8 Gifts Under $40 That Still Feel Considered

There's a particular kind of disappointment that comes from receiving a $40 gift that obviously cost $40. You know the look — the half-smile, the 'oh, that's nice,' the box that goes into a drawer the moment you leave. We've all given one. We're done giving them.

The trick isn't to spend more. The trick is to spend on things that don't feel cheap, even when they are. Below is what we've learned, after buying and living with a pile of sub-$40 items over the last month.

First: avoid 'gift sets.' Anything pre-packaged as a gift set — a tin with a bow, a basket, a 'kit' — is signalling that it's a gift. That signalling is exactly what cheapens it. A single good $24 item beats a $40 gift basket every time.

Second: buy the small version of a real thing. A travel-size bottle of the actual whiskey someone drinks is better than a $40 bottle of 'gift whiskey' nobody wants. A small jar of the actual honey they put on their yogurt beats a gourmet gift basket of three honeys you've never heard of.

Third: weight matters. A $20 ceramic mug feels like a $40 gift because it's heavy in the hand. A $40 plastic gadget feels like a $12 gift because it isn't. When in doubt, pick the thing that has some mass to it.

Here are three of our favorites from this round — all under $40, all things we'd happily give to someone we actually like.