and Start Investing
That’s it. Once you’ve done the research, picked your brokerage account and finished the application, it’s time to get to work.
If possible, the best method to add money into your new account is to link your bank account directly to it. That makes it easy to move money back and forth. If you don’t like to link accounts, you can likely use a debit card or even a check.
Investing can be a great way to grow your money. It is never foolproof, though. Understand that you are risking your money when you invest it, but you can also manage those risks.
You’ve paid down debt and saved up money. Now it’s time to take the next step. Luckily for you, you won’t actually need to step away from the couch to do it. Binge away.
Tyler Omoth is a freelance writer covering topics from personal finance to career advice and even lawn care. His work has been featured on TopResume.com, Writersweekly.com and more. He is also the author of over 70 educational books for children and a proud parent of twin toddlers.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
For decades, the fax machine was the most popular way to communicate in the business world. But there’s no denying its decline since digital communication has become the new norm.
With that said, there are still times when you need to send a fax. Or maybe someone needs to send you a fax.
Believe it or not, faxing is not dead. 82% of companies with 500+ employees are continuing to send the same number of faxes, if not more, year-over-year.
Certain documents, especially those requiring signatures, are sent still via fax. While it may not always be your preferred method of communication, this is something that you can’t ignore.
That’s why online faxing is growing in popularity. With an online fax service, you can send and receive faxes without owning a fax machine.
Switching to an online fax service has so many benefits. In addition to the convenience, it’s cost-effective and environmentally friendly.
Traditional fax machines consume roughly 200 billion pages of paper per year in the US alone. If just 5% of those faxes were sent online, it would save 10 billion pieces of paper or roughly one million trees per year. This reduces your carbon footprint and saves costs related to paper, ink, and energy.
If you want to ditch your old fax machine and start sending faxes online, this guide has you covered. I’ve identified the top online faxing options for you to consider.
The 9 Best Online Fax Services
There are dozens, if not hundreds, of online faxing services. It can be pretty overwhelming to find the best one for your unique situation.
Not all online faxing services are the same. I’ve reviewed the top nine options on the market today. While all of them will allow you to send and receive faxes online, some will be more appealing to you than others.
Each review covers the price, benefits, and any potential drawbacks of the faxing service. Use this information to find the best online fax for your business or personal use.
eFax
With over 10 million users across the globe, eFax is one of the most popular online fax services on the market today. The concept is simple; send an online fax from anywhere using your smartphone, computer, or tablet.
You do not need a fax machine to use eFax.
Getting started with eFax is simple. Select an area code based on your location, or choose a toll-free number based in the US. One of the major standouts of eFax is the ability to send international faxes, which isn’t offered by every online fax company.
If you already have a fax number for your business, you can convert it to eFax. It’s worth noting that novelty and custom fax numbers are not available with eFax.
As I mentioned earlier, faxing is commonly used for scenarios when signing documents is required. eFax has an integrated electronic signature feature, which allows you to sign documents without having to print anything.
eFax offers unlimited online storage to safely keep your faxes on file for the lifetime of your account. It’s easy to locate documents by searching for keywords.
Speaking of security, eFax won’t deliver fax content directly to your email inbox. Instead, all inbound faxes are encrypted and hosted securely. So you can download any confidential faxes from there.
If you’re using online cloud storage services like Google Drive, Dropbox, or iCloud, eFax lets you fetch files from there and send them out via your virtual fax.
Here’s an overview of the eFax pricing structure:
eFax Plus — $16.95 per month
Send 150 pages
Receive 150 pages
$10 setup
eFax Pro — $19.95 per month
Send 200 pages
Receive 200 pages
$10 setup
They also offer eFax Corporate solutions with custom pricing based on volume. You’ll need to request a quote from their sales team.
These prices are actually a bit high compared to the competition. You can save some money and get two free months if you sign up for an annual plan instead of month-to-month. If you go over your monthly page allowance, you’ll be charged an additional $0.10 per page with each plan.
Overall, eFax is simple, straightforward, and popular. The mobile app is modern, and you’ll benefit from high-quality faxes.
eFax does fall short in terms of value. There are more affordable options out there, and it’s not great for high-volume users.
