With Halloween being over, we know what that means: put up the Christmas tree and start caroling. Along with the food, family, and movies Christmas comes with gifts! The giving and receiving of gifts is so different once you’re in college. Sometimes your family begins to expect more once you hit college age. This can be hard to budget since as college students we’re usually on a tight budget. A trick I learned is to buy all the gift in the summer and just save them until Christmas! A majority of us have summer jobs anyways and that is when we have the most disposable income so it just makes things easier. And if you wait for Amazon Day you can get some Black Friday prices. No matter when you buy your gifts, you should of course set a budget. If you have three people to buy gifts for and you only want to spend $100 stick to that budget. Sometimes the budget gets distributed differently (maybe you spend $50 on your mom, $30 on s/o, and $20 on your sibling) but you can make it work.
Money & Gift Card
This one is obvious. Money can be used on anything. Textbooks for the spring semester, groceries, just to have money to go out with our friends. And gift cards, even though more limited, are just as useful. Whether it’s to the local grocery store or your favorite place to shop for shoes, gift cards are definitely the next best thing to money.
“Adult” Clothes
One thing you don’t realize you don’t have until you need it are business professional clothes. This something every college student definitely needs. Whether it’s for an organization you are a part of or you have an interview coming up for an internship everyone should have some professional staples: slacks in muted colors (black, gray, and khaki), a white button up shirt, and a blazer (ladies should consider also having a black dress).
Kitchen appliances
This is definitely my favorite thing to get because I love to cook. If you’re in a dorm without a kitchen this doesn’t apply as much. Things like pots and pans or knives don’t come with kitchens, they have to be bought separately and they can get expensive. Whether you’re a self-proclaimed at home chef or you cook strictly to survive everyone needs the basics: pot & pans, knives, plates & silverware. The best part about getting the stuff for Christmas while in college is when you finally move into your first real apartment, you won’t have to spend any of your own money!
Car Maintenance
Having a car is great until something goes wrong or basic maintenance needs to be done. Maybe you need a paint job or your tires are bald. This is where good ole’ Santa Claus comes in. though certain things can get expensive, even if your parents are willing to help you offset some of the cost, this is one thing you should take advantage of.
*For those without cars, maybe you’ll get one for Christmas (fingers crossed)
Electronics
The worst thing is when your laptop breaks in the middle semester so you are forced to stop procrastinating and do your homework ahead of time on campus computers. Christmas is a good time to convince your parent to buy you a new one (or at least pay for part of it). Things like laptops, tablets speakers, tvs, etc are all things that are almost always expensive but around Christmas they usually go on sale so even if it’s a reach might as well put it on the list!
Whether you exchange gifts or not, don’t forget to enjoy the holiday!