Nephews #1 & 2 are solidly in their teenage years. Each year, it gets more difficult to buy gifts for the older one, especially. He doesn’t have specific things that he’s into like #2 does. Assuming that happens with the teenagers in your life, too, here are some suggestions that I hope will help or, at the very least, get your imagination going.

1. Gift Cards – The ideas will get better, I promise. But let’s be honest here. Teenagers don’t like gift cards – they LOVE them. While I generally feel that they can be a cop-out, I do get them one or two because they ask for them. I do not, however, believe in VISA/MasterCard-type gift cards that are essentially cash. I do store specific – iTunes, apparel, Best Buy, XBOX.
2. Music – This is not my suggestion to buy the Big Sean album. I just like the cover art. Though Nephew #1 does enjoy rap music, and if I did get that album, I would buy the clean/edited version. Since most people are using phones or iPods for music, you can always gift the album via iTunes. There’s an option to buy it for someone.
3. Clothes – Nephew #1 likes to look hip and cool with no clue how to do so (Nephew #2 is just starting to get into clothes), so you know what that means? I’ve been in charge of his wardrobe for a few years now. Given that I haven’t been fired yet, I must be doing something right. His clothes tend to come from Aeropostale, Hollister (sweater pictured above is $19.98, reg. $39.95) and Pac Sun (sweatshirt pictured above, Y&R, $24.97, reg. $49.95), among others.
4. Cologne – Not only does #1 like to dress well, he’s all about being clean and smelling good these days (Hallelujah!). You can get cologne at all price points. His mom has bought him Nautica and CK fragrances. I’ve purchased Nautica at Walgreens (available online for $19.99).
5. Vintage Game System – All the boys are equally into video games, but #2 likes Nintendo systems, as well as older systems that existed before his time. Dollar General has a SEGA Genesis for $40.
6. Beats by Dre (from $199.95) – One of the boys has a set of Beats and he adores them, and has surprisingly taken good care of them. As a result, we’ve heard several acapella versions of Hotline Bling.
7. Smartphone VR – This generation of teens loves tech gadgets and there are VR sets for your smartphones all over the place. What I like is that they don’t seem to cost too much. You can get a Google Cardboard compatible one here for $29.95.