HelloFax
If you’re looking for an online fax service with a smooth and modern interface, HelloFax should be at the top of your list.
HelloFax stands out from the competition with its cloud storage integration features and team options, which is great for small business owners.
Another reason why we love HelloFax is because it has a built-in editor. This makes it extremely easy for you to deal with any attachments.
Unlike eFax, which counts sent and received faxes separately toward your monthly allowance, HelloFax groups them together. In my opinion, this is a much better pricing structure.
Here’s an overview of the plans and pricing for HelloFax.
Free — $0
5 total sent pages
No team features
Home Office — $9.99 per month
300 pages per month
5 team members
Professional — $19.99 per month
500 pages per month
10 team members
Small Business — $39.99 per month
1,000 pages per month
20 team members
The free send-only plan is extremely limited. It’s really only intended for someone who needs to send a one-time fax that’s less than five pages. Otherwise, there’s not much else you can do with it.
For just $10 per month, you can send an receive 100 more pages than eFax, for half of the price. Plus, HelloFax won’t hit you with any setup fees.
All paid plans come with a 30-day free trial and discounted rates for annual contracts.
While HelloFax is great, it does have one significant pitfall that’s tough to overlook. There isn’t a dedicated mobile app, which is a bit disappointing. But if you can look past that, HelloFax is still a great option to consider.
FaxZero
The name FaxZero is inspired by its price—zero dollars to use. That’s right; FaxZero is a free online fax service.
More than 20,060,000 faxes have been sent using the platform.
Using FaxZero is simple. Just navigate to the website and fill out the fax form. You don’t even need to create an account. Simply enter your name, company (optional), email address, and phone number. Then enter the name and fax number of the recipient.
Once that information has been filled out, you can send up to three pages by attaching a file. The cover page does not count toward this limit.
You can send up to five free faxes per day, for a total of 15 free pages daily. That’s pretty good considering you don’t have to pay for anything.
The downside of FaxZero is that you can’t receive any faxes. But it’s the perfect choice for an occasional user who just needs to send a quick fax.
FaxZero also offers an “Almost Free Fax” plan, which costs $1.99 per fax. This allows you to send up to 25 pages and removes the FaxZero branding from the cover page.
I probably wouldn’t consider the paid plan unless it was just a one-time occurrence. There are other affordable plans out there that provide much better value and benefits with monthly plan options.
The bottom line is simple. If you don’t have a fax machine and want to send a short fax for free online, FaxZero will be your best option. Beyond that, it’s extremely limited.
Sfax
The “S” in Sfax stands for secure. This online fax service is different compared to other options on our list. It’s an industry-specific online fax option for individuals in the healthcare space.
Any time medical records are being sent, through any medium, privacy and security is a top concern. Sfax is a HIPAA-compliant fax service that allows people to send, receive, manage, annotate, and digitally sign documents without a fax machine or a printer.
In addition to the enhanced security, Sfax will also improve your healthcare workflow process. Printing and manually signing documents is not an effective use of time.
Sfax makes it possible for your remote staff, or anyone who is traveling, to send and receive essential health documents from anywhere.
Since Sfax is designed for the health industry, it offers flexible options for total control. You can manage your users to set access, permissions, and security options for each person.
It’s also easy for groups and teams to collaborate, view, manage, and export documents.
You can use Sfax with multiple locations, multiple numbers, and multiple sub-organizations all on the same plan. You don’t need a separate account for each location, and the number of users for each account won’t be restricted either.
Let’s take a look at the plans and pricing options for Sfax:
Standard — $29 per month
350 pages
Unlimited users
Plus — $49 per month
700 pages per month
Unlimited users
Contender — $99 per month
1,500 pages per month
Unlimited users
Sfax also has custom Enterprise plans for high-volume users needing 2,500+ pages per month. You’ll be charged $0.10 per page for each page over your monthly limit.
As you can see, Sfax is pricey. But it’s worth it for medical practices or any company in the healthcare field. Another drawback of Sfax is that it only supports faxes being sent in the US and Canada.
