By Madison Fessler and Dylan Lux / Jambar Contributors
Finding affordable gifts for family and friends for holidays, birthdays or special occasions can be difficult for many college students.
Rayvin Gorrell, Youngstown State University senior anthropology major, said crafting can be a great source for gifts.
“If you have time, there are crafts like crocheting where you can get [supplies] on sale at JOANN Fabrics to do crocheting or knitting,” Gorrell said.
Making cards, paintings, a scrapbook page or a mood board does not require a lot of materials and is easy to individualize.
Gorrell said taking the time to make a meaningful gift is better than buying something.
“Just being creative and thoughtful and intentional with your gifts, no matter how much you spend on it, is what most people care about,” Gorrell said.
Other staff members at YSU have had memorable and cheap gift ideas from their times in college.
Ryan McNicholas, director of Andrews Student Recreation and Wellness Center, remembered an idea he had that cost no money at all.
“When I was a broke college student, I gave my wife a coupon book of things I would do around the house — clean, do dishes, wash her car — things like that,” McNicholas said. “It didn’t cost me any money, but it was really appreciated.”
Wilson Corbisello, a senior multimedia communication major, said he spent no more than $10 on a gift for his parents, allowing him to showcase activities they do as a family.
“One of my favorite things to do with [my parents] is go to the movies, so I printed out our tickets of the movies we went to for the year and put them in a little book that I bought for $5,” Corbisello said. “I printed the tickets on campus completely free, and my parents really appreciated that.”
Dan McCormick, studio coordinator and broadcast engineer at YSU, said one of his favorite cost-effective gifts came from his children.
“A few Father’s Days ago, my kids surprised me with ice cream for breakfast because they know how much I like ice cream,” McCormick said. “Instead of getting me a gift, they had all these ice cream [flavors] that they made, and now it’s become a tradition.”
