If one of your children or relatives is in college, it can seem like he or she could need a million things, but none of them really make fun gifts. College students always need socks, deodorant, laundry detergent and gas money, but those things don’t really brighten someone’s face for the holidays. If you really want to get a fun gift for a struggling student, you have to think harder. Here are 5 great holiday gifts for broke college students.

  1. External Hard Drive.

With all of the photos, videos, and music files college students tend to keep on their computers, it can be easy to run out of storage. Most computers tend to get pretty slow and clunky at the end of four years, but if you’re keeping your storage light, you can definitely get a lot more mileage out of your device. That’s why it’s so important for students to be able to backup all of their files on an external hard drive. This way they have a light and efficient computer to work on all of their newer projects.

  1. Grocery Store Gift Card.

Food is one of every college student’s biggest expenses. That’s why a grocery store gift card will definitely never go to waste. Just make sure that the store you choose is not only close to where the student lives, but is also the type of grocery store where that student likes to shop.

These days, you can find a digital copy of just about every book that you can find in a standard bookstore. This means that a lot of students are choosing to download their textbooks, rather than buy the physical copies. This makes it much easier to carry all of your textbooks wherever you go, without breaking your back or the bank. If your student doesn’t already have a tablet, and you can find one within your budget, this gift is a no brainer.

If there’s one thing every college student doesn’t get enough of, it’s sleep. But since you can’t give someone the gift of sleep, you can give him or her the next best thing, coffee! If the student you’re shopping for doesn’t have a coffee maker, then you can always buy them a gift card to their favorite coffee chain. That way they can spend it on coffee, tea, quick meals, or a sweet dessert. Who knows, maybe you’ll even be paying for a cute, romantic first date.

  1. Restaurant Gift Card.

If there’s any gift card that could be used to fund a nice first date, it’s a restaurant gift card. If you have a son or daughter who you’d like to see find a nice girl or boy, this could be a great holiday gift. Just make sure you choose a classy restaurant, and that there’s enough for two people to get an entree and dessert. If your kid is studying with Vermont Law’s environmental masters programs, you know that funds are tight, but any day now he or she could be meeting “the one.”