Picture frames?
This may sound silly, and perhaps it is, but one of the most useful things a newly minted adult can own is a good-quality air mattress with a pump to inflate it (sold at sporting goods stores in the camping section or, of course, on Amazon).
This plus the necessary bedding fits in a large suitcase, and it enables you to live in an apartment that does not yet have any furniture (because really, all you need is a place to sleep, a credit card, and your smartphone). It enables you to sleep comfortably on the floor of other people’s apartments. It enables you to accommodate guests. It enables you to avoid paying for hotel rooms when you move, even if the movers won’t deliver the stuff to your new place for a week. And you can even use it for camping!
Money.
They need to rent a place and provide first and last months’ rent, plus a deposit. They need to buy basic things we haven’t thought about much in years – can opener, anyone? They won’t get a paycheck for at least two weeks after they finally start their job. Etc.
Staying on parents phone plan.
Ditto on the money even though S got a nice sum in his relocation package from his company to tide him over until his first paycheck. We paid first/last months rent for his 3 month sublet and are paying for his auto insurance and cell phone for the time being and will buy him a bed once he has a permanent place. We are calling it his graduation present. The money he gets from grandparents should be enough to buy any essentials he needs - like a can opener.
My kid has a picture frame. Motorola made it.
Anyone who has read my posts knows we gave our kids repayment of their Direct Loans for undergrad as a graduation gift. They were very appreciative, and the monthly amount for that is a drop in the bucket compared to what we were paying the colleges!
I’ll second that. Picture frames?
We’re giving our kid cash. And free labor. Moved her out of the college apt to home and then will move her back to an apt in Aug when she starts work… Should probably keep some of that cash for chiropractic care.
Cash,for sure.
Paying off their loans.
We let S live at home while he waited for his job to issue him a security clearance and akept him on the family phone plan andclearance paid his security deposit. We also made it possible for him to graduate from college debt free. His employer helped reimburse moving expenses.
D we’ve been paying her expenses since she graduated while we all wait for her health to improve enough for her to hold a job. We also made it possible for her to graduate debt free. We let her go on a road trip with S and fly home. They drove from LA toTahoe to Chicago and ultimately to S’s new job in DC. We figured Weit was a gift to both of them.
For D’s grad school graduation I gifted her a session with an accountant who specialized in doing taxes for performing artists. She still uses him and he has saved her a pile of money.
I have wanted the exact same thing at all of my graduations: money.
Hell, I haven’t graduated from anywhere in years, and I still want money.
I think money is the best gift in general, but have been told it’s tacky.
It’s tacky to tell other people what they should be giving.
We gave Happykid the money for the good used car and smart phone that are necessary for her complicated partially freelance & partially payrolled career. We’re also still paying the car insurance (and major repairs) and for the family cell phone plan while she gets that complicated career off the ground. This year I’m still doing her taxes, but next year I may be sending her to meet with musicamusica’s accountant pal.
So yup, money.
Money is always good. My parents gave us money as a wedding gift and we used it as our security fund. We borrowed and paid back into that account for quite a while until we got settled.
Marian–The first purchase my D had moving after graduation was a blow-up mattress!
As to the list given in the article–I don’t know any college kids who want picture frames (unless it’s framing money–and I have done that–never been refused or returned),
Doubt the contents of the frame got hung on the wall!
College swag? (they already have all they want), And will collect more for years to come if the sports team excels…
They have to have been in a virtual social black hole to have not already played/own Cards Against Humanity–and can download a version free if they just want to try it. Cheap though. But I wouldn’t hand it to just anybody.
Business cards? Provided by employer or needs to be self-designed (cheap though).
Gifts for new apartment? (see money frame).
Pretty lousy list.
An updated MacBook was a winner for #1D.
She received cash from family members.
Even I don’t want picture frames or things for my home as gifts.