Biscom 123
Biscom 123 is another top consideration for online faxing. It’s one of the best options for email-to-fax on the market today.
You can send a fax directly from your email app using the following format:
RecipientName.RecipientFaxNumber@biscom123.com
The subject line of the email you send will also be the subject of the fax cover page. The body of the email will be the memo of your cover page. But you can’t customize anything else on the cover beyond that.
Simply attach files you want to fax directly to the email. Attachments get converted into fax image files and transmitted to the recipient.
You’ll receive a confirmation email once all pages have been successfully transmitted and sent.
While Biscom 123 integrates with email, it does have a strange drawback compared to other online fax services. You can’t send a fax from the web interface.
The Biscom 123 mobile app has its flaws as well. But you must use it to link with your existing email platforms. You might experience some glitches and crashes using the app.
Biscom 123 offers two simple plans:
Individual — $7.99 per month
30 pages
One user
$0.07 per page over 30
Small Group — $14.99 per month
300 pages
Up to five users
$0.07 per page over 300
You can try Biscom 123 free for 30 days without entering your credit card information. It’s a good options for occasional users, but definitely has its fair share of limitations.
RingCentral Fax
If you’re a regular Quick Sprout reader, you’re probably familiar with the RingCentral name. They recently made my list of the best phone services for small business.
RingCentral Fax is another popular feature that should be taken into consideration if you’re a small business owner or sole proprietor.
I like RingCentral Fax because it has a modern interface, offers fax scheduling, and supports attachments for large files. Another benefit of this provider is that you won’t be charged for a toll-free fax number.
Getting started with RingCentral is simple. Just choose your number and log in online or through the mobile app. Then you can start sending and receiving faxes from any device.
You’ll have the option to send online faxes to groups, receive notifications for all fax activity, and block any incoming faxes without caller ID.
RingCentral Fax keeps an online file log of all faxes sent and received, so it’s easy to go back to access those as a reference.
Here’s the plan and pricing breakdown for RingCentral Fax:
Fax 750 — $12.99 per month
750 pages
$0.059 for each additional page
Online customer support only
Fax 1500 — $17.99 per month
1,500 pages
$0.049 for each additional page
Phone and online support
Fax 2500 — $49.99 per month
2,500 pages
$0.039 for each additional page
Phone and online support
As you can see, the rate for additional pages is lower with each pricing tier, which is different compared to some of the other services we’ve reviewed so far.
You can save up to 33% off with an annual plan and try RingCentral Fax free for 30 days with a trial.
RingCentral Fax isn’t perfect. The quality of the faxes could be a bit better, and you won’t be able to send any international faxes. But overall, the plans offer a decent value.
MetroFax
MetroFax offers online faxing at an excellent value. With plans starting as low as $10 per month, it’s a top option for small business owners as well as personal usage.
Every MetroFax plan comes with the following features and benefits:
Dedicated local and toll-free number
Ability to transfer your current fax number
Fax multiple recipients at the same time
No long distance charges
No long-term contracts
Automatic retries and instant confirmations
MetroFax probably has the best mobile app for faxing online. The web interface is a bit outdated, but it’s a great option if you’re planning to send and receive faxes from your smartphone.
In addition to the great value, MetroFax has exceptional fax quality. Unlike other platforms we’ve seen, you won’t pay any activation fee to get started.
MetroFax has three plans for you to choose from.
Essential — $9.95 per month for 500 pages
Best Value — $12.95 per month for 1,000 pages
Professional — $35.95 per month for 2,500 pages
Each plan is designed to meet the needs of low, moderate, and heavy fax users.
The platform is designed to accommodate large files as well. One customer raves that they were able to send a 500+ page fax using MetroFax with ease, while other online fax services couldn’t get the job done.
Overall, MetroFax is a solid choice for all of your online faxing needs. I wish with the web version was a bit more user-friendly, but stick to the mobile app and you’ll be fine.
MyFax
MyFax is another excellent option if you’re planning to send faxes from your mobile devices. But the overall standout of this online faxing service is its simplicity.
