Quality time is nice and all, but if you're looking for great cheap gifts, try Amazon's Blu-ray sales this week. Lots of awesome Blu-rays for under $5...

go to kohls.com, sign up for their email alerts.
in about a week you'll get a $5 off $5 coupon in your email. lots of stuff for just over $5 in their stores if you shop carefully.

sign up for a dozen different email addresses on gmail, then sign all those up at kohl's too. A few per week keeps it simple. Technically, it's one per person, but if you go to a different checkout at the store, you can easily use 2 in one trip on 2 transactions. wait a week, then repeat. with gmail addresses you can get 2 coupons per email by signing them up as
@gmail.com and then again as @googlemail.com... they both will show up to the same gmail address.

I think you could get a gift for everyone on your list and still stay in your price range with this gift. It is simple yet powerful and say, "I love you"
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001O4IEJK/sr=8-4/qid=1321839578/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&qid=1321839578&sr=8-4&seller=

Tech support? Get them on free AV Avast this will save the average user $40 a year. Have them download teamviewer and work on the pc remotely.

Send a good old-fashioned hand written post card!

@aphroat: Hmm I think you misunderstood the question.

Anyways, I agree with @ohcheri the best gifts are the memories and experiences you create.

I think your girlfriend would love if you cooked her a very nice candle lit dinner.

Another idea would be to take your girlfriend on a nice adventure throughout the beach (if you live by the coast), then point to the sky and name a star after her or claim a star to be y'all's star! Be sure to remember the star so you can point it out later in life!

Good luck with your grad apps... hmm that reminds me I should be working on those too! :-/

Speak to them in person or call them and tell them how important they are in your life. I know that can be hard sometimes (for some of us men) but it is so much better than sending a card or email.

Switch the tags on some random gifts to your name, no money spent besides some white out and a pen.

Or if you're not that cheap you could always maybe bake some cookies or something and mail them out, or make some sort of non perishable item. A few years ago a friend of mine had some leftover clay so I made some lopsided ashtrays and unusable mugs. I still see them around from time to time.

If you're even moderately crafty, you could make something without spending a lot of money. It doesn't have to be elaborate hand-knit scarves or anything-- something like a nice cookie-mix-in-a-jar works. (Google will help you find many versions of instructions for that.)

If you're not at all crafty, odds are you know some other equally broke college students who are. Ask around and find out if any of your friends crochet or bake or make jewelry or whatever. See if you can commission them to make some gifts at a price that's fair to both of you. Your friend gets some money to help with their own holiday expenses, and you get to give out presents you can say are custom-made. Win-win.

We do a pre-Christmas party and exchange with my extended family every year. This would work out to buying 9 or 10 extra gifts, which would be difficult for my young, growing family. I'd hate to be the one getting things that were obviously "less than" when some of my aunts and uncles have gifted us wine and other thoughtful items, so I bake. Cookies, brownies, fudges... for minimal expense I can buy ingredients and festive little cookie tins from Target or Walmart (or even the dollar store) and make everyone something they might not have the time to do themselves in the holiday rush.