This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at St Olaf chapter.
Though I don’t think consumerism is wonderful, I do think the holidays are. It’s a great time to appreciate Mother Nature’s freezing cold beauties, give joy and sugary things to people you love and celebrate whatever you choose to with traditions, decorations, music, and things that smell like pine. Sure we are college students on a limited budget, but that doesn’t mean you can’t show holiday spirit and join in on the festivities! Here are a few ways to give gifts, decorate, and celebrate the season that will likely save you money.
- Wrap your gifts in newspaper. Honestly, wrapping paper is debatably one of the most useless things we purchase during the holidays. You buy it to rip it up, though the presentation is admittedly nice. This year wrap your gifts in recycled newspaper instead or just hold it behind your back before you give it away.
- Buy the elastic ribbon to make festive hair ties for you and your friends. You may not have much festive clothing, but consider making these cool bracelets turned hair ties to add some holiday spice to your attire (lolz). All you need to buy is the ribbon, cut them to the size and throw them everywhere for all your friends to receive.
- PILLSBURY PRE-MADE COOKIES!!!! These are so good and festive and cheap, easy to make, tasty and yummy.
- Give your friends a gift in coupon form. If your friend really likes massages, give her a pass for one free massage in the next month. Same could go for a caf date, netflix session, or spa night. You know your friends best, so give them an IOU for something free that they really enjoy and maybe haven’t been able to do thanks to finals.
- Are mixed tapes out of style? Compile a bunch of your favorite holiday songs or just songs that make you think of memories with a certain friend, and burn them a CD, share a Spotify playlist with them or send them a file via email. Better yet, you and your friends could all download this playlist and listen to it on separate devices (with headphones) in the same room and have an awkward silent dance party. Unrelated but also very important idea.
Any of these ideas sound appealing? These are just a few ways to give gifts to your friends that won’t break the bank.