The MyFax setup process is about as easy as it gets. Like Biscom 123, MyFax is a fax-by-email service. You can deliver MyFax messages to recipients with traditional fax machines as well as those with an online fax service.
Although MyFax is simple, it does fall a bit short in terms of security. They also don’t have an option for digital signatures.
So I’d recommend MyFax for personal use as opposed to anything business-related or faxing sensitive information.
Plans and pricing are as follows:
Home Office User — $10 per month
Send 100 pages
Receive 200 pages
Small Business User — $20 per month
Send 200 pages
Receive 200 pages
Power User — $40 per month
Send 400 pages
Receive 400 pages
Each additional page costs $0.10 when you exceed your limits for all plans.
Again, I’d really only recommend MyFax for personal use. Even the Small Business plan and Power User plan are pretty limited in terms of how many faxes you can send per month.
For comparison purposes, you can send and receive a total of 2,500 pages from MetroFax for less than the cost of the MyFax Power User plan. So if you are a high-volume fax user, you can get a better value elsewhere.
A free trial of MyFax is only available for the Home Office plan. It’s worth trying out for a month to see if you like the platform.
Fax.Plus
Fax.Plus is a budget-friendly online fax service. They have a straightforward free plan as well as annual rates starting at $5 per month.
The web interface is modern and the mobile app performs well too. This is definitely a bonus, since so many services on our list seem to excel at just one or the other.
For a cheap online fax service, Fax.Plus offers quite a bit of extra features and benefits at each plan level. Let’s take a closer look at what you get with each plan.
Free — $0
10 total pages
$0.20 per additional page
Send faxes only
Unlimited storage
Multiple fax recipients
Electronic signature
Basic — $5.99 per month ($4.99 with annual plan)
100 pages
$0.10 per additional page
Dedicated fax number
Send and receive faxes
Premium — $11.99 per month ($9.99 with annual plan)
300 pages
$0.05 per additional page
All Basic features
Export fax logs as CSV file
Business — $19.99 per month ($14.99 with annual plan)
800 pages
$0.05 per additional page
Multiple fax numbers
5 team members
Slack integration
Enterprise — $59.99 per month ($49.99 with annual plan)
3,000 pages
$0.03 per additional page
All Business features
Unlimited team members
Zapier integration
Fax.Plus API
Priority support
Advanced security controls
The options are flexible and extensive, to say the least. Fax.Plus has a plan for everyone. But overall, I’d lean toward the Basic or Premium plans for something budget-friendly.
The Business plan is good too in terms of the price, but you’re limited to just 800 pages per month, which won’t accommodate high-volume users.
You can add a vanity fax number to your plan for $19.99. It’s free to sign up for Fax.Plus. There’s no time limit to the length of the free plan. You’ll just start paying per page when you go over the 10-page limit.
How to Find the Best Online Fax Companies
With so many options to choose from, how can you find the best online fax company for your specific needs? There are certain features and benefits that you need to look for when evaluating online fax services.
This is the methodology that we used here at Quick Sprout to come up with our guide.
Document Archives
The best online fax services make it easy for you to access both sent and received faxes after you originally access them. So look for a service that lets you go back and view old messages.
Sometimes these archives will be limited to just a year. So it’s important to know your options before you sign up.
Cloud Storage Integration
In addition to archives within the faxing platform, you can always keep your documents forever by moving them to cloud storage systems like Google Drive or Dropbox.
Another benefit of cloud storage integration is the ability to send faxes from those platforms. This is much easier than the alternative of scanning, uploading, and attaching.
Multi-Platform Access
To get the most out of an online fax service, you’ll want the option to send a fax from anywhere. Computers, smartphones, tablets, iOS, and Android devices.
While most online fax companies offer a mobile app, that’s not always the case. Plus, some mobile apps are better than others. Some companies have an excellent mobile app, but outdated web interface.
So you can make your decision based on what platform you plan to use the most for faxing.
Page Limits
None of the online fax services on our list have the ability to send or receive an unlimited number of faxes. Each platform and plan comes with limits on a monthly basis.
If you exceed those limits, you’ll be hit with a per-page overage charge. You’ll want to find a plan that meets your needs without going over those monthly restrictions.
