Monday, December 22, 2008

#16 iPod Shuffle - $47.50

Do you remember the days when getting a genuine Apple iPod was hundreds of dollars? My first iPod was $500! You can now buy a 1GB iPod for less than $50.



Don't forget you can always get a set of iGrados as well!






#15 Bacon Salt

I am a huge fan of this idea. I would love to try this:





#14 Gourmet Snacks - $25

What about some gourmet snacks? I love receiving these!


Sunday, December 21, 2008

#13 USB Turntable - $50 - $100

I know this possibly stretches the budget, but I often see these on Craigslist for $40 - $50. The one below is $76 /shipped new from Amazon. It is possible to get one for under $50 if you look around.







Grace Digital Turntable - Record Player.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

#12 Holga Lomographic Camera [update]

Amazon has the Holga Starter Kit
on sale right now for $59.99. That is the best price I have seen in the past six months!


#11 A How-To Book ~ $25

Does your friend or loved one want to learn how to do something a lot? I want to learn how to build tube amplifiers. My wife wants to learn how to knit. Research the best how to book in that field and with the leftover money, build a starter kit. For example, for someone who wants to learn to knit, you could stop by Joann Fabric and grab some cheap knitting needles and yarn. Wrap that up with the how-to book and you have a very thoughtful present that presents well.

Knitting





Building Tube Amps

Friday, December 19, 2008

#10 His or Her Favorite Band's Discography

My buddy's favorite band is Radiohead. For under $50, I can get every full-length studio release of the band:

Pablo Honey - $3.76



The Bends - $4.80



OK Computer - $5.99



Kid A - $4



Amnesiac - $3.86



Hail to the Thief - $4.83



In Rainbows - $6

Thursday, December 11, 2008

#9 Concert Poster Update


Apartment Therapy had a post concerning concert posters as wallpaper. I thought this was a good post showing the different types of good-looking posters out there.






[Original Post]

#8 Headphone Amplifier - $35



Who hasn't been on a plane listening to his or her headphones from either an iPod or laptop and been unable to hear properly? It happens to everyone... sometimes even to those who have those fancy noise-canceling headphones. A headphone amplifier is just the trick for that. A CMOY is an amp designed by Chu Moy that has very high sound quality and very low power consumption.

For the money, you can't do better with a headphone amp. Also, if you would like to build your own, visit TangentSoft.

Purchase here: ebay

Friday, October 3, 2008

#7 Cheap Camera Update - Diana for $50 at Urban Outfitters



The Holga I mentioned a few weeks ago is a great camera, but the Diana is the name-brand equivalent and seldom sells at a price that makes it worth buying. But Urban Outfitters has one for $50. I would choose this over the Holga.

Link

Saturday, September 27, 2008

#6 Case of Good Beer- $21



When I turned 21, I was working at a terrible company. On my birthday though, I received the best present I had ever received at that point - a case of Coors. I had never had so much beer. I never felt more like an adult. And today, my twenty-ninth birthday, I would like nothing more than a case of good beer.. a case of Fat Tire, a case of Arrogant Bastard, a case of Boddingtons would all do the trick. I was at Costco the other day and saw Fat Tire for $21 per case. That is a heck of a deal. I received some really good stuff this year, but what I find myself reaching for at 9:29PM is a Fat Tire that doesn't exist in my fridge. Don't let your friends down. Make sure their fridge is stocked on their significant holidays.


Relevant Links:

Fat Tire

Saturday, August 30, 2008

#5 Wall Stencils - $10



Does your friend or significant other think he or she is Banksy? Stencil art is a lot of fun but, if you don't know what you are doing to create stencils, it often comes out wrong. That is where professionally-made stencils come in. For example, I am interested in turntables. I particularly like the Technics 1200 in terms of aesthetics. Stencil1 happens to have that covered. They have a number of options and sizes available. Not only turntables, but cassettes, Obama's face, guitars, trees, and more.



Related Links:

Stencils at Stencil 1

Info on Banksy - Banksy.co.uk

Friday, August 29, 2008

#4 Klean Kanteen - $16


With so much being made of eco-friendly products, the Klean Kanteen is both hip and functional. Made of stainless steel instead of plastic, the bottle is both indestructible and BPA free (look it up, it is not pretty). $16 sounds like a lot of money, but this is the last bottle you will buy. I know that I used to spend $6 for a case of individually bottled water. Now I am able to reuse gallon jugs for $0.30 outside the supermarket. If you are smarter than I am, you could also drink tap which is better for you but, to me, tastes heavier.

I have a friend named Mary who always said that anything that used the letter K instead of C was racist and attempting to harken back to KKK, but I find no evidence that this company is in any way racist - despite its use of Ks instead of Cs. No, she was not joking. I, however, am.





Related Links:

Klean Kanteen at Amazon

Klean Kanteen at Reusable Bags

Thursday, August 28, 2008

#3 Grado iGrado Headphones - $49


Admittedly, the iGrados are as ugly as sin, but they sing sweeter than the angels. Based on the critically-acclaimed SR-60 - in fact, they both have the same headphone driver - the iGrado allows even those with modest funds to reach audiophile bliss. They are pictured in black, but are also available in white - a great color to match a person's iPod.

In a world where audiophile headphones can cost over $1000, at $49, the iGrado represents amazing value for such sweet sound.


Splurge: Grado SR-60 - Same headphone driver, but with a better housing and classic industrial design. The Grado SR-60 can for many people be the last set of headphones they ever buy. At $69 retail, the SR-60 may seem a bit out of touch. But please find a store near you that carries them and test them - you will buy them!






Wednesday, August 27, 2008

#2 Moleskine Notebook - $10


A Moleskine notebook may seem like an extremely small gift, but they are lovely. I once bought a pack of Moleskine Small Cahiers for my mother-in-law for her shopping lists, memory lists, etc. and she absolutely loved them. These cahiers are the same as Hemmingway used to write his novels. He talks about these notebooks in The Garden of Eden.

I bought my Moleskine Pocket Journal a couple of years ago to write essays and just the thought of it makes me smile. It is so well-crafted and at the same time so commonplace it just fits. It used to be trendy for self-proclaimed world-travelers to take a fresh pocket journal for every trip in order to paste in keepsakes, produce sketches, and write about the culture. Currently, Moleskine has a line of Journals tailored to this with pre-printed info on the city of your choice.

All said, for a gift, the Moleskine Pocket Journal is the best, but for everyday use, I use the Moleskine Small Cahiers. I keep all my notes for work and from meetings in these. I can't say enough about them.


Photo: RippleMDK

#1 Holga 120 CFN Camera - $46

I was a photo major for five minutes of college - it only took two weddings to talk me out of it. But photography has remained important in my life, but my medium-format camera went kaputt and I find myself drawn to the Holga.


Photo: Fensterbme

The Holga 120 CFN is a cheap, plastic camera made in China. It costs only $46 from B&H, but can be had from other places on the net for a bit less.

It's images are ghostly and amazingly beautiful. Its pictures of modern-day things look anachronistic - the photos look too old to have a picture of a modern car in them.

Here are a few examples:


Photo: BravusMan


Photo: Black Custard

There is even a 35mm attachment for those who just want to go to the photomat and have their pictures developed.


Photo: Slim Jim

$45 for that kind of beauty is an amazing value!

Got a little extra coin? Here is a splurge: Holga Starter Kit for $70. It comes with a couple extra accessories and a very nice manual.

Why $50?

I am a total cheapskate. My friends always talk about how I am cheap to the nth power and all that. $50 might sound like a lot in that case, but I also like giving and receiving gifts. $50 sounds about right on how much my wife should spend on me on my birthday - hint, hint, hint - but not so much to break the bank. Some of the best gifts I can think of would be less. $50 is simply an upper guideline. I hope I can give you all some good ideas.

Matt