The best Father’s Day gifts under $30

I still remember the tie I got my Dad for Father’s day when I was eight. With big, messy swirls of fire-engine red, cotton-candy blue, and icing-sugar white, it looked like something out of a preschooler’s finger-painting session. I never did see him wear it.

You don’t have to make the same mistake I did, because Dad, in fact, does not want a tie — not even a nice one.

According to a new survey by ShopAtHome.com, a coupon and cash-back website, 30 per cent of dads would prefer a gift card over a traditional gift like sporting goods or a piece of clothing this Father’s Day (June 16). Seventeen per cent said they’d be happy with a simple greeting card.

By far the most coveted item on men’s wish list doesn’t come from a store at all. Rather, it’s the priceless gift of quality family time. Of the 1,825 respondents, 86 per cent said they want to spend the day with their family--with nearly 27 per cent specifying that this time together should be spent barbecuing.

Furthermore, the survey found that if you insist on spending money on him, dads only want gifts that cost $30 or less.

“Dads want their kids to follow the lessons they’ve taught them in life and one of those is: ‘watch your money,’” says ShopAtHome.com senior editor Lesley Kennedy. “They want their kids to be frugal.”

Given that gift cards are so popular, you should have a pretty simple time shopping for dear old Dad this year.

“With gift cards, dads can pick their own gift,” Kennedy says. “You can pick them up everywhere these days, and you can buy them online. That makes it really easy on you. And you don’t have to worry if you don’t have a lot of money, because they don’t want you to spend it on them anyway.”

If you really want to have something that can be wrapped, Kennedy offers these ideas for gifts that cost $30 or less (and are available at Amazon.ca and other sites):

Kubxlab ampjacket for iPhone 5, $29.95. This soft-shelled jacket doubles the volume and enhances sound—no batteries required.

Kikkerland Rockin Spoons, $19.99. Forget the wooden salad servers that look like bear claws. These beechwood utensils come in the shape of an electric and an acoustic guitar.

Zombie family car stickers, $10.99. Gama-go provides a refreshingly warped twist on those stick-figure stickers you’ve seen on the back of countless minivans.

The Hot Sauce Cookbook, $19.99. Subtitled Turn Up the Heat with 60+ Pepper Sauce Recipes, this will allow for a super-spicy sauce to accompany that steak dad so desperately wants to barbecue on Father’s Day.

Another idea? You can’t go wrong with a nice bottle of wine or some new craft beer.

Whatever you do, do something.

“Remember, being frugal does not equal showing up empty-handed,” Kennedy says. “Nearly 35 per cent of dads said the worst gift would be no gift at all.”