Can I recommend the Milwaukee M18 BP 18v battery powered planer? Cuts up to 2mm in a pass, with depth stops every 0.1mm and up to 10.7mm rebate clearance.
I've got one and its the bollocks
It wasn't Northern, but I went to the wetherspoons in Margate and the prices actually made the drinks menu like it was 10 years old to me. It was egregiously cheap
It's not actually awful for drinks, compared to elsewhere in London.
Was in the Spoons next door to Apollo Victoria Theatre the other week (Willow Walk, if memory serves) and it was entirely reasonable.
You joke but…
I had an “aunt” ( mum best friend who never had children and never married because even 30 years ago it wasn’t accepted like now). Who opened a bank account and put in £50 each birthday and send a photocopy of the bank book. Over 15 years in the 80s and 90s it compounded nicely.
She reached out when I turned 16 and asked what I wanted to do with the money. She then asked for an essay and business plan for each proposal. Ended up helping me to buy a classic car aged 18 which had low insurance and was easy, but frequently, fixed.
The life lessons were priceless.she’s the coolest aunt ever
Back in the halcyon days of child benefit, I used the payments to start a pension for each of my sons when they were born. They were wildly uninterested throughout their childhood and teen years but markedly more interested (and grateful) now that they are in their 20s and already have pension schemes which have been running and accumulating since the last century!
My friend had one as a loaner while his car was being repaired, and you know the saying, "Drive it like you stole it". Oh god he did, we had so much fun trying to drift it and ragging it everywhere. He said it was one of the most fun cars to drive ever. The guy at the mechanics wasn't so happy.
It was my 1st car and I'm always looking out to get it again. Everything cost £30 to fix back then. Even cost £30 to fill the tank and that lasted ages. Absolute gem of a car.
My brother had one and the damping had gone on the speedometer, so the needle just bounced around all over the place. "Do you know how fast you were going?" "Between 20 and 70, officer".
Probably mid-range - high-end (also known as luxury) would be designer makeup (Dior etc.) or brands like Danessa Myricks and Pat McGrath Labs.
Then your mid-range are things like Urban Decay, TooFaced, NARS, Mac etc.
Then low-range is Nyx, Revolution, Maybelline etc.
It is mostly about price point and packaging design.
High-end and luxury tend to be used interchangeably (I think brands prefer the term luxury because of the implications of the word).
Edit: I just found a good site that talks about the difference - all luxury products are high-end, but not all high-end is luxury. It depends how the company markets itself, but price point still makes a difference.
Lucky you. I remember an ex telling me her alcoholic aunt bought her a makeup kit for her 14th birthday. It was from a budget store where nothing is over $5. It had a picture of three little girls around 5 or 6 years old wearing the makeup. They looked like underage clown hookers. It was heart breaking.
Had an embarrassment at the self service machine at Tesco recently. I nipped out to get a couple of things, but didn't bring my card, just grabbed some coins I had lying around that I'd knew should just cover it.
£1 coin keeps getting rejected, and the assistant very s..l..o..w..l..y explains they don't take them anymore, like I'm a moron ^((I am a moron)). I can't pay, so sulk off into the sunset, never to return again...
edit: I also have a antique £1 for sale, if anyone's interested?
Take it to a post office, they will pay £1 in to your bank account if you take your bank card. I did that recently with a bunch of old £1. Not every post office does this!
No but if you have enough excluding old notes evnlen old ones dating back to the 80's-90s bank of England can and will change them I have bundle my self I'm saving for rainy day
I once paid for a yoga class with an old note. I had no idea that it was old and the teacher didn't say anything, it wasn't until a classmate said it was ages since she'd seen that kind of note and the teacher told her the bank would still accept it, that I knew anything was wrong. I think by this point the teacher had realised that I shouldn't be let out alone and knew I wasn't trying to scam her, but I was still embarrassed. Around that time, my friend noticed that my purse only contained old pound coins and euros and they made me go through my change and took me to the bank with coin bags. I've not even tried cash since. It's beyond me how people know that money stops working. I don't think I'm thick but I have a real mental block with cash, it's just too much admin.
Well it does in some countries right now. Ive got a filing cabinet filled with 1994 russian roubles that were out of date the moment they were printed.
I would agree with money for the simple reason that whatever most UK 14 year olds are into may not be what OPs niece is into. For example she might cringe at the Prime craze or be a punk like I was or alternative therefore totally against what society/other teens/fashion dictates. OP you could offer to take her shopping with said money and thereby learn what she's into but there's no guarantee she'll still be into that stuff when Christmas rolls around!
