Birthday Gift Ideas For The College Kid Who's Broke

Do you want your children to be financially responsible and learn how to handle money? Find out tips and advice for teaching children about money.

Birthday Gift Ideas For The College Kid Who's Broke

Birthday Gift Ideas For The College Kid Who's Broke

17 August 2016
 Categories:
Finance & Money, Articles


If your college kid is like most, they likely find themselves strapped for cash at some point during the school year. In fact, an undergraduate survey done in 2016 sheds light on the fact that about two-thirds of college students run out of money before the end of a semester at least once while in school. So this year, consider gifting your kid with one of the following birthday gifts that will provide them with some financial relief:

Repay Payday Loans

A great way to provide your cash-strapped college kid with some financial support as a surprise is to help them repay part of their debt. If your kid is like most people in college, they likely make use of payday loan services to make ends meet between bouts of income – especially when they need to buy school supplies and textbooks.

Surprise your college kid with a check that covers at least part of their payday loan debts, and possibly other debts if possible. You don't have to know how much your kid owes their payday loan provider – just present them with a check in a card. If their debts are less than the value of the check you give them, they can pay off other debts or pocket the rest in their savings account and decrease the amount of money they may need to borrow from a payday loan service again in the future. For more information on payday loans, contact a company like Payday Express.

A Savings Match

Consider offering your college kid a match on anything they can save in the upcoming months as a gift for their birthday. Stipulate a timeline for them to work within as they save, so expectations are clear for everyone involved. You can offer to match anything they save for a month or a year, depending on your budget and the amount of money you expect that your child can save during your chosen timeline.

If you plan to match savings for more than three months, agree upon incremental times when you'll deposit a match into their savings account. For example, if you'll be matching their savings for a year, deposit some funds into your college kid's account once every three months to match what they've saved as time goes on.

A Subscription for Food

Your child will more than likely appreciate getting a box of food shipped to them once a month without having to foot the bill themselves, which makes a food box subscription a great birthday gift option. There are a variety of subscription types available, which should make it easy to tailor your gift boxes to suit your college kid's specific diet preferences. Choose from themed snack packs and gourmet candy kits to packaged side dishes and spice collections. Some available subscription packages will even send your kid boxes of ingredients and recipes once or twice a month for homemade meal creation.

Transportation Assistance

Another excellent way to surprise your college kid for their birthday is to put together a package of transportation gift vouchers they can use to make getting around less financially stressful. Decorate a small cardboard box with wrapping paper and photos of your kid when they were younger, then fill the box with a variety of transportation vouchers good for the coming months. Consider including taxi vouchers, gift cards for gas if they drive, bus tickets, and even Uber credits. Attach the box to a new bicycle, skateboard, or roller skates so they have a form of alternative transportation when getting around campus or going to a nearby town.

A "Roommate" Stipend

To take some pressure off of rent expenses, offer your college kid a "roommate" stipend by acting as a silent roommate who happens never to be home. Because you don't require any use of their living quarters, your share of the rent should be significantly less than your kid or any actual roommates they may have. Consider offering ten or twenty percent of what your kid pays for their rent as a stipend which can be used in place of their own funds when it comes time to pay the landlord each month.

These birthday gift options will offer your college kid the financial support they need and are sure to be appreciated for many years to come.  

About Me
Teaching Your Kids About Money

Do you have children? Do you want them to be financially responsible and learn how to handle money? My name is Donna, and I have successfully taught my own children how to save, invest and make good decisions regarding money. I have developed a plan from my own experiences that I hope you can use to teach your own children how money works and how to best use it. I'll show you how to teach kids to find good deals on items they want and how to open a savings account so their money can grow. Teach your kids about money when they are young and you will be giving them an advantage in life.

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