Pippa’s guide to tech gifts on a budget

We all know that buying gifts for a million people is tough. Especially at this time of year – there are just too many people to buy for! I try and keep my gift buying to a minimum to be honest – I buy for my kids and my immediate family because in today’s economic climate it’s just too expensive to buy for everybody!

So what do you do when you’re strapped for cash but you just can’t possibly leave someone out? You go with one of these budget options of course…

Gift cards

I know gift cards might seem lame to some people, but honestly when you’re saving up for something then every little bit counts when it’s money towards something big. A gift card for an online retailer like Takealot is great because it means your loved one can spend it on whatever they want, but you can spend as much or as little as you want. It’s also generic enough that they can probably find SOMETHING they like on the site, even if it’s only in six months’ time.

Flexible tripod

Is your friend interested in expanding their camera or YouTube skills? Tired of seeing them balance the camera on a stack of books? A flexible tripod is pretty cool as you can attach it anywhere to get those interesting shots and although it’s a small accessory, it makes a huge difference. Different brands vary in price, but you can pick up the TUFF-LUV Mini Octopus Tripod for R129 online.

Headphones

There are certainly some very high end expensive headphones out there for the connoiseur (I have a very nice pair for video editing which changed my life), but if you’re simply horrified by the friend or family member who is still using the headphones they got with their phone, then there are a number of decent ones available for under the R200 mark.

Over ear headphones are generally much easier for kids too, and you can pick up some decent ones with noise limiting capabilities so ensure they don’t damage their ears.

Geek t-shirts

I won’t lie, I’m a huge sucker for cool geek t-shirts. Technically no this isn’t a tech thing, but chances are that your friend who is into video games and Game of Thrones, is also into cool Star Wars stuff. Pick n Pay Real Clothing has a pretty awesome range of Star Wars shirts and vests (I ahem, may have already bought a number for myself) and they are reasonably priced at under R100.

Geek paraphernalia

I am also a lover of geek notebooks and mugs. Yes it might be totally lame, but I go through a lot of notebooks from the millions of never-ending meetings I seem to attend, and I like to have a constant supply of awesome ones. I have everything from gaming related ones, to Star Wars, to LEGO and Nickelodeon. Typo of course has a whole range of these, so I’m sure you’ll find something to suit that special someone.

Of course, if you’re super broke you could try and tell people that spending time with them is more important than anything else… Depends on how materialistic they are if they’ll go for it…

Happy holidays!

Featured image: PIVISO via Flickr