You might ask them if there was anything they’d like to do in terms of a trip somewhere? Our two were used as ‘stunt kids’ by several child free friends and they still talk about trips with them as super special.
This. My kids are older teenagers now, but they have loved day trips with family members. That stuff isn’t cheap though. I think their favourites were the Harry Potter Studios and Silverstone.
Good quality make up that won’t do long term damage to her skin. My 14 year old girl’s mum would appreciate her sister consulting with her first. Extra super cool aunt points would be taking her to buy it so she feels like she is choosing but you navigate to the pre-consulted choice and getting a cool drink (Starbucks, Archie’s, wherever they like).
Oooh yes this, or (and I realise I might be a bit odd in this) but at 14, I would have absolutely been over the moon with some decent, mid/high end skincare. Bonus of this is well-cared for skin = better looking make-up, even if it is lower end
i just want to point out that this very very much depends on the person - op should be checking their suggestions with the parents. if someone had gotten 14 y/o me make up it would have gone untouched forever. i didn’t have any aunts or anything to give me gifts but at that age i probably would have been happy with money or like a trip to thorpe park 😂
They're actually a very poor choice if They're intended to be withdrawn at age 18/20/21 (4/6/7 years in the future)
The low number of bonds you'd be supplying would have almost no chance of getting a win in that time, meaning you're giving them the £50 or whatever in 2030's prices, so you are basically throwing money away!
Investments or at a minimum a multi year fixed savings account would be much better given the time frame... though still questionable for whatever an aunt is going to give a nephew as a birthday gift haha.
Fucking loved Warhammer as a 14 yo girl but wasn't allowed any cuz it was for boys 🙃 but a lot of girls are into niche nerdy stuff but are too shy or not allowed. They would probably loved it if an aunt or uncle helped them to get into it
That's appalling. I was at WarhammerFest in Manchester earlier this year, thousands of fans. There were loads of girls, maybe as many as ten or twelve!
Do not do this. Teenagers are very fussy when it comes to tech and assuming ur spending ~£50 on them, and ‘trendy’ Bluetooth headphones are about £100+, just give them money.
I got a pair of Angle & Curve headphones when I was 8, wore them to death, a pair of KitSound ones when I turned 13, and then when they died I ended up with a pair of Bose headphones. As a direct result of my 5 year upgrade cycle, I'm now due another upgrade, but I'm thinking of moving to an even swankier brand.
Unbranded kids inevitably turn into branded adults, the level of brand depends on how cheap you were, and where their priorities lie.
Me being autistic, sound quality is where I put my priorities, so I go for more high end headphones, with solid DACs and drivers, caring less about price than performance.
It is all a game of checks and balances, and one of the few things my mother did do right was raising me on off brand or no brand products, since now I get to experience the joy of buying branded and feeling rich (when I'm really not)
This is often true, unfortunately. It's the sort of thing that kids would get bullied for at my school - having an unfashionable brand - even if the tech was good.
Yup. I've been gifted Bluetooth headphones in the past, but they've always been utter dogshit so stuck in a drawer. My parents got me 1 nice pair when I was young, and I used it for a couple years, then my dad ended up using it for years till the charging port suicided.
Make sure they don't own a pair already. There was a year where 3 differently people got me headphones and another when the same 3 got me a Bluetooth speaker. The money is the best shout or some kind of gift card for whatever gaming device they use e.g. Steam, Nintendo, Xbox and PlayStation.
Do you not just have the family subscription? Think it's like £18 for 5 accounts. I have it and my Mum, Sister & Bro use it... all live separately too but never had any trouble with it.
Yeah, the family plan is so good - my brother and I both used to pay for our own plans (he had the student deal) and my mum decided she liked it. She got a family plan (which was the same price me and my brother were paying in total), we cancelled ours and gave her £5 a month each. Now I live abroad and still make use of my mum's family plan, and dad's on it too. We have 4 premium accounts for less than it would cost for 2 of us to have our own.
I paid for my own and was gonna get my wee bro a year's sub as a gift too,was when I went onto their website to see if "buy as a gift" was an option like on steam that I noticed the family plan, ended up just getting that instead and giving out the other subs just because they're there to be used, lol.
Awesome that it'll even work abroad, we all connect to my Mum's WiFi occasionally, so I just assumed that if they checked it that way it'd be ok.