Whether you’re an occasional user or high-volume fax user, there are plans and page limits at varying price points for you to consider.
Conclusion
Faxing has changed. People are getting rid of bulky fax machines in their homes and offices alike. Online faxing services have changed the way we can communicate via fax.
So what’s the best online fax service? It depends on what you’re looking for.
There are some platforms for small businesses, others for personal use, and even plans for high-volume fax users. Here’s a quick recap of the services on our list:
The holidays get expensive fast. Checking off everyone on your list can be daunting, especially when you consider the impact on your bank account. The average American plans to spend $976 on holiday gifts in 2019, according to theAmerican Research Group.
But we’ve got an early holiday gift for you: a list of 100 free gift ideas.
You’ll probably see at least four or five items you can easily give someone you know and love — which means four or five gifts you don’t have to buy.
Ready to get started? Gifts are divided into categories, so you can easily scroll to find the type of gift you need. Or, read the whole list and find inspiration for a frugal, fun and FREE holiday season!
Food and Drink
If your kitchen isn’t well stocked, you’re going to have to buy ingredients like flour and sugar. But if you already have the supplies, you can make a lot of free gifts from what’s in your pantry.
1. Bread
Bake a delicious loaf of bread (thinkbanana, zucchini and chocolate chip breads), wrap it up in some colorful plastic wrap, and you’re good to go.
2. Cookies
Many people wait all year to make their favorite holiday cookies, and many families have traditional holiday recipes. Why not share your favorites with your friends?
3. Cookie Mix in a Jar
You can bake cookies, or you can give people the gift of being able to bake cookies whenever they want.
Put dry ingredients (flour, chocolate chips, etc.) into a glass jar, tape the recipe to the outside of the jar and tie on a festive ribbon.
4. Casseroles
Don’t turn up your nose at the humble casserole. Anything that gives people an excuse to eat Fritos chips smothered with cheese is a hit, in our opinion.
Give it fresh out of the oven, or prepare a frozen casserole for your recipients to heat up on one of those “no-time-to-cook” days.
5. Breakfast Burritos
While we’re on the subject of “no time to cook,” a bulk supply of handmade, frozen breakfast burritos would be very welcome in a lot of our homes!
If breakfast burritos sound like too much work, make muesli instead.
Just fill a glass jar 3/4 full of dry, raw oats, then add nuts and dried fruit. Put a lid on the jar and shake it a few times until the muesli is well mixed. Add a festive ribbon!
7. Other Holiday Treats
We know you’re already thinking of at least one other holiday treat you could make for your friends, from sugarplums to rugelach. You don’t need our permission to make it!
8. Recipe Book
If you love baking, but don’t have enough cash for the ingredients, give people a recipe book.
Write your favorite recipes on index cards, or print your recipes out and tie the pages together with a ribbon. Want to go completely free? Make a PDF version and email it.
9. Regifted Sweets
Even if you aren’t naturally skilled in the kitchen, you can still give people a delicious holiday gift.
Take some of your holiday sweets — like the box of Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark you got at your office holiday party — and pass them along to someone else.
10. Wine
Want the easiest possible holiday gift? Put a bow on theunopened bottle of wineyou have sitting in the cupboard.
From My Home to Yours
One of the easiest ways to give someone a free gift is to pass along something you already own — whether it’s the package of scented soap from your aunt or the favorite book that’s been on your shelf for a decade.
11. Regift Old Gifts
Take that thing you got last year that’s still in its box, and give it to someone else.
12. Regift This Year’s Gift
Take something you got this year and give it to someone else. We suggest scented soaps or candles.
13. Gift Card
Did your office give employees gift cards this year? Have an old gift card sitting around you haven’t spent?Pass ‘em along.
But check expiration dates and balances first.Gift cards are one present that should never arrive used.
14. Books
Give an old favorite, or wrap up the book you bought a year ago and didn’t read.
15. CD Coasters
Old CDs make great coasters, and you probably have a whole binder full of old ones collecting dust somewhere.
