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frugal gift ideas for a teen boy  

post #1 of 19
10/25/06 at 8:02pm
Thread Starter 
My brother's b-day is next month and I scored two Ts from Old Navy for $2 each. But I need to have his Christmas gift ready early too.

He'll be 16, plays football, video games, and is somewhat into cooking.

Ideas?
post #2 of 19
10/25/06 at 8:36pm
a magazine subscription? that's what we give my nephews every year -- the oldest gets sports illustrated, the next gets a football one, #3 gets a baseball one, #4 gets national geographic kids and the youngest gets . . . . not ranger rick but something like that. cheap, gives them something all year, and is tailored to their interests. : )
or if he wants to improve/learn more about cooking, maybe a couple of cookbooks from the thrift store? ours always has a ton of really great ones.
post #3 of 19
10/25/06 at 9:07pm
For my ds' 13th birthday, I gave him a "Book of Breaks" - a coupon book of various things for him - on the cover, it said that every teen needs a break now and again. It included a movie date, an ice cream date, covering his dog sitting job for him for several times, a day of pure laziness (i.e. as many videos and/or videogames as he wanted), that sort of thing. He loved it.
post #4 of 19
10/25/06 at 9:18pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by opally View Post
For my ds' 13th birthday, I gave him a "Book of Breaks" - a coupon book of various things for him - on the cover, it said that every teen needs a break now and again. It included a movie date, an ice cream date, covering his dog sitting job for him for several times, a day of pure laziness (i.e. as many videos and/or videogames as he wanted), that sort of thing. He loved it.
I'll recommend that to my mom. We live 2000 miles away so it won't work for us .
post #5 of 19
10/25/06 at 11:41pm
I made pillows for my teen brother out of cool thrift store T-shirts. He has them piled on his bed & they look pretty cool!
post #6 of 19
10/26/06 at 10:27am
We like to give magazine subscriptions, too. It's a little present that they get all year round.
post #7 of 19
10/26/06 at 10:44am

Since he's into cooking...

how about some kitchen gadgets? Some things I'd like for cooking are bamboo spatula, good pastry brushes, candy thermometer (good for lots of things). If you can, check out the cooking people on TV and see what gadgets they use. Or a good saute' pan.
post #8 of 19
10/26/06 at 12:38pm
We've used www.bestdealmagazines.com/ for gift subscriptions, so far (about 12 different magazines) we haven't had any problems.
post #9 of 19
10/26/06 at 1:49pm
How much do video games cost? If he already has the hardware, is the software that expensive? (Can you tell I haven't bought this kind of stuff since I was a teenager? )

Well, since you got him 2 t-shirts, you could always give him one for his birthday and the other for Christmas.
post #10 of 19
10/26/06 at 1:50pm
What about writing down some recipes for him and giving him a special herb or seasoning to go with the recipes?

I have a 17year old brother and he got something along those lines for christmas one year. He really liked it .
post #11 of 19
10/26/06 at 2:25pm
the cooking theme is cool - I may try to figure out something like that for my nephew.
post #12 of 19
10/26/06 at 3:46pm
Legos from www.bricklink.com (buy used and save $$$) ?
post #13 of 19
10/26/06 at 3:57pm
Not sure a 16 year old will still play with legos...

I would maybe do a video game if they are cheap, is ther a movie theatre nearby where you could send your mom money and have her get him some passes. Or see if there is a cooking class coming up and pay for him to do that.
post #14 of 19
10/26/06 at 3:58pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruthla View Post
How much do video games cost? If he already has the hardware, is the software that expensive? (Can you tell I haven't bought this kind of stuff since I was a teenager? )

Well, since you got him 2 t-shirts, you could always give him one for his birthday and the other for Christmas.
The games cost about $20-40 more than I want to spend.

I'm giving the gifts to him at the same time so I'd rather it be two different things but it did cross my mind!
post #15 of 19
10/27/06 at 5:39pm
Word Sense is a game like Scrabble but faster paced with a letter feeder that is gimmicky and hence feels special or at least different. It's $10. Check it out here http://www.thinkfun.com/

Gotta say, teens are tough and under 20 is tough too.
post #16 of 19
10/28/06 at 3:40pm
Used video games are a fraction of the original price. In our area the main stores that sell used games and have an actual storefront are EB Games and GameStop.
Also, half.com, ebay.com, and amazon.com sell used games with half.com usually being the cheapest.
post #17 of 19
7/26/07 at 11:30pm
a video gamer magazine subscription is what I would do. My hubby *blush* loves video games and gets so excited every month when his magazine comes in the mail.
post #18 of 19
7/26/07 at 11:58pm
as a mother of a sixteen year old, i gotta agree on the mag sub. yep.
post #19 of 19
7/27/07 at 5:15pm
songs from itunes or other mp3 songs. i work in a high school, and it seems like the majority of the kids cannot funtion without an ipod in their ears.
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