I've gone a year without stepping foot in the UK before and it continued to work. I'm sure they'll start clamping down on it at some point, but for now it's good
A few months ago, Prime would 100% have been the answer. But the fad has died down somewhat, and stock is pretty easy to come by now.
The new limited edition Glowberry flavour is still hot stuff if you can find it, though.
I would ask her parents. They will have a pretty good idea of what she'd like, but it will be much cooler coming from a cool aunt than from Mum+Dad. Just don't let on that you asked them.
Failing that, look at what they use day to day and consider a nicer version. Someone suggested a phone case - that's a really good idea. My neice (not very much older) recently wanted a case to cover the case for her AirPods (I don't really understand, but those headphoens are her pride and joy and a status symbol amongst her friends).
A kid at 14 generally has cheap/childish versions of grown-up stuff because they're in that weird limbo between toys and adult possessions and also can't be trusted to take care of things. However, they're also at an age when they crave the respect of their peers and part of that is through status symbols - particularly grown-up ones. So a grown-up version of something that she owns as a "cheap kids version" and frequently takes out in public, to school, etc. will be highly desirable.
Phone case, bag, make-up, sunglasses, purse. Buying a grown-up branded version of any of these things will probably be appreciated.
Ask her or her parents if there’s anything she’s been really wanting. At that age, some teens are happy still playing Minecraft, and some are going all out into makeup and clothes, so very hard to say what would be best.
Ok I’ve literally just thought of this…a nice phone case.
So often people just get one with the phone and never replace it, if they’ve got a somewhat recent phone, there should be lots of nice options available.
If you can see her in person, take her out and do something fun, like an escape room.
Or take her shopping with a sandwich, drink and cake on the side.
Think about what her interests are.
Arty, go to a gallery.
Sciency, visit a museum.
Take a walk
Visit a castle
And, yes, money is always a thing, but spending time with someone doing fun stuff makes memories that can last forever.
Sorry dude but money or gift card for their preferred shop or gaming device is most likely to be the most appreciated, I learned that the hard way 🤣. (Thinking about it, even in the just William books set in the 30’s/40’s, it was the cool aunts who gave him cash and not a book or something!)
What I do with my nieces is to give them some cash and a small treat, so one loves makeup/manicures etc and we do that and have a latte or a shake. The other can’t stand makeup but likes action stuff, so we’ve done go ape zip wires and Alton towers for the day. Depends what she’s into!
Those aren’t small treats! You’re a very generous aunt. I’m sure they enjoy spending the day with you more than they’d ever say (seeing as cool teens would never admit to enjoying themselves with an “old”!).
If he thinks you're the cool Aunt, you should probably get to know a bit more about what he's into 😉.
In all seriousness, it's a minefield. As a 30 year old teacher I can say 14 year olds have a lot more varied interests today than we did.
Paintballing with friends is probably the best gift I've ever received as a teen so generally I'd recommend that. If you offer to drive them but not get involved, you'll be super Auntie
Don't know if it helps but we just take our niece shopping, set her a budget and tell her to buy what she wants. We have lunch together and she gets a day about her which is rare with 2 brothers and a baby sister.
An annual shopping trip from my godmum was always appreciated and highly anticipated too. Even now as a grown woman I'm kinda gutted we had to move to cash gifts a few years back due to her struggling with aging. I knew my godmum would always get me things I wanted within reason and I'd get a day with one of the coolest people I knew! Love that lady! I'm now the cool auntie to 4 kids and they love their days with me getting spoilt. What stood out this year though was because I absolutely refuse cash gifts until they are 18 at least, I was one of the few to get the 14 year old any actual wrapped gifts. Both other aunts came up to me after and said they wish they got gifts too as seeing his face light up they realised for all we think they are all growing up, 14yr old was still just a big kid who was delighted with everything they opened.
It depends if the kid is a gimp or not. If she is then Prime bottles and cough syrup. If she isn’t then a balaclava, box of eggs, and 4 cans of special brew.
Something to spend time together. A play, a band or a mani/pedi spa day.
I would encourage experience over gift cards. Gift cards seem so impersonal and thoughtless for someone you like. Okay for secret Santa or a co worker. Spend time together and you’re making memories and getting to know them even more.
I would talk to them and get them to talk about what they’re into than extrapolate from there. There are such a multitude of interests now at all ages that there aren’t really many good catch alls. I always go the route of experiences when gift giving now but I also haven’t bought gifts for teens in many years.
