Birthdays, Anniversaries, Valentines Day, Chinese New Year and Weddings are events that people typically give gifts to friends and families. There are various types of gifts such as Hong Bao (a red packet filled with money) on Chinese New Year, Bouquet of Flowers, Personalized Gifts–socks, makeup and birthday cards–and Recreational Gifts. As students, we don’t have all the money in the world. This means we have a small and tight student budget to buy gifts for our friends and families. And so for everyone on a student budget, here are some tips on where and how you can buy affordable gifts in Singapore.
Anything From Daiso
The notorious Daiso, well-known for their cheap $2 prices (sometimes some items ranging from $2 to $5) is the perfect place if you want to splurge on cheap yet good quality Japanese products such as candles, snacks, socks, stationery, kitchenware and even makeup as great presents for your friends and family.
Food Items
Making delicious treats for your loved ones can be a great way to show how much you appreciate them through some warm baked goods. Cherry-Almond Fudge, Cake Pops, Chocolate Chip Cookies and Christmas-flavored Bark in Candy Cane, Hot Chocolate, Pecan Pie, and many more flavors, are the perfect baked goods to share with family and friends.
DIY Gifts
Even if you have beginner to advanced skills in the Do It Yourself category, I would suggest that DIY’s are the best gifts to give anyone. Simply, these gifts can be personalized for anyone ranging from the scent to the decorations placed on the gift. And by making DIY gifts, you can improve your DIY skills and save a good amount of money, especially being on a student budget.
Socks, Socks, Socks and More Socks
Socks are the best accessory to spice up an outfit, make an outfit unique to oneself or even just keep your feet warm and snuggled during the harsh rainings seasons. Personally, I think that socks are a great gift to give anyone because each and every pair of socks screams the personality of an individual. And gifting socks is another way to personalize a gift since you can buy and select socks that would match an individual’s personality.
The Taboo on Regifting
There definitely is a stigma towards regifting one person’s gift to another person. But being on a student budget, buying gifts can be expensive for some people. Sometimes, old unpersonalized gifts that have been sitting untouched in your house for ages such as Gift Cards, Board Games, Keychains and even Candles can be great gifts for regifting. Of course, you should remember not to regift personalized gifts that were made or bought especially for you, as you wouldn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.
Minimalist to Over-The-Top Jewelry
Minimalist Jewelry has become a popular trend in 2018, with people wearing thin gold or silver hoop earrings and delicate necklaces with small pendants on them. This minimalist jewelry can be a great gift for those who love to accessorize their outfit without the jewelry looking too “flashy”. But there are people who love their jewelry to be the “center of attention” of their entire outfit. And buying cute matching “Best Buds” Necklaces (such as the Milk and Cookies Necklace above) could make an outfit more vibrant and it becomes a more personalized gift that suits their style.
Black Friday Shopping
Ah, Black Friday Shopping! What an amazing time to stroll around malls to find the best sales and deals. Well no, that is simply a dream. In reality, Black Friday Shopping could be an Earth-like version of Hell — if you don’t enjoy big crowds, people touching you constantly, screaming, crying kids, more screaming, and just plain chaos, then Black Friday Shopping isn’t for you. But with modern day technology such as online shopping, the experience of Black Friday Shopping has become less of a hassle and more of a breeze. With the constant struggle between money and students, sales have become our best friend. And with many online stores having 30% to 70% sales during Black Friday (and Cyber Monday too) on all their products, you can start shopping right after Thanksgiving to buy great products for your friends and family, for a fraction of its original price.
