The holiday shopping season is in full swing which means parents all over the country are struggling to come up with Christmas gift ideas before their college students return home. Based on some gifts that I’ve received in the past, I realize that it can be hard to come up with good gift ideas for college students. (Does anyone need a MiniDisc player?) That’s why I’ve put together this short and simple list of 3 things every parent should know before they buy Christmas gifts for their college students.
1. Gift cards suck.
Gift cards suck, because college students prefer gifts that keep them from having to spend their own money. When someone gets you a gift card, you usually end up having to spend a little to a lot of your own money to buy something that you actually want. After years of experience with Best Buy gift cards throughout college, I’m older and wiser now. For a more thorough rant on gift cards, check out my article on 3 reasons why gift cards suck.
2. Your son/daughter changes.
As hard as some parents try to stay connected to their kids after they go off to college, change is inevitable. Your kids will grow out of things that interested them in the past and develop new interests that you don’t even know about. This is what makes it hard, if not impossible, to pick a good gift for your college kid without directly asking them what they want. If that still fails, then whatever you do, do not get them a gift card (see #1).
3. The solution is simple.
Like many problems in life, the solution is really simple, but we still struggle to solve the problem. In this case, the solution is one word — cash. The truth is broke college students love cash. If you’re one of those parents who feel that giving cash is too impersonal, then try looking at it this way. You aren’t just giving your college student the gift of money. You’re showing them that you trust them enough to spend it wisely. That’s definitely personal in my book.
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The real problem is that gifts in general are supposed to be indulgent, which is why you’re getting Best Buy cards all the time. Giving cash isn’t just impersonal; it’s not indulgent. What’s to stop the student from spending that money on rent? From the student’s perspective, it could actually help a lot. From the giver’s perspective, it’s weird to want to fund the basics instead of “getting them something nice.”
Gift cards to Amazon.com, as you mentioned in your other post, could be used for basics (textbooks!) or something nicer.
I disagree, I enjoy getting gift cards. Yes I understand that sometimes it can force you to spend more. Agree, but I usually would ask for a gift card to somewhere I want, knowing there is something I’m going to get. But like you say, the best is cash. Nothing beats having extra cash.
Craig
http://www.budgetpulse.com
I think that gift cards can be great gifts, as long as the giver knows what types of stores the reciever actually shops at. I also feel that when someone gives a gift card for a place they know I would shop, I know that they’re paying attention to my interests. Cash is definately easy and best if someone really has no clue about your spending habits. All my gamer friends tend to like gift cards for Amazon or a specific game store because they’re definately going to spend money there and it helps knock off the cost on something they might have waited to buy. In the sense that $50 for a game sucks but getting to pay $30 instead and not wait for 6 months is the sort of thing that they like.
That being said, I don’t like gift cards for $10 at a place where everything is 20+ is inappropriate especially when I don’t shop at the store and its something my mother-in-law does consitently. I’d rather get nothing but a hug and smile than gift for the sake of gift giving.
I’m a volunteer high school youth worker with my church and I know that a lot of “my kids” love to get rolls of quarters. Basically, they’re getting laundry and vending machine money. In the past I’ve even made little banks/coin purses that said “laundry money” and filled them with quarters. It’s amazing to see their eyes light up when they realize that they won’t have to scrounge for quarters (or dollar bills for the change machine) for a while.
Of course, this doesn’t work as well for those who are living at home or in apartments with their own washer and dryers or who are at the schools that have machines which take debit cards, but for those new freshmen at the little liberal arts college, quarters are like gold.
Here’s my tip – don’t buy the college kid a computer until you find out what the specifications are for the college network. Some colleges say “bring whatever you want,” others have a recommendation list so the students won’t run into compatibility problems.
Gift cards only suck when the person gets them with no idea of a good place to get one from. In other words, when they should have just gifted cash. However, to an avid reader, Barnes&Nobles/Borders/etc cards are golden. Get gift cards to somewhere that the person is going to shop anyway. If you don’t know if they shop there already, don’t do it.