With the holiday season coming up, Ri Knowles, graduate student in the college student affairs program, is looking to buy his family gifts on a budget. Before, he’s worked around his budget by getting inexpensive gifts that have high sentimental value.
“In the past, I’ve just bought my parents a picture frame and wrote a letter or a poem or something for them, which costs close to nothing,” said Knowles. “But it means a lot to them because the words that I wrote are more personal.”
Like Knowles, many college students look for ways to give gifts while staying within their budget.
Fortunately, there are several innovative and creative ways students can buy thoughtful gifts for their friends and family and show appreciation to the people in their lives without breaking the bank.
Secret Santa
Secret Santa can be done in any community, whether it’s with friends, family or coworkers. With Secret Santa, each person in the group is randomly assigned to get a gift for one other person in the group. This person will know who they are getting the gift for, but won’t know who was assigned to get them a gift until it’s time for the gift exchange, in which everyone reveals what they got and who they got it for.
For Knowles, this is especially helpful because he has four siblings.
“Instead of trying to buy gifts for everyone, we just do a Secret Santa amongst the five of us so that each of us only has one person, so then we’re spending less money on gifts,” Knowles said.
Save up money
Students can plan for what gifts they want to get ahead of time and save up for them. Setting aside a certain amount of money each day will allow students’ savings to grow until they have enough for the gift.
Mia Marques, senior education major, often saves early for ideal gifts.
“During the holidays, I start saving a few months ahead since I love giving good gifts,” said Marques. “One time, I saved for about a month so I could take my sister parasailing and got a hotel for the night so we could go out to eat.”
Sales and discounts
If a desired gift is normally too expensive, waiting for a discount can make it more affordable. Students can take advantage of clearance sales, as well as special holiday discounts, like Cyber Monday.
Jessica Haddad, management major, sets a budget for how much money she’ll spend and purchases all of her gifts during notable discounts.
“I’d get it during Black Friday, so it’s on sale,” said Haddad.
National discount stores
Sometimes stores regularly sell cheap or affordable items. Stores like Dollar Tree,
Five Below and Family Dollar sell games, food, clothes and other items that are relatively inexpensive.
Mark–Anthony Bryan, graduate student in the sport science program, usually goes to these stores to find gifts he knows his family will like. “I would get a cooking book for my cousin because she loves cooking,” said Bryan. “I’ll find a really cheap video game for my other cousin, or toys for my baby cousins.”
Independent sellers
When buying from smaller stores and businesses, students can find unique items that they might not have found elsewhere. Many options from independent sellers are less expensive than items sold by larger stores.
Janelle Giannetta, senior English major, likes to shop online for unique and inexpensive gifts.
“I usually look up gift set options on Etsy,” Giannetta said. “They’re always affordable, come in cute packages and include a lot of tiny gifts with them.”
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