7 Frugal Graduation Gift Ideas

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7 Frugal Graduation Gift Ideas

Happy graduation day! Wait, that’s not right. You’re buying a graduation gift, aren’t you? Graduation is one of those things that only comes around once, maybe two or three times in a person’s life and each one should be celebrated more so than the others (simply because each one requires more work to get there). While you may want to present your graduate with an awesome gift, you should know that you don’t have to spend a ton of money to do that. There are a few ways you can gift, but stay in your budget easily. These 7 frugal graduation gift ideas are a great place to start.

Gift them the stars – Give your graduate the stars by having a star named after them. This will run you somewhere around $50.00 or so. Add a cute card and write a personal message where you tell them to “reach for the stars.” It may sound cheesy, I’m here to tell you that some of the most memorable gifts often are.

Up All Night – Grab a cute basket and some tissue paper from the dollar store and put together a coffee themed gift basket for them. You could include several types and flavors of coffee, a special mug (stay away from anything graduate themed so they’ll want to continue using it), some homemade chocolate spoons or homemade biscotti and a card with a cute message. If they’re headed to college, they’ll thank you for this when finals roll around.

Feed Yourself – College students are notorious about eating badly so if you’re looking for a gift that they will appreciate? Feed them. Grab a beverage tote and fill it with a couple of cute bowls and plates and some budget friendly flatware. Then, add in their favorite non-perishable foods so that those late night stud sessions aren’t all about potato chips and other unhealthy snacks.

Straight from the heart – If the graduate is your own child, sit down and write them a long letter. Make sure to include how proud you are of them, what they mean to you and of course, things you wish you had known at their age. If you’ve written them letters in the past, consider putting them as well as the new one into a binder or scrapbook for them to look back on when being homesick hits.

Organized Gifting – No matter whether your graduate is entering college for the first time, going onto finish a higher degree or entering the workforce, they’ll need to be organized. Put together a small gift basket of things to help them. You could include a daily planner, address book, notebooks, pens, paper, watch, a small flash drive and maybe even a labeler. They’ll appreciate it when the time comes for them to need it.

Spirit Gifting – If they have already chosen their college, grab them a few items to show their school spirit with. Clocks, posters, slippers and hats are typically budget friendly, but you can also find hoodies, shirts and other items at great sale prices if you look carefully. To make this gift even better, stuff the items in a duffle bag or suitcase with a “Bon Voyage” sticker on it.

Take Care of Yourself – Money is often very tight for new graduates so helping them out goes a long way. Pack them together a gift basket with things like razors, shampoo, soap, and deodorant. Also be sure you include a few first aid items like Ibuprofen, Band-Aids, Pepto tablets and the like. For females, stay away from items that could be considered embarrassing (and because those items are typically a woman’s personal preference). To take this gift one step further, make a second smaller travel version for them if they’ll be taking a road trip shortly after graduation.

Graduation gifts don’t need to break your budget and they don’t have to be flashy gifts that out do everyone else. The ones that will be remembered are the ones that they actually get use out of. If you don’t like any of these ideas, use them as a jumping off point for your own creativity to give an awesome, but frugal graduation gift.