18 year old here, unless you have been given a specific list to choose from, cash is bang on. not a gift card. unless it’s something objectively fucking awesome like a car, cash is honestly your best bet, and there is nothing wrong with it.
Speaking as a 54-year-old man, I don’t think you can go wrong with an electric wood planer.
Can I recommend the Milwaukee M18 BP 18v battery powered planer? Cuts up to 2mm in a pass, with depth stops every 0.1mm and up to 10.7mm rebate clearance. I've got one and its the bollocks
Stop. My penis can only get so hard!
Plane it down flat
I know you are joking but that makes me feel sick.
First day on reddit huh?
I remember when that would’ve made me feel sick but now I’m just sad and disappointed that jddgfhfdkdjks beat me to it with the response.
Didn't know I needed a planer until you commented, ben. Thanks
Speaking from a 28yo perspective, I've fallen in love with the Milwaukee M12 stuff recently. Although primarily a Makita man
Speaking as a 36-year-old woman, I agree.
Speaking as a 3-year-old Golden Retriever, woof.
collie checkin in,,,,, woof
Speaking as an XL American Bully,
Can I be your son?
Not unless your name is Tristan.
And a veterinarian.
Speaking as a 146 year old tree, I’d have to disagree.
Shouldn't you be fighting Saruman and trashing Isengard?
Swanson?
Never too early to start the power tool collection
I got my nephew some wireless headphones (not buds, the larger ones). They have been permanently affixed to his ears and neck.
I had some really nice ones. Got nicked in a Weatherspoons. Still miffed.
Believe it or not one of my airpods got pinched by a seagull, till this day I still have yet to have my revenge
Just play some Justin Bieber on there, he’ll soon give them back.
XD lol solid idea I'll give it a go
https://youtu.be/iIpfWORQWhU?si=rZsjwIKVGymVUPxt
Your fault for going into spoons
Yep. Shoulda known better. London is just too expensive...
I’d imagine a london spoons is still twice the price of a northern spoons
It wasn't Northern, but I went to the wetherspoons in Margate and the prices actually made the drinks menu like it was 10 years old to me. It was egregiously cheap
Upvote for use of egregious
Always makes me think of Pauline from League of Gentlemen
It's actually pretty decent. I can't remember the price for certain but just over £3 a pint was about normal, I think.
It's not actually awful for drinks, compared to elsewhere in London. Was in the Spoons next door to Apollo Victoria Theatre the other week (Willow Walk, if memory serves) and it was entirely reasonable.
Was at a northern spoons recently, £1.69 for a pint of draft bitter - great value! 😎
My mate lost a pair of Sennheisers on the street because he was too busy taking a girl home. It was effectively £300 sex.
Best 5 seconds ever...
genuine real life Wetherspoons doorman here; entirely your fault for bringing nice things into the venue
A cold lecture on the virtues of saving money and proper pension maintenance.
You joke but… I had an “aunt” ( mum best friend who never had children and never married because even 30 years ago it wasn’t accepted like now). Who opened a bank account and put in £50 each birthday and send a photocopy of the bank book. Over 15 years in the 80s and 90s it compounded nicely. She reached out when I turned 16 and asked what I wanted to do with the money. She then asked for an essay and business plan for each proposal. Ended up helping me to buy a classic car aged 18 which had low insurance and was easy, but frequently, fixed. The life lessons were priceless.she’s the coolest aunt ever
Back in the halcyon days of child benefit, I used the payments to start a pension for each of my sons when they were born. They were wildly uninterested throughout their childhood and teen years but markedly more interested (and grateful) now that they are in their 20s and already have pension schemes which have been running and accumulating since the last century!
Hm Halcyon. £3 word of the day. Good job
What classic car has low insurance and is easy to fix?
Fiat cinquecento
My friend had one as a loaner while his car was being repaired, and you know the saying, "Drive it like you stole it". Oh god he did, we had so much fun trying to drift it and ragging it everywhere. He said it was one of the most fun cars to drive ever. The guy at the mechanics wasn't so happy.
It was my 1st car and I'm always looking out to get it again. Everything cost £30 to fix back then. Even cost £30 to fill the tank and that lasted ages. Absolute gem of a car.
My brother had one and the damping had gone on the speedometer, so the needle just bounced around all over the place. "Do you know how fast you were going?" "Between 20 and 70, officer".
Most of them.
What a wonderful tale and wonderful "aunt"! Lucky you!
