If we are being honest, I think a lot of millennials/college students/new grads/20-somethings would all say they just want cash if you ask them what they want as a gift. But sometimes money isn’t the most appropriate thing (maybe it’s a gift swap or a gift for a significant other or maybe you just hate giving cash). Or you just simply want to give something more “thoughtful” or “from the heart”. I know I am occasionally at a loss shopping for people, so I thought creating more gift guides on the blog might be helpful–especially as the holidays are coming up!
Unless the person has specifically expressed an interest in a particular item, I always find it’s best to avoid things like perfume, clothing, and jewelry. I tried to find a balance of things for both guys and gals for this gift guide, but if you have any gift ideas: feel free to leave in the comments to help out others who are searching last minute for gifts! And if you have requests for other gift guides– let me know!
I divided it up by under $20, under $50, under $100, and $100+ so that you can have ideas for whoever you’re shopping for and whatever budget!
I personally love the idea of doing one that may be related to their hometown/state, a city you might have in common/memories from, etc.
I love this Virginia one from Etsy (a 8×10 print is $20) because G and I met in Virginia and went to school there! The seller makes every other state (like our current state of North Carolina) and also a bunch of major cities.
Some good books to grab are Where the Crawdads Sing, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, Little Fires Everywhere, or The Alchemist. If they are the kind of person who can’t sit down longer than an hour to read, you can gift them with an Audible subscription so that they can listen to audio-books while traveling or commuting to work.
I LOVE this one from Amazon. Not only does the name “Smell My Nuts” always make people laugh, but it smells incredible! Plus at under $15, its a great deal!
Some great games you could get are Dude, Exploding Kittens, Drunk Stoned or Stupid, and Werewolf.
(If you’re willing to spend a little over $20, What Do You Meme and Cards Against Humanity are always a hit too!)
I’m literally always misplaying my keys, and having a tile can quickly solve that issue!
I like this one from Anthropologie that you could get with their monogram for $12. You could buy a bag of local coffee or tea to go along with it.
If the person you are gifting for is a beer fan, this is like a fancy coozie that keeps your beer super cold! I have one and love it for lake days, tailgating, the beach, and BBQs. If the person you are gifting for isn’t a beer person but maybe drinks more of the hard seltzers in the slim cans, they also make a Brumate for that!
Not only would this bar kit look really nice on a counter, but it could be a lot of fun if the person you are gifting for enjoys cocktails, a classic old-fashioned, or just enjoys hosting people and could get use out of some bar tools to make drinks for friends. You could also gift the person with a bottle of their favorite liquor to go with this bar kit!
These are both the same kind of thing and both are the same exact price. I personally own a google nest mini (only had it for a couple weeks) and I really like it. They both stream music, are a “personal assistant”, etc., so I don’t think you could really go wrong with either. It’s also a bluetooth speaker so it can double as that.
KanJam was a game we LOVED in college and still love to this day. It’s a lot of fun to take to the beach, tailgating, or just to play at home when we have friends over.
Kind of similar to the under $20 option of a print to remind them of their home state/city/current home–you could do something even more personalized by picking a spot that means something to them and having it sketched. This artist does amazing work, and I think it could mean so much to your gift recipient.
I think this is such a fun idea! You can give a gift card to Winc for a minimum amount of $60 which should get them a box of 4 wines tailored to their specific tastes.
If the person you are gifting for is a big coffee fan, this could be a great idea! A three month subscription sends the recipient 1 pound of special batch coffee a month and the type they send changes monthly. It is $65 for a three month gift subscription.
I’m either putting these PowerBeats or AirPods on my personal Christmas list this year because I personally have a pair of cheap wireless headphones that are falling apart and I HAVE to listen to music while working out. These are highly rated and great quality.
When I was in college (which was not that long ago), everyone I knew had a hammock. And we still use ours! To me, there is nothing more relaxing than setting up my hammock on a nice day and going outside to read a book. ENO Hammocks are really well made (Garrett and I both have our own) and are perfect for outdoorsy people who love camping, or people who just want to relax outside.
If you’re gifting for someone who LOVES movies and has a Regal Cinemas near them, gifting them with an unlimited movie pass is a great idea! It starts at $18 a month and they can see as many movies as they want while they have the pass. It’s kind of like a gift that keeps on giving and they can constantly enjoy throughout the year.
Pretty much everyone has an iPhone, and these headphones sync seamlessly with an iPhone. They are completely wire free which is really nice and charge in their case.
If the person you are shopping for is like me (up until a couple years ago) and is still using the cheap, old coffee maker that they have been using since college, maybe it is time to upgrade them! This Keurig has a pot for when you’re making coffee for a large group and want to use group coffee from a bag, and also an individual side for if you want to make just one cup and use a k-cup.
I LOVE traveling, and my husband and I love to take our GoPro to our different destinations. We actually got one as a wedding present and we have so much fun using it! Video can capture an experience so much more candidly than a picture can. Using your phone for video is awesome, but using a GoPro is much easier. Plus you can take it underwater!
We bought this exact robot vacuum a few years ago and it still works great! It’s cheaper than a Roomba, but gets the job done just as well (in my opinion). We still have a normal vacuum and use it primarily upstairs but only have to use it downstairs every couple of weeks to do a deeper clean. For the most part, this guy gets just about everything! It just makes life a little bit easier so that I can sit down and blog or do homework for an hour, while technology cleans for me.
(P.S. if you buy anything through certain links, I may earn a small commission that helps support my little blog! Thanks!)
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