If you haven’t already gotten the special dads in your life their Father’s Day gifts, you’re probably scrambling for some good ideas. And it never hurts, especially for so many of us living paycheck to paycheck, for our gift ideas to be budget friendly. Especially when we’re out of time to save up. Not to worry, here are some good ideas for Dads, from one.
Buy that cheap, cheesy “best Dad”, “super Dad,” etc. chotchke…
Maybe you’re thinking, “Dad won’t want ANOTHER “best Dad ever” t-shirt, or “super Dad” coffee mug, or whatever other chotchke novelty knick-knacks you can buy for him. If so, you’re WRONG! This is like winning a trophy to us dads. The more stuff you have, the better your trophy case looks! You probably can’t go wrong here, and not for a lot of money.
Mix up some special barbecue sauce!
Now that veggie meat options are so much better than ever, it’s likely that whether your Dad is an omnivore or an herbivore, he will almost certainly be barbecuing on Dad’s day and plenty of other days this summer. So whipping up a batch of his idea of an excellent BBQ sauce is a perfect, cheap idea. Just look in the pantry and see what you’ve got. Brown sugar? Honey? Mollasses? Tomato paste? Salsa? Sweet onions? Steak sauce, worsteshire sauce, or soy sauce? Ketchup? Yellow mustard? Brown mustard? There are a lot of sweet and savory BBQ sauce recipes out there, pick one, and put that blender to work!
Join Dad’s stream team!
Does your Dad have a favorite kind of movie, or TV show? Is he a fan of a particular sports team or athlete? Does he have a favorite comedian, or actor? Search the catalogs of streaming services you both have access to, and make up a watchlist of things to watch with your Dad. It’s a simple recipe for a good time, even if you’re far apart. Just add popcorn!
Do his chores.
Is your Dad currently doomed to spend part of the weekend of Father’s day doing chores like mowing the lawn or changing the oil in the car, doing the laundry, or any other time consuming, menial household tasks? Take them off his hands, for a gift that’ll be sure to please, that only costs a little sweat equity.
Make a Dad’s Greatest Hits list.
Think through your experiences with your Dad. What are your favorite memories of him? What was the best advice he ever gave you? What kind of hilarious hijinks occurred over the years? Write all that out as a list. This is bound to spark fun story-telling that will bring back fond memories for everyone.
Write him a letter.
These days we text. We send instant messages. We chat. We even send emails. But we don’t send the kinds of letters meant to be saved as mementos, that bare our hearts and souls. Which just means that when you buck that trend and write Dad a nice letter, in your own handwriting, on actual paper, in an actual envelope, it’ll be even more treasured.
Make plans for ANOTHER day with him.
It’s great to spend Father’s day with your Dad, and he’ll almost certainly appreciate it. And it’s a good way for the calendar to kinda remind you to spend time with him and honor him a little at least once a year. But hands down, the absolute best gift you can give him is some time when you’re NOT obligated by the holiday on the calendar to do so. Make plans with Dad to spend some more time together soon, and you’ll definitely make his Father’s Day — even if you can’t spend it with him.
