Gifting for your fellow peers can be difficult on a tight budget but gifting ‘college life essentials’ can help your friends out. These gifts will actually benefit your friends, providing necessities for their households in order to make a memorable difference in organization, decoration and thoughtfulness.

1. Storage Boxes: Buy several large, blank storage boxes and grab your box of arts and crafts. The idea is to design the boxes for your friends through means of pictures, magazines clippings, quotes and memorable sayings. The box will ultimately allow a  storage place for your friends so-called “junk,” all the while being able to publicly displaying friendship and memories they’ll never forget.

2. For college students, it seems to always be the caffeine drive that keep us going when you have three papers, two tests and a lab report due this week. A noticeably useful gift is the gift of caffeine. This could range from a bag of local coffee beans, a gift card to a cute cafe where the two of you can get your study on later, or if you’re looking to symbolize your long term support and friendship, a cheap coffee maker is your answer. You can find them at thrift stores all over Fort Collins for under 15 dollars or go big and gift them with the Keurig to fuel those late night study sessions.

3. White  dry erase boards are a great way to study, organize your week, tell your roommates what is going on in terms of chores or due payments, etc. However, by making it unique and personal will undoubtedly bring smiles to their faces. Buy a cork board and a white board and have the corkboard about three inches larger in width and area than that of the white board. Grab some hot glue and attach the corkboard to the back. Along the edges of the board, add pictures, quotes and memories to make the regular white board into something more than just a place to scribble on.

4. “All the things you never wanna buy basket.” The description is in the title, a simple basket comprised of household objects college students hate spending more money on. Grab a basket, some cleaning supplies, toilet paper, toothpaste, deodorant and some more everyday necessities. Your friend will thank you for saving them the time and the money and you may even get a laugh out of it, just make sure to add a cute card!

5. It’s winter and paying the heating bill sucks. Make a blanket or buy a blanket and gift it to your best bud. They’ll be able to think of you whenever they have it, take it alone and you may save them an extra cost of that ever-growing energy bill.

College Avenue reporter Josephine Bush can be reached at collegeavenue@collegian.com. Watch for your Holiday Gift Guide issue of College Avenue Magazine in your Collegian Weds. Dec. 11!