Gift Ideas

Summer here means long evenings outside. A charcoal smoker or a fire pit BBQ turns the backyard into the place everyone gathers, and unlike another gadget, it gets used every weekend until autumn. Smokers and fire pit BBQs start from about $49.

Gardeners rarely need more tools, but they always want a new project. A galvanised raised bed or a walk-in greenhouse starts one, and it keeps giving every season as the harvest comes in. Raised beds and greenhouses start from about $56.

Small toys are often forgotten by the end of the holidays. A trampoline, ride-on car or sandpit gets kids outside every day, and splitting it between grandparents, aunts and uncles makes a bigger gift affordable.

Campers upgrade their gear one trip at a time. A faster tent, a better night's sleep or a fridge that ends the ice run is something they'll pack every time, and it comes with memories attached. Camping gifts start from about $34.

After the move, the budget has gone on the big things. What's missing is the clock for the bare wall, the lamp for the dark corner, the air fryer they keep meaning to buy: small things that make it feel like home. All our housewarming gifts are under $150.

People who "have everything" still skip the treats: a massage gun for sore muscles, a countertop ice maker for summer drinks, a hammock chair for doing nothing at all. Useful, a little indulgent, and rarely something they already own.

A small budget doesn't have to mean a novelty gift. An aroma diffuser, a rechargeable lantern or a compact charcoal BBQ is something they'll actually use, and each one costs less than $50.