30 Gifts Under 20 Dollars

Last Minute Gift Ideas » 30 Gifts Under 20 Dollars

• Easy to find (directions included!)
• Appropriate for nearly anyone
• Useful
• $20 or less

Ok, let's get to it:

1. Lottery Tickets. They're easy to find (gas station or grocery store), fun and different, and you can spend exactly what you want. Especially good for hard-to-buy-for friends. Put them right in the card or wrap them with a ribbon.
2. Amazon.com gift certificate. You can email it to them or print to your computer.
3. A Starbucks gift certificate. Kids can use it for hot chocolate and muffins.
4. iTunes gift certificate, good for music or apps.
5. Texting gloves. So you can text while keeping your fingers warm. (See right.)
6. A colorful throw pillow.
7. A good cigar.
8. A Magazine Subscription. For as little as $8, it's a gift that says "thanks" every month! Buy a magazine related to one's area of interest, stick a bow on it and attach a note saying: "11 more on the way". Or browse magazine gifts under 20 dollars here.
9. Coasters.
10. Mittens. I'm always losing mine.
11. A bouquet of flowers. Costco has huge ones for $15 or of course you can have flowers delivered.
12. Wine. There are lots of decent wines for under $20. The best selections of budget wine you can run out and get NOW are at Costco, Trader Joe's, and Cost Plus. Or just send them something via Wine.com.
13. An umbrella. I'm always losing mine.
14. Earrings or a cool bracelet.
15. A pretty bottle topper.
16. A Baseball cap... for a favorite sports team. If it's a local team you should be able to find one just about anywhere, or else try the mall. Most have whole stores devoted to baseball caps, or else get one from a clothing store your gift subject likes such as Abercrombie or The Gap.
17. Board Games. I like Twister or Yahtzee because they're good family and/or party games. Or a deck of cards along with a book of card games. That's like 20 fun gifts under 20 dollars.
18. A plant in a pretty pot.
19. A stylish serving platter.
20. A cocktail set.
21. A Candle. You can find them at Target, the drugstore, your grocery store, or any little boutique-y store nearby. It will probably be ready to present as-is, or else tie a ribbon around it or have the store put it in a little gift bag with tissue paper.
22. Kitchen Gadgets. Go to Bed Bath & Beyond and spend your 20 on one "big" thing like a digital cooking thermometer (I LOVE mine) or scoop up several little items with a theme like Baking: cake tester ($1), measuring spoons ($3), cookie scoop ($8), oven mitt ($3), and small cookie tin or jar or cookbook ($5).
23. A stuffed animal.
24. A small but high-quality bottle of liquor.
25. Beauty-related things. Go to Sephora or Ulta and ask someone there. They have tons of products, lots of ideas, and almost all of them are packaged adorably.
26. Stationery. This works for men or women, kids or adults, and can be found very last minute at a drugstore, Target, even some higher-end grocery stores.
27. Coffee. I just love gifting coffee. Assuming your target is a coffee drinker, they can use it any time of day, any time of year. Whether you give a gift card or the real deal, it's one of my favorite picks for last minute gifts under 20 dollars.
28. Candy. You must have a See's or a Fannie May nearby. Use it!
29. Home-baked anything. Bread, cookies, scones, muffins... make bake it and take it. You're done. Here is my favorite last minute cookie recipe. It has just 4 ingredients and takes like 20 minutes from start to finish. It calls for chocolate cake mix but you can use whatever flavor you have on hand.

    Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

    • 1 package chocolate cake mix
    • 1/2 cup butter, softened
    • 2 eggs
    • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

    1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
    2. Mix together cake mix, butter and eggs until smooth and well blended. Mix in the chocolate chips. Drop by spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets.
    3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

    If none of those gifts under 20 dollars did it for you, here are a couple more:

30. Anything listed on the Hostess Gift Ideas page on this site.

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