Best Gifts Under $20 for Girls

I've had some real success bargain hunting this holiday season. And curiously, this is the year that I've had the least time to shop. I started shopping much later than I normally begin. I also did not participate in Black Friday sales, except an evening run to Target for one sale item. My solution this year was Family Dollar which has regularly low priced items in limited quantities. I also caught some toy specials in early December.

Stuck for a good gift for daughter, granddaughter, goddaughter, niece or gift exchanges? Based upon these shopping strategies, I've compiled a gift guide for tween (or preteen) or teen girls. Each gift in this list is available at Family Dollar, Walmart and sometimes Target for $20 or less.

Mp3 Player: I purchased $15 Mp3 players with headphones and 2 gigabytes of storage. You can play podcasts with these Mp3 players. I found this every day low price at Family Dollar and Dollar General.

Digital Camera: Family Dollar had a three function digital camera with cable and software for $10. Three-way cameras can take digital pictures, short videos as well as being used as a webcam. Many girls start online journals like Myspace or Facebook at 14. They like to upload digital images of themselves for their webpages.

DVD Player: Most DVD players can be used as CD players as well. With a gift of a $20 DVD player (found at Family Dollar) you are giving two gifts in one with this DVD/CD player. Walmart may have a lower priced player as well, but Family Dollar is the only store I'm aware of that carries DVD players at this price.

Jewelry Box: Many stores put their jewelry boxes on sale at Christmas. You can find a nice large box for under $20 at most major retailers. These make thoughtful gifts that girls will treasured for years.

Faux Fur or Micro plush Blanket: The new faux fur blankets are amazingly soft and warm. Tween and teen girls of all ages love to cuddle in warm blankets. And with cold winter temperatures, a blanket makes a perfect gift. I have not found an electric blanket under $20 yet, but if you can spend a little more, heated blankets make nice gifts.

Writer's Supply Kit: I have always championed the burgeoning writer in a kid. What better gift for a girls who like to write, than her own 'toolkit'. Find an cheap totebag for under $3. Fill it with locking diary, writer's notebook, gel pens, dictionary, thesaurus and book of quotations (usually $1 each in value and dollar stores). Sometimes you can find helpful little resources that contain creative writing prompts and story starters. Tuck one of these in as well.

Art Supplies Goodie Bag: for $20 you can fill a bag with sketch pad, construction paper, markers, colored pencils, glitter crayons, neon crayons, pastels, etc. The best buy I've found is a set of colored pencils made by CRAN for $1.69 at Meijer. The pencils come with a hair paint brush. When you wet the brush, the pencil color to turns to watercolor paint. Another favorite is the 72 pack of CRAN colored pencils for $5.99.

Scrapbook Kit: Dollar General has sold nice kits with stickers, borders, pens, and add-ons for as low as $3 each. These make good gifts for exchange, goddaughters, nieces and graduation or confirmation gifts.

Webkinz: Don't laugh; you'd be surprised how many teen girls love these furry little pets! Webkinz have a code for playing online. You can buy them for $9-$12 each.

The special ladies in your life will love these thoughtful gifts! And your wallet will love the great prices!