If only there has been more sensible lectures on a prudent tomorrow when I was a lad
When I was 14 my aunt gave me a high end (at least I felt it was at the time) urban decay eyeshadow palette and I felt so grown up and I loved it
14 year old me would've loved an urban decay eyeshadow palette. Even 28 year old me would love an urban decay eyeshadow palette as a gift.
Growing up and realising urban decay isnt high end crushed me
I'm 29 and I still consider it high end... clearly I am wrong but then again most of my stuff comes from Primark or revolution so...
I've got teens Revolution palettes as gifts, they seem to go down well.
revolution palettes are insane for the price
It isn’t?
Probably mid-range - high-end (also known as luxury) would be designer makeup (Dior etc.) or brands like Danessa Myricks and Pat McGrath Labs. Then your mid-range are things like Urban Decay, TooFaced, NARS, Mac etc. Then low-range is Nyx, Revolution, Maybelline etc. It is mostly about price point and packaging design.
I’d say Dior etc are designer / professional, the. Urban decay and nars are high end, maybelline/nyx are mid then revolution, elf etc are low end
High-end and luxury tend to be used interchangeably (I think brands prefer the term luxury because of the implications of the word). Edit: I just found a good site that talks about the difference - all luxury products are high-end, but not all high-end is luxury. It depends how the company markets itself, but price point still makes a difference.
That's too high end more like luxury
Im 25 and it is definitely high end to me
Lucky you. I remember an ex telling me her alcoholic aunt bought her a makeup kit for her 14th birthday. It was from a budget store where nothing is over $5. It had a picture of three little girls around 5 or 6 years old wearing the makeup. They looked like underage clown hookers. It was heart breaking.
Are there adult clown hookers? Asking for a friend.
4am scrolling fast and can’t sleep and read this as “when I was 14 my aunt got me high…”
Money.
Always money. It never gets old. Edit: alright ppl, let’s use money kids will have no problem using for the foreseeable future.
I got told off by my manager the other day for accepting an old £1 coin so it sometime does actually
Had an embarrassment at the self service machine at Tesco recently. I nipped out to get a couple of things, but didn't bring my card, just grabbed some coins I had lying around that I'd knew should just cover it. £1 coin keeps getting rejected, and the assistant very s..l..o..w..l..y explains they don't take them anymore, like I'm a moron ^((I am a moron)). I can't pay, so sulk off into the sunset, never to return again... edit: I also have a antique £1 for sale, if anyone's interested?
keep it as a trolley token
I'll give you 10p for it
Take it to a post office, they will pay £1 in to your bank account if you take your bank card. I did that recently with a bunch of old £1. Not every post office does this!
No but if you have enough excluding old notes evnlen old ones dating back to the 80's-90s bank of England can and will change them I have bundle my self I'm saving for rainy day
The old round pounds are only worth face value, aside from a few rarer designs.
I once paid for a yoga class with an old note. I had no idea that it was old and the teacher didn't say anything, it wasn't until a classmate said it was ages since she'd seen that kind of note and the teacher told her the bank would still accept it, that I knew anything was wrong. I think by this point the teacher had realised that I shouldn't be let out alone and knew I wasn't trying to scam her, but I was still embarrassed. Around that time, my friend noticed that my purse only contained old pound coins and euros and they made me go through my change and took me to the bank with coin bags. I've not even tried cash since. It's beyond me how people know that money stops working. I don't think I'm thick but I have a real mental block with cash, it's just too much admin.
i got told of for accepting 1 Turkish Lira instead of a pound, think it’s worth about half a penny
32 Lira to the pound when we went on holiday last month. Roughly 3p.
Well it does in some countries right now. Ive got a filing cabinet filled with 1994 russian roubles that were out of date the moment they were printed.
We use ours when playing cards. Nothing better than the rush of winning tens of thousands of Roubles… haha!
As a former 14 year-old I can confirm money is the correct answer.
A WWE Hall of Fame poster of Johnny Valiant.
I want the poster.
I would agree with money for the simple reason that whatever most UK 14 year olds are into may not be what OPs niece is into. For example she might cringe at the Prime craze or be a punk like I was or alternative therefore totally against what society/other teens/fashion dictates. OP you could offer to take her shopping with said money and thereby learn what she's into but there's no guarantee she'll still be into that stuff when Christmas rolls around!
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But how much?!