Group them into sets (the Weird Al collection?), add a card explaining the gift and pass the CDs along to a friend who appreciates music and upcycling old technology.
16. CD Art
If you and a friend bonded over a band or album several years ago, dig up the CD and frame the jacket art.
17. Ornaments
If you have adult children or grandchildren, giving them treasured ornaments off your Christmas tree will make them feel special.
Plus, they’ll think of you every time they place the ornament on a branch.
18. Puzzles
People rarely do the same puzzle twice, so make sure your used puzzle has all the right pieces, and wrap it up.
19. Clothes
To get away with this type of gift, you’ll need to be a mother giving a favorite sweater to a daughter, an older sister giving a favorite T-shirt to a younger sister or a best friend passing along a treasured jacket.
20. Vintage Wear
You might know a teenager or young adult who’d love to wear the outfit you’ve been hanging onto since the early 90s.
Vintage is always in style!
21. Costume Jewelry
If you inherited a pile of costume jewelry from an older relative, share the wealth with the younger generation.
22. Family Heirloom
This is a more serious gift. Pass along the necklace or china set that’s been in the family for generations.
Make sure you give it to someone who will appreciate both its history and value.
23. Childhood Stuffed Animal
Pass along a beloved stuffed animal to make a special memory with a child or grandchild.
24. Pet Rock
Make a very special memory with a niece or nephew — pass along a beloved pet rock.
Only the coolest aunt or uncle would give out pet rocks.
25. Funky Mug
If you’re one of the people who loves collecting novelty mugs, it’s time to start distributing your collection.
Wash ‘em really well first — we don’t want to see any coffee rings or lipstick stains.
26. Collectibles
While we’re on the subject of collectibles — if you know someone who collects owls, trains or snow globes, pass along a respective item from your home.
We all have at least one snow globe in a drawer somewhere, right?
27. Storage Unit Surprise
If you have a storage unit, there’s probably at least one thing in it that you aren’t using and would make an excellent gift.
The Gift of Memory
Now that so many of our photos and videos are stored online, there’s something very special about receiving an actual photograph or home video.
Plus, these are items you probably already have in your closet — which makes them ideal free holiday gifts.
28. Old Photographs
Pass along old photographs of grandparents or great-grandparents to the younger generation.
29. Photographs From Childhood
If you’ve known a friend since childhood, slip an old photo of the two of you into a frame.
30. Old Home Video
Send everyone in the family a copy of old home video footage of children or other relatives.
31. New Home Video
Why not make a new home video this year?
Take video of your children playing the piano or singing holiday songs. Or get in front of the camera and tell the people you love how much you care about them.
32. Family Tree
If your family doesn’t have an updated family tree, put one together and send it to everyone in its branches.
33. Family History
Interview family members about their history and favorite memories.
Then put the interviews together into a book — or video!
34. Family Trivia Game
The family that plays together stays together.
Make a trivia game featuring details about your family members and play it over the holidays. It can be as simple as questions and answers on index cards or as complicated as your craft skills allow!
35. Book of Shared Memories
Give your closest friend a book of memories.
Write down as many stories and shared experiences as you can remember. Include doodles, photos and anything else you’d like to add.
You’ll give your friend a history of your friendship and a gift to truly cherish.
The Thought That Counts
When you don’t have enough cash for a real gift, give something equally thoughtful and memorable.
36. Heartfelt Letter
Tell a friend or relative how much they mean to you in a thoughtful letter.
37. Monthly Letter
Write a friend or relative a dozen thoughtful letters.
Put them in envelopes with instructions about when to open.
38. How Do I Love Thee
Begin with the famous Elizabeth Barrett Browning poem “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” Then count them.
39. Friendship Mad Libs
Remember the time when we went to [PLACE] but we ran out of [ITEM] and we had to [VERB] our way back home?
Give a friend a book of Mad Libs based on shared experiences — see if it sparks any memories!
40. Kid Mad Libs
Here’s another cool aunt or uncle gift.
Write up a few Mad Libs. Don’t worry too much about the story — the kids will fill all the blanks in with “boogers” and “farts” anyway.
41. Mixtape
The classic mixtape never gets old — especially if it’s on an actual cassette you have lying around.
