Student budget still allows for meaningful Christmas gifts
November 22, 2015
Christmas is just a little over a month away, which can only mean one thing: it is time for students to start buying gifts for friends, family and loved ones.
The problem is, as college kids most of us are not exactly rolling around in cash. But how can you tell your family or best friend that you couldn’t get them a gift? The short answer is you cannot without coming out of the situation feeling horrible.
So, here are some cheap (yet meaningful) gifts that you can give your other college friends (and maybe even your family) without seeing negatives in your bank account.
Office supplies are always a good gift. They are not the most heartwarming, but around this time of the year many students start to run low on pens, pencils, notebooks and everything else they need for classes. This is a good gift for an acquaintance or a roommate, but not the best for your “special somebody.”
A journal would also be a good present for/from a college student. A little notebook to write personal feelings in can be a good stress relief. But this present is only good if the person receiving it likes to write.
Another gift idea, likely to to fit the needs of more people, is headphones. Not everyone likes the same music as his or her roommate. Others like the privacy of being able to listen/watch/chat online without the people around them hearing everything. Plus you can buy cheap headphones for $10 at Walmart or Target. Or if you are really close to a person and have some extra cash, you can spring for the more expensive headphones, which can range over $200.
If you are crafty, you can make a homemade time capsule. This may sound juvenile, but the amount of personal touch that goes in it will be sure to put a smile on the recipient’s face.
Find an old shoebox and fill it with things that mean something to you and that friend or loved one. It could be tickets to a movie, a menu, printed selfies of the two of you, or anything. You can even include a letter to that person.
A really easy present idea is the gift card. Find out what your friend’s favorite place to go is, or where they shop the most, and get them a gift card. It could be any amount of money. This is just personal enough to make the person happy, and it will take away the stress of having to pick out a perfect gift.
According to sophomore anthropology major Adrianna Hendricks, “Probably a gift card or some kind, or if you are really close to them a small personal gift that is in your budget,” is the perfect gift to give as a college student.
“Love, just by helping them out no matter what the cost, trying to help them get through the semester,” suggested Corey Boehmer, soon-to-be enrolled freshman business major.
No matter what the gift is, if you have good intentions when you give the gift, it will be the perfect present.