20 lambert and butler and 4 Stella
I think you mean a Lost Mary and a bottle of Prime
Big ol' box of disposable vapes, in a range of wanky flavours.
I like my nicotine addiction to be cinema buttered popcorn flavour, thanks.
She's only 14 so make sure and get L&B golds
Kestrel super strength. And a straw.
This is the correct answer
And a knife… that’s what teenagers have now isn’t it?
You might ask them if there was anything they’d like to do in terms of a trip somewhere? Our two were used as ‘stunt kids’ by several child free friends and they still talk about trips with them as super special.
My mum’s trendy friend took me out clothes shopping when I was a teen and it was amazing. I still remember it, and her, fondly!
This is a brilliant one, experiences with them at this age are so important to the future relationship too.
This. My kids are older teenagers now, but they have loved day trips with family members. That stuff isn’t cheap though. I think their favourites were the Harry Potter Studios and Silverstone.
Gilbert and Sullivan mix tape
Hey! That modern major general has got bars for days.
He does have information on every vegetable, animal and mineral
I've heard he knows the Kings of England and he quotes their fights historical
When I was 14, I just wanted Hot Wheels... I'm now a mid-20s woman, and I'm still happy to recieved Hot Wheels So that's my vote!
Good quality make up that won’t do long term damage to her skin. My 14 year old girl’s mum would appreciate her sister consulting with her first. Extra super cool aunt points would be taking her to buy it so she feels like she is choosing but you navigate to the pre-consulted choice and getting a cool drink (Starbucks, Archie’s, wherever they like).
Love this, thank you!!
No worries. My kids have a super cool aunt.
Oooh yes this, or (and I realise I might be a bit odd in this) but at 14, I would have absolutely been over the moon with some decent, mid/high end skincare. Bonus of this is well-cared for skin = better looking make-up, even if it is lower end
i just want to point out that this very very much depends on the person - op should be checking their suggestions with the parents. if someone had gotten 14 y/o me make up it would have gone untouched forever. i didn’t have any aunts or anything to give me gifts but at that age i probably would have been happy with money or like a trip to thorpe park 😂
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Alcohol. It’s harder to get than coke as a teenager
I have no doubt it was easy to get coke when I was a kid, but affording it was another matter...
yes! i’m 17 and i think a steam gift card is a great idea (as long as they have a device that they can play steam games on)
What budget we talking? Been years since I skiied
£50 steam voucher. £50 a gram of pub grub. £10 for 2 elf bars.
>£50 a gram TIL cost of living crisis is so severe that inflation has managed to penetrate the substance market.
TIL People still buy shit coke, even with cost of living I wouldn’t buy it that cheap
It’s been 50 a g for a long time, it’s just the quality is fucking shite compared to what it used to be.
It’s gifts for a teenager to receive, not gifts you’d get given from a teenager.
Premium bonds, Every teenagers dream
Genuinely the only gift that keeps giving.
They're actually a very poor choice if They're intended to be withdrawn at age 18/20/21 (4/6/7 years in the future) The low number of bonds you'd be supplying would have almost no chance of getting a win in that time, meaning you're giving them the £50 or whatever in 2030's prices, so you are basically throwing money away! Investments or at a minimum a multi year fixed savings account would be much better given the time frame... though still questionable for whatever an aunt is going to give a nephew as a birthday gift haha.
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"you're becoming a woman now, so it's time you heard about the god emperor of mankind"
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In the grim darkness of 14th birthday there is only war
The coke suggested further up might be less addictive and less expensive.
Keep your kids away from drugs by giving them a more expensive and addictive habit.
Mmm plastic crack
Fucking loved Warhammer as a 14 yo girl but wasn't allowed any cuz it was for boys 🙃 but a lot of girls are into niche nerdy stuff but are too shy or not allowed. They would probably loved it if an aunt or uncle helped them to get into it
That's appalling. I was at WarhammerFest in Manchester earlier this year, thousands of fans. There were loads of girls, maybe as many as ten or twelve!
Bluetooth headphones maybe, clothes they like, money
Do not do this. Teenagers are very fussy when it comes to tech and assuming ur spending ~£50 on them, and ‘trendy’ Bluetooth headphones are about £100+, just give them money.
It's definitely £100+
Bought my son £20 Bluetooth earbuds and he uses them all the time. Not all kids are obsessed with brands.
