17 Best Affordable Graduation Gifts You Can Snag for $50 or Less
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It’s been a long school year, but all those homework marathons and get-out-the-door routines are finally paying off. Cap and gown season is right around the corner, and your giddy high-school and college grads are no doubt stoked and ready to celebrate their accomplishments. And, of course, so are you. Luckily, you don’t have to break the bank to show how proud you are, so we’ve rounded up the best affordable graduation gifts that’ll still make them feel loved and rewarded.
Why affordable? Well, nailing a graduation gift requires a good deal of thought and healthy dose of heart, but it definitely doesn’t require breaking the bank. That’s why each of these graduation gifts is $50 or under.
Top 10 Affordable College Graduation Gifts, at a Glance
Best Overall: M&Ms, Graduation Gift Bottle, $50
For the Swiftie: The Tortured Poet’s Department on Vinyl, $40
For the Kid at Heart: Jenga, $16
Best No-Brainer: Stanley 40oz. Tumbler, $45
Punniest Gift: Etsy, One Degree Hotter Candle, $18
For the Memory Maker: Fujifilm, Fujicolor QuickSnap Flash 400 35mm Camera, $18 (was $26)
Best Practical Gift: Uncommon Goods, Fix It Kit, $30
Best Jewelry Gift: BaubleBar, Bubble Initial Necklace, $58
Best College Dorm Purchase: Magic Bullet, Mini Compact Blender, $20 (was $27)
Best Fragrance Gift: Anthropologie, Nostalgia Eau De Parfum, $24
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M&Ms, Graduation Gift Bottle with Personalized M&Ms
The pressure’s behind them, so it’s time for your graduate to pop the cork on this champagne-inspired bottle filled with chocolate instead of bubbly. Design a custom assortment of personalized M&Ms using your student’s school colors (or any three colors of your choice) and have the candies themselves stamped with images like the school mascot or meaningful messages by uploading original images and text or choosing from clip art. Sweet success, indeed!
Taylor Swift – The Tortured Poets Department [Ghosted White 2 LP]
Who’s afraid of little old them? Well, everyone should be! They’re a grad now, and the world is their oyster. Surprise and delight the Swiftie in your life with this all-white, aesthetically stunning vinyl copy of Taylor Swift’s newest buzzed-about album, The Tortured Poet’s Department, which is definitely already on repeat on their Spotify playlist. Physical copies like this one, though, feature a bonus track by the beloved pop star. It shouldn’t be more than a fortnight or two before you get to see your grad’s eyes light up.
Jenga Game
If you’re celebrating a kid who’s headed off to college this fall, believe us when we tell you they’ll be the toast of the dorm if they’ve got a game of Jenga on hand. This iconic game is consistently the life of the party and responsible for endless hours of edge-of-your-seat entertainment. Jenga is simply a rite of passage!
Stanley Quencher H2.0 FlowState Tumbler – 40 oz.
Does your graduate stan the Stanley cup? Who doesn’t?! This latest design has winner written all over it (actually, it has Stanley written all over it, but still), and it’s the perfect trophy of sorts for your hard worker. The famous 40-ouncer will keep them hydrated through a long, hot summer, and of course it’s a stainless steel vacuum-insulated tumbler, so their water will stay refreshingly ice cold.
One Degree Hotter Candle
If you’ve got a smartypants on your hands, they probably adore anything tongue-in-cheek, and this One Degree Hotter candle is just too much pun! On a serious note, it’s also vegan and non-toxic, made of soy and without harmful pthalates, and it comes in four fragrance options ranging from floral to fruity.
Fujifilm Fujicolor QuickSnap Flash 400 35mm Camera
Remember this? Everything old is new again (well, more like everything old is eventually a novelty), but this Fujifilm disposable camera is a stark reminder for your grad that there was once a time when we couldn’t preview the picture after we took it — we just had to see what developed. A perfect metaphor for the future ahead…or just a cute way to capture the graduation party shenanigans.
Uncommon Goods, Fix-It Kit
Life happens, but when they’ve got a hammer, screwdriver, LED light and more tools on hand, emergencies become a lot more manageable. This Fix-It Kit is a portable treasure trove inside of a compact vegan leather case.
Baublebar Bubble Initial Necklace
Your student is surely seeing this Baublebar bubble necklace all over their TikTok For You page, so gift them the trending gold accessory customized with their initial in either gold, silver or crystal pavé — the last one being a knock-off of a bauble Hailey Beiber made famous. The hypoallergenic necklace is cool on its own or part of a stack.
Smathers & Branson Needlepoint Luggage Tag – Crossed Clubs
Celebrate their extracurricular activities and their thirst for travel with one precious gift: this golf-themed needlepoint luggage tag. The Italian leather accessory is handstitched using French cotton thread, and it’s monogrammable for an extra fee. American flag and White Lab designs are available too.
Mason Desktop Organizing Collection
We’re nothing short of obsessed with this minimalist stonewear desk organizing set from Pottery Barn, which looks expensive but is less than $40. The kiln-fired pieces blend with any home office decor and help studious college kids or new remote workers feel organized and productive.
Nostalgia Eau De Parfum by Anthrolpologie – Summer Vacation
Anthropologie’s Nostalgia line of perfumes pay homage to life’s most dreamy scenarios like beach trips, golden hour and slow dances. But it’s Summer Vacation that’s perfectly apropos for graduation — an Italian summer vacation, no less. The scent is inspired by a summer in Sicily with notes of orange, ylang ylang and sea salt.
Magic Bullet Mini 14 oz. Compact Personal Blender
This compact personal Magic Bullet blender is just the thing for fitness and nutrition fans, letting them whip up a 14-ounce smoothie or protein shake with ease, either at home or in a dorm. They can also blend, mix, chop and pulse any number of snacks, like guacamole, soup and salad dressing.
Mermade Hair, Heatless Curls Kit
Getting a bouncy coif without using damaging heat tools is very in right now, and this bizarre-looking yet effective Heatless Curls Kit is definitely on your graduate’s radar. All they do is wrap their hair around these accessories that are made of Mulberry silk, which goes oh-so gentle on delicate strands, then go to sleep and wake up gorgeous. Every day will be a good hair day.
More is More by Molly Baz
Give your college grad their first grown-up cookbook. And this isn’t just any cookbook, it’s Bon Appetit alum Molly Baz’s More is More, a collection of impressive, not-super-hard-to achieve twists on classics, like Drunken Cacio e Pepe, and The Only Meatloaf That Matters. Plus, it’ll look good on their new coffee table.
Carpe Every Diem : The Best Graduation Advice from More Than 100 Commencement Speeches
This hardcover book that rallies all the best snippets from all the best commencement speeches from all the best speakers at all the best colleges and universities (whew!) includes pearls of wisdom from Barack Obama, Gloria Steinem, George Saunders and even Kermit the Frog! Gems like “make good art” and “be Santa Claus when you can” will encourage graduates to look at the world in new and bold ways.
Dash, Mini Waffle Maker
This mini waffle maker makes the best little waffles in a jiffy. It’s easy to use, and it’s small kitchen-friendly. Thanks to its non-stick surface, you don’t have to worry a ton about clean-up, either. Make waffle, or get creative and cook up some hash browns, biscuits, or cookies.
JBL Vibe Buds
These JBL ear buds are known for delivering top-notch audio, including deep bass, while sealing out external noise and protecting against water, sweat and dust. Grads can also call home hands-free, and if they need to be aware of their surroundings, they can quickly turn off the noise canceling feature.