Is this one of those years that you have lots of graduation gifts to buy? Your niece, your neighbor, your son, his friends…the list is growing!
Are graduation announcements arriving in your mailbox daily?
Is your wallet screaming for mercy?
No worries…The Budget Diet girl has plenty of ideas for cheap and cheerful graduation gifts that are clever and thoughtful without screaming “cheap”!
Care Package
Do you remember the first care package you received in college? Those homemade chocolate chip cookies? Sharing with your roommate?
Make a special memory for a high school grad by letting them know that you’ll be sending them their first college care package! Don’t forget to mark it on your calendar and then be ready to bake, pack & ship come September! This has been my “go-to” gift for years, and it's always a hit! Check out a few of my favorite care package recipes.
Photo Books or Photo Collage Posters
Gather up photos to bring back memories, and turn them into a photo book or photo collage. You can upload your photos in minutes, and later today Walgreen's will have your 8 x 10 photo collage ready for less than $5. Pick up an inexpensive frame and you've got a cheap and cheerful graduation gift. Artsy graduate? Take photos of their artwork and put together a photo book!
Candy Can
Who wouldn't love to get a can full of candy? It certainly falls in the cheap and cheerful category! The poem on the can is priceless, and references each type of candy inside. I've reprinted the poem below, so you don't have to pull out your reading glasses!
After completing mounds of homework and piecing together all of your knowledge, you've finally hit payday: GRADUATION!
As you head off to college, don't listen to any snickers: you are no dum dum, you're one hot tamale on your way to making 100 grand!
Congratulations on your graduation smartie!
The Naked Roommate
From sharing a bathroom with 40 strangers to sharing lecture notes, The Naked Roommate is your behind-the-scenes look at EVERYTHING you need to know about college (but never knew you needed to know).
Trader Joe's College Cookbook
There comes a time when every college student is tired of dining hall food and pizza. This cookbook is full of easy recipes you can make in your dorm room with a microwave…how simple is that!
Oh The Places You'll Go
Dr. Seuss's wonderfully witty graduation speech never goes out of style! You'll really WOW your grad if you take the time to have teachers from over the years write notes in the book.
What are your favorite Cheap and Cheerful Graduation Gifts?
Did you cover the back of the can or just leave it plain? Super cute idea. Thanks
Deb – You can do it either way. You can print the poem on a legal size page and wrap it around or you can leave it one sided if the can already has some pattern or decorated. You can also put a $5 or $10 on the other side! It depends on how far you want to take it 🙂
I’m probably overlooking it but what did you use for the PIECING??
Hi Lynn – It was Reese’s Pieces.
Now that I have a graduate who’s been through one year of college, the thing he most appreciated was cash. Sad but true. Paying college bills, getting the dorm up fitted, etc. all cost money — which he sorely needed. Creative cash giving is possible.
He got a brown paper bag from one friend. Inside — NO JOKE — was a wrapped hamburger bun sandwiching $10 (10 $1 bills). There was a sticker on the wrapper that said, “A little lettuce sandwich to get you going.” Very memorable. 🙂
What a fun idea, and creative ways to give cash are always a hit!
These are great ideas and I think a homemade/handmade gift is lovely. Now, if only I were a baker!!
That is so perfect. I love the candy can and the care package gift. PERFECT!!!
Cute ideas! 🙂
Thank you for sharing these gift ideas. After all who can pass up food or candy.