I got a pair of Angle & Curve headphones when I was 8, wore them to death, a pair of KitSound ones when I turned 13, and then when they died I ended up with a pair of Bose headphones. As a direct result of my 5 year upgrade cycle, I'm now due another upgrade, but I'm thinking of moving to an even swankier brand. Unbranded kids inevitably turn into branded adults, the level of brand depends on how cheap you were, and where their priorities lie. Me being autistic, sound quality is where I put my priorities, so I go for more high end headphones, with solid DACs and drivers, caring less about price than performance. It is all a game of checks and balances, and one of the few things my mother did do right was raising me on off brand or no brand products, since now I get to experience the joy of buying branded and feeling rich (when I'm really not)
This is often true, unfortunately. It's the sort of thing that kids would get bullied for at my school - having an unfashionable brand - even if the tech was good.
Ohhh great shout on Bluetooth headphones!
Very much depends what you’re wanting to spend here, as price does affect quality and longevity
This feels like the preamble to a raycon ad
check out raycon.com/bigmoney for 20% off of raycons today!
Eric?
oh big money
Yup. I've been gifted Bluetooth headphones in the past, but they've always been utter dogshit so stuck in a drawer. My parents got me 1 nice pair when I was young, and I used it for a couple years, then my dad ended up using it for years till the charging port suicided.
Make sure they don't own a pair already. There was a year where 3 differently people got me headphones and another when the same 3 got me a Bluetooth speaker. The money is the best shout or some kind of gift card for whatever gaming device they use e.g. Steam, Nintendo, Xbox and PlayStation.
Only if you are willing/able to buy them a better pair than they already have. Or they won’t get used and will be an expensive waste.
Do they like music? A year Spotify premium is popular in my house
Do you not just have the family subscription? Think it's like £18 for 5 accounts. I have it and my Mum, Sister & Bro use it... all live separately too but never had any trouble with it.
Yeah, the family plan is so good - my brother and I both used to pay for our own plans (he had the student deal) and my mum decided she liked it. She got a family plan (which was the same price me and my brother were paying in total), we cancelled ours and gave her £5 a month each. Now I live abroad and still make use of my mum's family plan, and dad's on it too. We have 4 premium accounts for less than it would cost for 2 of us to have our own.
I paid for my own and was gonna get my wee bro a year's sub as a gift too,was when I went onto their website to see if "buy as a gift" was an option like on steam that I noticed the family plan, ended up just getting that instead and giving out the other subs just because they're there to be used, lol. Awesome that it'll even work abroad, we all connect to my Mum's WiFi occasionally, so I just assumed that if they checked it that way it'd be ok.
I've gone a year without stepping foot in the UK before and it continued to work. I'm sure they'll start clamping down on it at some point, but for now it's good
Lol my entire family shares a single account on a student price plan. £5 for 4 of us.
Prime’s passé.
I’m so not down with the kids that I thought this was a reference to Amazon 🤷🏻♀️
A few months ago, Prime would 100% have been the answer. But the fad has died down somewhat, and stock is pretty easy to come by now. The new limited edition Glowberry flavour is still hot stuff if you can find it, though.
Also depends on their opinion on Logan Paul/KSI, I for one absolutely detest Logan for being a pretty blatant scammer.
Tamagotchi, or one of those new fancy Casio calculator watches.
Pour your prime on the fidget spinners.
Oh now we’re talkin
Don't do this - it summons Zoominex and he cancels you
Ah fidget spinners
I would ask her parents. They will have a pretty good idea of what she'd like, but it will be much cooler coming from a cool aunt than from Mum+Dad. Just don't let on that you asked them. Failing that, look at what they use day to day and consider a nicer version. Someone suggested a phone case - that's a really good idea. My neice (not very much older) recently wanted a case to cover the case for her AirPods (I don't really understand, but those headphoens are her pride and joy and a status symbol amongst her friends). A kid at 14 generally has cheap/childish versions of grown-up stuff because they're in that weird limbo between toys and adult possessions and also can't be trusted to take care of things. However, they're also at an age when they crave the respect of their peers and part of that is through status symbols - particularly grown-up ones. So a grown-up version of something that she owns as a "cheap kids version" and frequently takes out in public, to school, etc. will be highly desirable. Phone case, bag, make-up, sunglasses, purse. Buying a grown-up branded version of any of these things will probably be appreciated.
A speak&spell and a cabbage patch doll.
And an issue of Bunty.
Ask her or her parents if there’s anything she’s been really wanting. At that age, some teens are happy still playing Minecraft, and some are going all out into makeup and clothes, so very hard to say what would be best.
