The five dollar gift exchange

Sometimes I prefer to just live in the garage and not have to interact with the larger family....

Someone had the bright idea this year to shake up the "Secret Santa" gift exchange. This year it is buy 5 of the same $5 item and then everyone will randomly draw numbers somehow to distribute them out. So you don't know a gender or an age (all at least high school/driving age by now). Other than a $5 Starbucks card, I'm at a loss for something not stupid. I'm hoping someone has a good idea. I would like for it to at least be useful instead of a waste of $5 x 5. Guess I'll also take the Harbor Freight catalog to work to check there, too.

Paperback books. Read something good lately?

iTunes gift card?

$5 will buy something pretty useful at HF. They have some nice little tool bags in that range, or a small but useful set of wrenches. I also second the book idea.

We're kind of in the same situation here. I have a fairly large extended family. Christmas used to be a real knock-down-drag-out affair, but at least everybody would publish good lists of specific hints in a range of prices, so you had something to go one. But the largest part of that contingent got too cheap and lazy to do all that, which left the rest of us struggling to keep up the tradition while trying not to feel slighted. It was a pain previously but it was pretty worthwhile when everybody put some effort into it. So now we just get a few little stocking stuffers for everybody, and even that is kind of dying out.

$5 worth of gag gifts from a dollar store or goodwill/thrift store.

Wrap a $5 bill.

Wrap it like crazy. So, a wrapped box inside a wrapped box inside a wrapped box inside a wrapped box, lots of bubble wrap, and go nuts on the packing tape. Hell, glue down the cardboard so they have to rip it to open each box.

When they finally get to the gift, they find a framed picture of you, with a big smile, wink, and thumbs up, and caption saying "Success!" Then on the back of the frame, tape a $5 bill.

Wind-up novelty toys.

Legos.

Beer Baron wrote: Wind-up novelty toys. Legos.

Legos for $5?

In reply to trucke:

I haven't bought Legos for a while. Surely, there's some little box you can build a little car or something out of to sit on a desk for $5.

But... I'm probably wrong.

Pick up a strange ice mold, and freeze the money in colored ice blocks. I guess that kind of depends on how/when the exchange would take place though.

I'm using paper mache(no idea how to spell it) to seal the box the present my friends 9 year old is getting this year. That could be a fun way to make whatever you wind up with a pain to open.

You could get cheap pen knives for everyone and ziptie them all shut too, that would be fun.

I was going to suggest the magnetic rotating led from harbor because I absolutely love mine, but they aren't 5 bucks anymore.

Five Hot Wheels cars, please.

Powerball tix or a bag of candy. Hope or instant gratification.

In reply to Beer Baron:

Looking on Amazon there are a few $5 lego kits.

Doesn't harbor freight have a little digital multi-meter for $5? Can't have too many of those bouncing around.

Flashlights, The small LED ones at HF are like $2?