42. Spotify Playlist
Don’t have a tape? Make and share a Spotify playlist instead.
43. Memory Jar
Fill a jar with strips of paper containing shared memories.
44. Inspiration Jar
Fill a jar with strips of paper containing inspirational quotes or thoughts.
45. Hopes and Dreams Jar
Give an empty jar with a bunch of blank strips of paper and tell your friend to put their hopes and dreams into the jar.
46. Change Jar
Give a kid a cute jar with some loose change inside. You might inspire them to become a future Penny Hoarder!
47. Time Together
Whether it’s an afternoon spent exploring a park or an evening spent knitting and chatting, sometimes the gift of time spent together is what really matters.
48. Binge Watch a Show
Tell your significant other (or teenager) that yes, you’ll binge watch a show with them.
You know the one. You’ll probably really like it.
49. Visit the Museum
Many museums havefree days. Find out when they are and take someone special.
There are many ways to get new or nearly-new items for free. Check out this list for inspiration.
50. Buy Nothing Group
TheBuy Nothing Projectconnects people who want to both give and receive gently used items for free.
See if there’s a Buy Nothing Group in your area, and take a look at what its members are offering. Maybe one of the free items will make a perfect gift!
51. Freecycle
Freecycleis another online group where members give away items for free. Check it out and see if there’s anything you might want.
52. Craigslist
Search Craigslist for people giving away free clothes, toys, furniture or household items. As always,watch out for scams!
53. Kijiji
If you’re in Canada, checkKijijifor free listings.
54. Ebay Classified Ads
Ebay Classified Adsmight also have free items you can claim — it never hurts to check!
Some of the items are just utilities, but plenty would make great gifts — or you could bundle a bunch of useful stuff together for someone who’s strapped for cash.
57. Free Baby Products
If someone on your gift list is a new or expecting parent, here’s how to getfree baby products.
58. Retailers Offering Free Gifts
You know the free makeup bag that comes with your cosmetics purchase? Gift it to someone else.
Retailers often offer free gifts around the holidays as an incentive to get you in the door. Buy what you want, and pass the free gift to a friend!
59. Gifts Purchased With Gift Cards
We already mentioned regifting gift cards, but what if you kept the gift card and bought five gifts with it instead?
60. Amazon Trade-In
Amazon Trade-Inallows you to trade in old items for new ones.
Turn your old stuff into new gifts!
61. Pet
You can almost always find someone giving away free kittens or puppies.
Note: Make sure it’s a gift the recipient wants and the recipient is ready to handle the responsibility of caring for a pet. The kitten may be free, butpets need time, money and love.
Creative Work
Are you skilled with a pen, guitar or paintbrush? Here’s how to turn free holiday gifting into a work of art.
62. Art
Draw it, paint it, sculpt it, gift it.
63. Kid Art
If you have kids, ask them to draw or paint special pictures for their grandparents and other relatives.
64. Original Music
Record yourself performing an original song you wrote for someone you love.
65. Cover Album
Are you more of a musician than a songwriter?
Make a mixtape of you playing covers of the recipient’s favorite tunes. Or gather the whole family to sing holiday favorites.
66. Poetry
The original classic (and free) gift.
67. Audio Poetry
Record yourself reading original poetry or old favorites. (“How do I love thee…”)
68. Audiobook
Read a short story or classic text aloud.
For example, you can read Charles Dickens’A Christmas Carolin just a couple of hours.
69. Audio Goodnight
Far away from grandchildren?
Make them an audio goodnight tape. Tell a story, sing a song, wish them goodnight and send your love.
70. Coloring Book
Get blank paper and a marker, and create a coloring book for a friend.
Draw pictures of items you both enjoy (e.g. pizza, Netflix) or memories you share.
71. Hand-Drawn Paper Dolls
Here’s how to draw a paper doll: Draw the body first. Then, put a sheet of paper over the body (so you can see the drawing underneath) and draw the clothes to fit.
Color the paper doll, or leave the outline for the recipient to fill in!
72. Comic Strip
Draw four panels, then add yourself and your friends enjoying a comic scenario.
