Happy Wednesday, folks! Remember that one time (my first blog post) where I said I would post every Wednesday? Well I’m letting you all know now that I cannot be trusted and will likely fail you all again in the future by posting on a random Monday instead. Call it a surprise or a let-down–either way, you have been warned.

On the bright side, I am back with something frugal (typical) and hopefully informative–a gift guide for poor college students like me! Everything listed below is under $30 and good combination of his and hers gifts so keep scrolling and check it out!

Pura Vida Jewelery

https://www.puravidabracelets.com/collections/all

Pura Vida is a great organization to buy a gift through because not only are you buying someone a cute and functional piece of jewelry, but you are also supporting a company that supports artisans and charities around the world. You can read Pura Vida’s story here to gain more information!

Bath and Body Works 3-Wick Candles

Good news–if you made it to the candle sale on December 1st, you could have bought 3 candles for almost the price of one ($8.95/each). If you didn’t make it to the candle sale, be sure to do it next year! It will save you a ton of money and they make a great gift for something like secret Santa. I personally recommend Mahogany Balsam and because I am a candle connoisseur, here is a fancy description of the scent: it smells like a hot lumberjack walked in to your living room carrying a Christmas tree. Need I say more?

Heated Car Blanket

Why waste gas heating your car up in the morning when you can waste your battery instead by heating up your blanket? Jokes aside, with the cold winters coming up, this would make a great and functional gift! As an added bonus, even if the heat function stops working, it still makes a great car blanket–something that everyone needs in their life!

Tapestry

Tapestries have been trendy the past couple of years and are relatively cheap on Amazon. The one posted above is just one of many! It is also the most expensive out of the sizes of that particular tapestry, so you could spend even less than $26, which is incredible (even if you’re not Christmas shopping on a budget).

Himalayan Salt Lamp

Let me start by saying that I LOVE my salt lamp. It is the perfect pink/orange glow for when I am trying to relax, and I can even adjust the brightness of the lamp (posted above). It would make a great gift for someone who needs some relaxing down time after the holiday’s are over. Plus at this price, you could go ahead and pick one up for yourself too!

Avocado Tree Starter Kit

So here’s the thing with this gift–the avocado pit AND the glass bowl aren’t included (it comes with 3 of the AvoSeedo’s) . However, it still would make a cool gift for someone with a green thumb and some love for avocados. Bonus points for you if he or she typically orders $15 avocado toast at brunch because this is the gift that keeps on giving (free avocados). Especially with the national avocado shortage–it might be time to start growing our own avocado trees.

Echo Dot

In case you don’t know what an Echo Dot is, it is an Amazon product that uses “Alexa” to do anything from playing music, to making phone calls, to controlling lights and door locks with other compatible devices. Even just as a speaker alone, it’s a great product, and it’s only $24.99 on Amazon right now (regularly $39.99).

BH Cosmetics Brush Set

If you are shopping for someone who has any interest in makeup, you should know that there is never a thing as too many brushes. I personally use this specific brush set every single day and it’s a steal at $16.50! Every time someone asks me for a recommendation on a certain type of brush, I end up recommending this entire set because a.) it likely has the type of brush they are looking for and b.) you get an entire set of nice brushes for what most other companies would charge for a single brush. Trust me–the makeup lover in your life will thank you for this.

Portable Charger

Ever been somewhere with no outlet and a dying phone? It’s inconvenient. And if you’re as broke as I am, you’re still using an Iphone 6 with a trash battery. To put it in perspective, I have to charge my phone anywhere from 3-5 times per day. So go get your friend or loved one a compact and portable charger to save them the pain that I deal with daily. Whether they have an Iphone 6 or an Iphone X, they will thank you.

Bathtub Tray

Back on to the topic of relaxation to close this gift guide: a bathtub tray. If you’re feeling fancy, maybe you could even throw in one of your $8.95 candles and a Lush bath bomb. This is once again the perfect gift for someone who has been stressed throughout the holidays, or stressed with life in general.

Hopefully this post helped ease some of the pain of holiday shopping and saves you all a couple bucks. I personally have not spent a single cent so far on Christmas gifts yet, so I’m off to a great start (**panic ensues**).

Update on my blog: throughout the month of December, I am thinking of taking a hiatus on my Favorite Hikes series and will continue that back up in January. I am going to focus this month more on Christmas/holiday related things because despite the stress, this is my favorite time of the year!

I hope you have all had a wonderful past couple of weeks and I’ll be back with another (promised) post next Wednesday!

-Katie

James 1:17 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning”