12 Gifts Under $15 That Won't Make You Feel Cheap

Photo: Photo: Clockwise from top left: Fair Use/Etsy, Nora Biette-Timmons, Fair Use/Ikea, Fair Use/Enchantments

As much as it grieves me to say it, we are less than two weeks out from Christmas. If you’re anything like me, that means you may be very quickly blowing through your holiday budget, as well as your mental and emotional reserves. That is where we come in. Here, the Jezebel staff has compiled some of our go-to inexpensive gifts. We’re defining “inexpensive” as $15 or under but sought to include a range of lower prices so you still have enough money left at the end of December to get yourself the one thing you really wanted that no one bought you.

Gelly Roll Metallic Pens, $8.70 for 10

Have I been journaling about my existential crises as much as my therapist recommends? Nope. Will writing down said existential crises in different pretty colors make me spiral less? It’s worth a shot! Sometimes, the difference between a little serotonin boost and a bout of crippling depression really is just a few sparkly gel pens. —Rodlyn-mae Banting

Ikea Shopping Bag, various prices

Super cheap! Reusable! Capable of holding a medium-sized baby, a largish dog, or a month’s worth of dirty laundry! These things are IKEA’s finest achievement in design, not to mention its most pronounceable. Every household should have at least three for all its toting, storing, or other holding needs. —Sarah Rense

Crystal tumbles, various prices

Before you click to the next slide, tumbles are fun and based on what they represent, they can technically be considered as a gift that keeps on giving! The best crystals for attracting love are rhodonite and rose quartz. To ease anxiety or depression, look for amethyst and sodalite. To attract luck, wealth, and fortune (my favorite!) get your friend or loved one tiger’s eye, pyrite, malachite or citrine. These stones range in price from $2 to $10 and you can find them in most gift or novelty shops. Etsy is overflowing with them! You can get a 1-lb bag for under $20, and that leaves you with multiple gifts.

Add a little note telling them what you hope they attract in 2023, joke about why you think they desperately need this stone, or make up a story about how you found it on a hike or some shit and thought of them. I don’t know, go wild and have fun! This is a cheap, easy gift that you can make as special or silly or sentimental as you want. —Lauren Tousignant

Custom scents, $10

My favorite witch shop, Enchantments in the East Village, blends and bottles custom scents, oils, and incense. Whenever I’m stuck on a gift idea or want to do something really special, I have one made. Not only are they only $10, but there’s a curated formula for every occasion (and person) on the planet. Better yet, if you’re located in the city, you can tell one of the makers about the person you’re buying for and they’ll add additional flourishes to the blend for optimum individuality. Dozens of the blends (16 pages worth!) are available online. —Audra Heinrichs

Pet hair remover, $26.99 for 2

If you have a pet you’ve probably got its fur all over your winter coats. Would you like to appear less like a sloppy bitch? I’m not saying you have to fully revoke your sloppy bitch status, I’d just recommend a metal hair remover to, uh, smooth over the slop. I say this lovingly, because I say it to myself, too. This metal fur remover is sturdy and reusable, so you don’t have to use those single-use, sticky paper rolls over and over again. Better for the environment, and you’ll wind up saving so much money—a morally perfect gift suggestion! Buy a two-pack and keep one for yourself. —Emily Leibert

Bath bombs & bubbles, $2.50 to $10

If there’s one thing I can recommend, it’s a long, luxurious bath in which you can zone out for 30 minutes straight and nobody can judge you. For the bath-lover in your life—or the person who really could use a regular excuse to zone one—spruce up their existential wading with The Body Shop’s many reasonably priced bath bombs. They’ll send you to a Chandler Bing level of relaxation from that one Friends episode. You know the one. —RB

Trader Joe’s dripless candles, $3.69 per pack

I do not have a handy link for these because, like all Trader Joe’s goodies, they’re only available in stores. But, I cannot emphasize this enough, they are worth stopping what you’re doing, getting in your car or on the subway, and making a beeline to your closest TJ’s. These are the perfect taper candles: They are dripless, and understated, providing tasteful ambiance, ideal for any candle lover in your life. Importantly, they are only available during the holidays, so I recommend stocking up. (One year, my dad and brother discovered they’d both bought my mom six packs, so they taped all the boxes together and gave her a wrapped brick of 12 packs. A perfect gift.)

A close runner-up is Trader Joe’s similarly priced pillar candles, which are also only available this time of year. —Nora Biette-Timmons

Clear pouches, $11.69 for 3

I love these pouches, which help me speedily transition between using tote bags, backpacks, and purses. I have one that holds meds and tampons; I have another filled with cords, dongles, and drives. If a trip to the dog park is on the calendar, I’ve got one filled with dog treats.

I need organization in my life and in my bags and these are the (cheap) answer. They hold up really well and come in so many colors. I’m also not above buying a three-pack and splitting up a set to act as cute (and functional!) little gift bags for multiple presents. —Caitlin Cruz

Reusable cotton rounds, $8.95 for 14

We’ve gotta stop using single-use cotton balls and rounds, and reusable cleansing rounds can easily take their place for nail polish remover, makeup remover, toner, etc. This is not a particularly sexy gift, but it is one your recipient will use over and over and over and over (you get it). Use these once (or a few times, until you reach the point of whatever you consider dirty) and throw ‘em in the wash. You’re gonna’ love them. —EL

Tiny handheld fan, $11.99

I bought this fan on a recommendation from one of my favorite influencers, who runs the blog Things I Bought And Liked. She’s an anonymous Houston woman who sweats—but like, in a glamorous way. I bought this originally for my girlfriend, but after trying it, I got myself one too. It’s always in my purse or backpack; I use one of the million koozies I’ve accumulated as a case. As climate change only makes summers worse, this is the best thing I’ve ever bought. —CC

Magnetic Eyelashes, $9.99

I am a skeptic turned evangelist. Long gone are the days of coating your entire eyelid with tacky glue in hopes of a doe-eyed look. If you can apply liquid eyeliner, you can apply magnetic lashes. The best part is that they are reusable, so you’re getting five or six uses out of one pair of falsies. That’s an entire wedding season! Get these for the make-up-wearing person in your life who’s still a little skeptical, as I was, and hasn’t tried them yet. —Kady Ruth Ashcraft

Cheeky political stickers, various prices

Political stickers are a perfect budget stocking stuffer for your advocacy-minded sibling, niece, nephew, or newly radicalized mom. I’m still searching for a girlboss Mrs. Claus to slap on my laptop (ironically…sort of) or a union-organizing elf, so please let us know in the comments if you’re able to locate those.

Pictured are some stickers from Betches, and here are some other options. —RB