73. Crossword Puzzle
Create a crossword puzzle where the majority of the clues are about the recipient.
74. Word Search
If a crossword puzzle sounds too complicated, make a word search!
The Gift of Labor
Trust us, some people will appreciate these gifts more than anything else they receive this year.
75. Handywork
Offer a friend or relative a weekend of your time to do all of their littlehouse projects.
76. Housecleaning
Can you clean a house until it sparkles? Gift your talents.
77. Car Wash
If you have kids or teenagers who need to come up with gift ideas for aunts or uncles, have them offer car washes.
78. Massage
This free gift is classic for a reason. It’s best reserved for significant others and spouses, though.
79. Babysitting
Do you know how much a night ofbabysitting coststhese days? This free gift is actually really, really valuable.
80. Petsitting
Give your friends peace of mind by being their designatedpet sitterfor a long weekend — or for every vacation they take next year.
81. Other Skills
If you know how to alter clothes, upholster furniture or wallpaper rooms, there’s a free gift idea.
The recipient has to come up with the clothing, the furniture and the wallpaper, and you provide the labor.
Holiday Crafts
Let’s end this list with a collection of holiday crafts.
As with the food and drink section, these gifts are only free if you already have the supplies — but we bet you’ll have enough to make at least one of these!
82. Soap Bubbles
Have a little dish soap and a cute container? You’re on your way to making a batch of soap bubbles.
Check outApartment Therapyfor a list of soap bubble recipes. Make circle and heart-shaped bubble wands out of pipe cleaners.
83. Play Dough
Flour, water, salt, oil and a bit of food coloring are all you need for this classic toy.PBShas the recipe.
84. Bathtub Crayons
Use grated soap and food coloring to make crayons for bathtime fun.Get Rich Slowlyhas instructions (#94 on the list).
85. Sidewalk Chalk
If you have plaster of Paris and tempera paint, you can easily make sidewalk chalk.. Follow these instructions fromThe Spruce Crafts.
86. Framed Book Illustration
Cut out and frame a page of text or an illustration from a classic book.
87. Secret Compartment Book
Cut a hole in the center pages of a book to form a secret compartment.The Art of Manlinesshas a how-to guide.
88. Book Into Purse
You can also turn a hardcover book into a purse or clutch.A Beautiful Messhas the instructions.
89. Mason Jar Tea Lights
If you have a mason jar and some tea lights, decorate the outside of the jar with glitter, lace, ribbons, decoupage or plain ole’ permanent marker.
Put the tea light inside and you have a gift to light up anyone’s holiday.
90. Teacup Candle
If you have a half-melted candle and a mismatched teacup, combine them into an attractive gift.Get Rich Slowlyhas the details (#31 on their list).
91. Scrabble Ornaments
Take your Scrabble game out of the closet and turn the tiles into handmade ornaments. Spell “peace,” “joy,” “love” or anything else you like.
Turn your old sweater into new mittens! Check outCreme de la Craftto learn more.
95. Sweater Pillow
Old sweaters also transform into soft, fuzzy throw pillows.PopSugarhas a no-sewing-required guide.
96. T-Shirt Pillow
Turn old T-shirts into throw pillows.
Take a look atDIY Network’sguide — and if you don’t have pillow batting at hand, use an old throw pillow’s batting!
97. T-Shirt Quilt
If you have a bunch of old T-shirts and an old fleece blanket, stitch them together into a new T-shirt quilt.
UseWellness Mama’sguide — unlike other T-shirt quilt guides, this one doesn’t require extra batting or material.
98. Sock Monkey
Got a sock, thread, embroidery floss and polyfill stuffing? Make a monkey.
Urban Threadshas the instructions. This type of project can be easily adapted. If you don’t have buttons for eyes, stitch on colorful fabric scraps or make the eyes with embroidery floss.
99. Lip Scrub
Make a simple sugar scrub out of ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen.
Whip up a batch of homemade bath bombs with ingredients you might already have around the house. (If not, you can whip up this batch for less than $10.)
Nicole Dieker is a contributor to The Penny Hoarder.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
