8 Practical and Affordable Gift Ideas for Graduates

We all know how student life is: lack of time for our personal goals, money shortage, and inadequate freedom due to our parents’ rules. After graduation, the newly graduate must have already earned some personal courage as well as their parents’ trust. Now is the time to stop all the “what ifs,” click that “Continue” button online, and book that flight.

A travel journal can help you trace every location you’ll set foot in. Aside from electronic gadgets, a journal would be very helpful in documenting every story you’ll encounter on your way to places you’ve never been. A travel journal would definitely be a new grad’s new handy buddy.

Almost half of the graduating class might consider getting a desk job. Giving them a customised tumbler can help them ease the stress during their 8-5 office work. Put their name, a photo that might inspire them, or words of wisdom that will encourage them to get through the day.

Teach them the value of money and how to save up for the future by helping them open their own bank account. Even if you consider them (or their parents) financially stable as of the moment, it’s always an advantage for anyone to have back-up cash in case of an unforeseen event.

A new graduate might find adult life to be dreadful especially when the daily office work starts. You can’t get enough time to wake up early, get yourself a hot cup of coffee, or boil some water for a warm bath. Giving the graduate an electric kettle would be a smart move. This one-press kitchen staple is reliable regardless of the season and is very easy to bring anywhere. Hence, it makes preparing coffee, tea and instant noodles faster and more convenient.

College graduates might have a seemingly love-hate relationship with coffee after all those projects, theses and other school requirements they needed to comply before receiving their much-awaited diploma. Apparently, the need for daily coffee fix never ends in school as coffee is an essential part of every worker’s desk to stay awake while finishing their work loads. Now that coffee runs in their bloodstream, giving them a coffee maker is such a wonderful idea. Tell them they can now ditch the daily instant coffee and indulge themselves in freshly brewed coffee! Yes?

Commuters usually immerse themselves in good music to escape the reality while stuck in Metro Manila’s terrible traffic. This wireless music headphone can be the graduate’s favorite company on his way to work. They can travel in style and save time re-assembling the wire when craving for some good melody. More than that, sound tripping goads them to be more productive at work and study.

Ignite the inner writer in them by giving them a personalized journal. Buy a plain journal and put designs onto it—add a touch of the recipient’s personality to make it more intimate. This gift idea would be frugal but the item will surely be treasured by the graduate.

It’s a common joke in the Philippines that if someone always carries a backpack, he/she is Dora the Explorer—that famous cartoon character who loves going to different places together with her talking backpack. So if you can’t give the new graduates in your life a plane ticket, you can give them a backpack instead! That would be a sign of encouragement for them to start ticking off places in their travel bucket list.