The Broke Guide: How To Gift Your Squad For Under $10

Broke Girl's Guide

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Everyone knows the saying “your friends are the family you choose,” but for real, we couldn’t imagine life without our squad. Whether they’re guiding us through a breakup with tacos and tequila, helping us unbox Ikea’s finest at 1 am, or sharing their perfectly ripe avocado – which let’s be real, isn’t easy to find – they’re always here for us. But this also means when it comes to gifting our squad, we want to treat them like the absolute queens they are.

The only issue is it’s the holidays and cash is kinda tight, which means we’ve learned how to be pretty creative over the years to gift our cuties something we know they’ll love and cherish, without having to spend too much dollar. Here’re five super cute gifts you can give your squad that won’t break the bank.

1. Make your Squad Personalized Lip Balms

During the winter, the drop in temperature outdoors and the increased indoor heating means our skin can become seriously dry. So, to help your squad keep their pout perfectly plump and mistletoe-ready, gift them a collection of homemade lip balms. You can personalize the lip balm to your bestie’s taste, so if your homie’s fave ice cream flavor is chocolate chip, why not make them a cocoa-flavored lip balm? They’re super easy to make too, check out our go-to recipes here. We then like to stash them in a cute little drawstring bag, which you can buy on Etsy here.

2. Make a Mini Pamper Set

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Let’s be real, who doesn’t love a night in? This gift is a win-win – you get to give your friends a gift they’ll actually use, plus you’re basically organizing a group pamper sesh! In our mini pamper set, we like to include a nail polish, face mask, hair mask, and of course, a cute headband (check this set on Amazon for $10!) – because did girl’s night even happen if you didn’t take a masking selfie? You can grab each item from the drugstore for less than $3 each, or you can buy multipacks to make it extra easy and affordable!

3. Make your Girls a Mixtape

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Although this gift doesn’t cost a lot, ok we won’t lie, it won’t cost you a dollar – it’s cute and personal and requires a lot of time and effort, making it one of the best gifts on this list. No doubt, you have SO many songs that remind you of all the adventures you’ve had with your gal pals so why not compile them into a playlist? For an extra cute touch, we like to write a little message on the mixtape or on a memo card to accompany your Spotify playlist, describing a special memory – we swear, you’ll have your squad in tears.

4. Make a Collage

If you’re anything like us, you have pretty much your entire life documented with snaps and selfies, including all of the times you and your pack got a little too wild. But these are the memories that make hilarious pics for the ultimate collage. Here’s how to DIY your own:

1. Find a cardboard box and cut it into pieces of A5 or A4 – as many as you need for each of your BFFs.
2. Cover each piece of card in festive or glittery wrapping paper.
3. Get together all your squad pics and print them out, as well as any funny insider jokes you know they’ll appreciate.
4. Paste your fav pics of you and your squad onto your beautifully wrapped card, add in any other mementos, and you can always sprinkle some glitter or fun stickers on if you have any – et voila! A super cute gift, personalized gift.

5. Divide Gift Sets

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We’re obsessed with beauty bundles and multi-packs – you get tons of items and beauty minis for such insane prices, making them ideal for gifting your squad. But we don’t gift one person an entire set; we like to mix and match the different items from the various bundles to make an adorable Christmas stocking. Some of our fave mini sets include the Burt’s Bees 100% Natural Moisturizing Lip Balm Multipack, $11, or multisets of rings from ASOS, like this set, $12.

Let us know if you’ve done any of these before and if you’re going to try any of these, in the comments below.