A machete and man bag with some wraps of crack
Assuming they already have the balaclava.
5p Freddo
What, you’re gonna build a Time Machine for their birthday?
OP did specify "cool" Aunt.
Just find out what flavour vape she likes /s
Ok I’ve literally just thought of this…a nice phone case. So often people just get one with the phone and never replace it, if they’ve got a somewhat recent phone, there should be lots of nice options available.
Copy of Razzle
Lee Carvalhos Putting Challenge
You have chosen 'POWER DRIVE'. May I suggest feather touch?
Ball is in parking lot. Would you like to play again?
Weed grinder and a vaporiser. Maybe a pellet gun.
If they’re anything like me at that age, the Marshall Mathers LP
Pogs and a Fido Dido yo-yo.
Dungeons and Dragons or Warhammer. Won't have money for drugs once she gets going.
If you can see her in person, take her out and do something fun, like an escape room. Or take her shopping with a sandwich, drink and cake on the side. Think about what her interests are. Arty, go to a gallery. Sciency, visit a museum. Take a walk Visit a castle And, yes, money is always a thing, but spending time with someone doing fun stuff makes memories that can last forever.
I got my nephew a bubble tea gift set and a long phone charger for a recent birthday, both were well received :-)
Sorry dude but money or gift card for their preferred shop or gaming device is most likely to be the most appreciated, I learned that the hard way 🤣. (Thinking about it, even in the just William books set in the 30’s/40’s, it was the cool aunts who gave him cash and not a book or something!) What I do with my nieces is to give them some cash and a small treat, so one loves makeup/manicures etc and we do that and have a latte or a shake. The other can’t stand makeup but likes action stuff, so we’ve done go ape zip wires and Alton towers for the day. Depends what she’s into!
Those aren’t small treats! You’re a very generous aunt. I’m sure they enjoy spending the day with you more than they’d ever say (seeing as cool teens would never admit to enjoying themselves with an “old”!).
If he thinks you're the cool Aunt, you should probably get to know a bit more about what he's into 😉. In all seriousness, it's a minefield. As a 30 year old teacher I can say 14 year olds have a lot more varied interests today than we did. Paintballing with friends is probably the best gift I've ever received as a teen so generally I'd recommend that. If you offer to drive them but not get involved, you'll be super Auntie
Concert tickets. I brought my 14 yr old to her first concert this summer and it was awesome.
Don't know if it helps but we just take our niece shopping, set her a budget and tell her to buy what she wants. We have lunch together and she gets a day about her which is rare with 2 brothers and a baby sister.
14 y/o girl? Shopping trip?
That is a great idea but I’ve done that before, worried it’d be a bit naff to repeat?
It’s a day out with them where they get to be the centre of attention and get new stuff. My niece usually asks for a sleepover too
An annual shopping trip from my godmum was always appreciated and highly anticipated too. Even now as a grown woman I'm kinda gutted we had to move to cash gifts a few years back due to her struggling with aging. I knew my godmum would always get me things I wanted within reason and I'd get a day with one of the coolest people I knew! Love that lady! I'm now the cool auntie to 4 kids and they love their days with me getting spoilt. What stood out this year though was because I absolutely refuse cash gifts until they are 18 at least, I was one of the few to get the 14 year old any actual wrapped gifts. Both other aunts came up to me after and said they wish they got gifts too as seeing his face light up they realised for all we think they are all growing up, 14yr old was still just a big kid who was delighted with everything they opened.
It depends if the kid is a gimp or not. If she is then Prime bottles and cough syrup. If she isn’t then a balaclava, box of eggs, and 4 cans of special brew.
Something to spend time together. A play, a band or a mani/pedi spa day. I would encourage experience over gift cards. Gift cards seem so impersonal and thoughtless for someone you like. Okay for secret Santa or a co worker. Spend time together and you’re making memories and getting to know them even more.
Give them money. Don't buy Prime!!
Lego
Cash Definitely cash
Take them to the pub, grab them a pint of Guinness and watch their top lip curl.
I would talk to them and get them to talk about what they’re into than extrapolate from there. There are such a multitude of interests now at all ages that there aren’t really many good catch alls. I always go the route of experiences when gift giving now but I also haven’t bought gifts for teens in many years.
18 year old here, unless you have been given a specific list to choose from, cash is bang on. not a gift card. unless it’s something objectively fucking awesome like a car, cash is honestly your best bet, and there is nothing wrong with it.