The Chronicle conducted a very un-scientific survey to find alternatives to spending money for gifts at retail stores. This is certainly not an exhaustive list of ideas, but it may help readers think of ways to remember their friends and family this Christmas without breaking the bank.

Coupons or IOUs for babysitting, car washes, house cleaning, spending time with a loved one or making a favorite dessert.

Take your children to a nursing home to visit the residents over the holidays.

Make a card that says you will go to an extra Mass or say an extra rosary for someone during the Christmas season.

Have a jumble exchange. It works like this: everyone brings clothes, books, ornaments or toys that they no longer use. It all gets laid out on tables and everyone picks out what they want (no money changes hands). Whatever is left at the end is given to charity or donated to a thrift shop.

Write poetry or a favorite quote in calligraphy style and frame it. To avoid buying the frame, make it out of driftwood or broken china mosaic, or pebbles.

Videotape and interview your parents or other relatives about childhood memories, how they met, what they feel about historical events they lived through and other topics.
Give copies of the video to siblings or children.

Create a scrapbook of pictures and memories. New pictures can be added throughout the year.

Instead of spending money on each other, pool your gift budget with friends or family to purchase a gift for someone less fortunate. Families and other groups can participate in Catholic Charities’ Project Bethlehem to adopt a needy family. Call 419-244-6711, ext. 460 for more information.

Have a fun girlfriends’ day (leaving the husband, children and pets behind) making or baking gifts for others. Nikki Patterson of Toledo Christ the King says she and her friend make cookies to give to about two dozen people, and by sharing ingredients, they are able to   do so at a fraction of the cost of baking alone. She adds the time together is their gift to one another.
Create a family recipe book. Collect favorite culinary treats from everyone in the family and use a computer or your fanciest writing to create the pages or write them out on recipe cards. Print enough copies for each family that contributed.

Instead of purchasing toys for friends’ children, set a playdate with them and your kids after the holidays. The kids will have fun showing off their new toys and the opportunity to play with their friends.

Does your family plan a vacation to some place warm each year for the holidays?
Consider foregoing your usual trip and, as a Christmas gift, give the gift of time, to an appreciative mission or humanitarian group.
Plan a winter getaway to warm places in the United States such as Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas or other hurricane-ravaged areas that still need help rebuilding — or go to a Central American country such as Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua or other impoverished area where mission groups welcome volunteer help.

What could be a better Christmas gift than the opportunity to enrich the faith life of a loved one? For some, the cost of a retreat, a lecture series or a special class may be unaffordable on a limited or fixed income. To make the gift extra special, include with the complimentary registration the offer of babysitting or transportation for the spiritual getaway.

Create a “spiritual bouquet.” Make a “bouquet of flowers” by drawing or painting them on a card or make three-dimensional flowers out of paper, scraps of cloth, scrapbook materials or items around the house. On or attached to each “flower” write how the giver has prayed for the receiver of the bouquet (the number of times a particular prayer was said, the number of minutes the giver spent in meditation, the number of visits before the Blessed Sacrament, etc.) The bouquet can be used to record corporal works of mercy, little daily sacrifices or jobs around the house like doing the dishes, cooking a meal or running an errand. The bouquet can be as unique as the individual to whom it is given.