Best Budget Gifts for the Under 30s

If you're between fifteen and thirty, and are short on cash for Christmas, join the club. There's no shortage of awesome things to buy for your friends and siblings, but you just can't afford to supply everyone on your list with a Nintendo Wii, as much as you'd like to. Never fear - there's plenty of cool things you can afford. Let me show you.

Shirt.Woot.Com
If you don't know Woot, you should. Every day is a new electronics deal, and on shirt.woot you'll find a new shirt by a designer whose work is admired by the judges and voted up by you, the people. But hurry! It will sell out quickly, and when it's gone, it's gone (sort of). The best part is? Each shirt is only $10 shipped. But if you need it quicker, or if you miss a cool design that goes into the archives, you can pony up $15. Either way, it's far from bank-breaking, and makes a great Christmas gift.

Deep Discount DVD
These guys have regular coupon codes and sales, and they're currently running their semi-annual 20% off sale in time for the holidays. Any of the following codes will work to give you the discount:

DVDTALK
USATODAY
NYTIMES
SUPERSALE
PRICESEARCH
SUMMERSALE
YAHOO
ESPN
LATIMES
XM
SOUTHSIDE
WGN
JIM
DEALNEWS

These codes should still be good next year, and for other sales inbetween, so write them down somewhere!

MST3K.org
Chances are, especially if you run in nerdy circles like I do, you know at least one Mystery Science Theater 3000 fan. The commercially released DVDs are insanely expensive, but this is the best source for all the episodes you can't buy from Best Brains, Inc. They're about $6 each, or less, depending on how many you order. They even have all the special features and bloopers that have ever been broadcast, plus the original versions of many of the awful movies MST3K has featured over the years.

Victoria's Secret
For that special lady in your life, VS has several great promotions going on now. Buy any sweater, for as low as $19, then add the hat/scarf/glove set and use the following coupon codes:

GIFTSET to get the hat, scarf, and gloves for free
SHINE for 4 free lipglosses
FA78137 for $5 off, which takes care of all but .95 of the shipping
SHINE4 for another free lipgloss

All this for about $20! If you have a VS credit card, use the FA78713 code to get a free handbag.

Overstock.com
For the person on your list who has everything, Overstock has a huge selection of everything you can imagine - plus, they're always running promotions for free shipping, $1 shipping, 10% off, et cetera. Join their email list to get updates. If you have to get a more traditional gift, this is definitely the way to go.

Hopefully these sites will make Christmas a little easier on those of us youngsters who rely on AC for the majority of our income.