Want to know the secret to inexpensive gift ideas? - think small!... but think "lots of small".

...This is why "kits" are so popular! A few band-aids doesn’t constitute an impressive gift - a first aid kit for the car is very useful. 

Nor does a little bag of rubber bands mean much... But a few-inch-diameter ball of them is pretty cool! (You can bounce it, too.)

One light bulb does not, perhaps, a Christmas gift make - but a whole assortment of them?... Hey, assortments are fun!

Assorted... Salad dressings. Wrapping papers. Paperback mysteries. Embroidery supplies. Birthday cards. Drawing implements and paper. Flower seeds. Funny hats! Tape! (duct, masking, electrical, cellophane, plumber’s, video, audio, seam, etc.). See? - fun, too!

Then, of course, many recipes do a cookbook make (etcetera). A family cookbook is a neat idea. How about a family photo calendar? A book of family reminiscences? A book of stories about all the wild and crazy guys Dad has worked with? Or all the funny things the kids said when they were small... Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera!