40 Secret Santa gift ideas under $20 that people actually use

Pick a gift in two minutes

A good Secret Santa gift doesn't have to be clever. It has to be something the person will use, chosen with a little thought. Four quick rules get you most of the way:

1. Read their hint first. If they wrote “dark chocolate, crime novels, anything green”, you're done thinking.
2. One good thing beats three cheap ones. A really nice pen is a better present than a pen, a keyring and a novelty magnet.
3. If you're unsure, pick something that gets used up. Coffee, chocolate, hand cream and candles don't end up in a drawer.
4. Add a short note. One line on why you chose it makes a $15 gift feel personal.

Every idea below can usually be found for under $20, or about the same in your own currency, though prices vary a lot from place to place. Check before you promise yourself the fancy version.

For the coffee and tea drinkers

• A good mug and a small bag of coffee from a local roaster
• A hot chocolate kit: cocoa, marshmallows and a candy cane to stir it with
• A tin of loose-leaf tea with an infuser
• A reusable cup for the commute
• A bottle of flavoured syrup for their coffee

For the desk

• A notebook worth writing in, with a hard cover and good paper
• A set of nice pens or fineliners
• A small plant that's hard to kill, like a pothos or a succulent
• A phone stand
• A desk calendar for next year

For the one who's always cold

• Warm socks, the sillier the better
• A candle in a scent you'd want in your own home
• Hand cream for the winter
• A hot water bottle with a soft cover
• A cosy pair of slippers, if you know their size

Treats (check for allergies first)

• A bar of really good chocolate
• A jar of local honey or jam
• A hot sauce or a spice blend
• A popcorn kit for a movie night
• Fancy biscuits in a tin they can keep

Games and puzzles

• A small card game the whole office can play at lunch
• A jigsaw puzzle
• A book of crosswords, sudoku or logic puzzles
• A pocket puzzle, like a wooden brain teaser
• A deck of cards with a booklet of card games

For readers

• A paperback by an author they already love
• A clip-on book light
• A journal with a question to answer each day
• A secondhand book with a note about why you chose it
• A nice bookmark tucked into any of the above

Homemade (costs more time than money)

• Homemade biscuits or fudge in a jar
• A playlist, with the songs printed on a small card
• A jar of homemade granola
• A framed photo of a good team moment
• A cutting from one of your own plants, potted up

Safe bets for someone you barely know

• A gift card for the café nearest the office
• A tree decoration
• Nice hand soap for home
• A small box of good tea or hot chocolate
• A voucher for a local bakery

Stuck? Spin for an idea

If you've read the list and still can't choose, let a wheel decide. This one has 24 of the ideas above. Spin until one makes you think of your person.

Spin for a gift idea

Gifts to skip at work

An office Secret Santa is opened in front of colleagues, so some gifts land badly even when they're meant kindly:

• Anything about someone's body, weight or looks, including diet books and gym gear.
• Alcohol, unless you know they drink and your workplace is fine with it.
• Joke gifts that could embarrass them in front of the team.
• Strong perfume or aftershave, which is very personal.
• Anything you'd need to explain to the person in charge.

Help your own Santa: write a good hint

The best way to get a gift you like is to say what you like. Keep it short and concrete: three things you'd love and one thing you'd rather not get. For example:

Likes: dark chocolate, crime novels, anything green. Please no candles.

In the WhirlPicker Secret Santa, each person can have a gift hint like this. Only the person who draws them sees it, when they open their gift to find out who they're buying for. If a link is in the hint, like a wishlist, they can open it straight from their gift.

Need more than one line? Make a wishlist note in a room on Twispace, a free and playful little corner of the internet where you keep small things, and paste your room's link into your hint. Your Santa gets the whole list, and you get somewhere to keep it for next year.

For the rest of the setup, like the budget, the day and keeping couples apart, see Secret Santa rules.