This year, we gave him the gift of baked goods. Each month, he gets to pick a baked item and we’ll make it for him. This month, he chose banana muffins, which I wrapped individually for him to put in the freezer and eat as desired. He loves it!

I got an electric heater last year and they aren’t more cost effective than gas unless you consider the fact that it costs less to heat one room with electric than the whole house with gas. It’s only a good idea if a small are is all you need heat for.

We like to give/receive gift cards for our favorite restaraunts. That allows us to go out without guilt that we are spending too much.

Last year I purchased a Heated Mattress Pad.

It uses relatively little electricity and has greatly reduced my heating bill.

Highly recommended.

I would recommend Sanyo Eneloops – these are low-discharge rechargeables and have gotten very high reviews.

If you have a Costco membership, there is a set for $25.99 that includes a charger, 8 AAs, 4 AAAs, 2 C adapters, 2 D adapters, and a hard carrying case – a great deal!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7145221.stm

and thought it might be interesting to the readers here.

How about buying gift vouchers/cards (for a store you know you’re going to shop at) on-line, at upto 20% discount, then go buy what you were planning to buy with the voucher.

In regards to rechargeable batteries, my girlfriend and I have made a habit of including a charger (if the recipient doesn’t have one) and some batteries whenever we buy someone a new tech gift that requires batteries.

I like photography. For my two close friends and their spouse/girl friend, I printed out two enlargements for each couple. I framed them and signed the photographs saying they would be worth something when I get famous!

While the quaintness of using “old tools” is appealing (I use hand-planes and chisels in my woodworking instead of the electron burning variety…), can you at least have the honesty to call it that? The shave is not better, and I’m not convinced of the frugality of it, either. I *HAVE* a safety razor, and the shave is EXTREMELY less “close” than a multi-bladed version. The multi-blades last a LOT longer (whether one chooses to USE them longer, is up to the user of course), the shave is closer, and the time taken is measurably smaller. Now maybe your time is worth nothing to you, but mine is not. Have you factored that into your equation?

This topic should be in Consumer Reports – “We know the price of everything and the value of nothing.”

The efficiency of an electric space heater rarely has anything to do the heater itself but with the environment it is operated in.

This is because all electric heaters are actually 100% efficient in its heat production. All heaters , no matter its price, always produce heat at a rate of 3412 BTU/1KWH. That is, if you run a 1000 Watt heater for an hour, it produces 3412 BTU.

In terms of dollar/BTU, electricity from power company is, at least in my area, about 13.5x more expensive than natural gas. My rate is $.09/THM for natural gas and $1.22/THM for electricity.

Oh and a new power drill. Not so much horsepower that it weights five kilos and the batter lasts 5 minutes – something light and portable.

Last year DH got me a book on Permaculture. We don’t have a permaculture garden yet, but it’s a dream of mine, and I so enjoyed reading it.

Also the Reiker (http://www.fanheatlight.com/) heated ceiling fan is an amazing alternative to space heaters. Its a ceiling fan with 4 heating elements built in so it circulates heated air and shuts the elements off until its down to only one to maintain the temp. The fan is a bit pricey at $300 but as an electrician who has install many fans I can tell you it is of very high quality and the heater works amazingly well.

The Wii’s battery-hungry ways, plus our baby’s battery-powered vibrating bassinet, caused us to get the very same rechargeable battery set you mentioned. I estimate that sucker saved us about $20 this year alone considering the amount of times have been recharged. A few of the batteries are starting to lose their “umph” but that’s not a bad deal for as much abuse as we’ve given them.

As far as tools, I swear by the good old Craftsman name for all of my hand tools. I like their lifetime warranty (even though I’ve never had to use it). I was delighted last Christmas when I received my very first set of new tools! All of my tools before then had been hand-me-downs of varying quality and condition. There’s nothing like breaking in a new set of screwdrivers by going around your house on Christmas afternoon tightening all the screws you can find!

We purchased one 2 years ago and over the course of one winter our electric bill nearly doubled. It was rated ‘energy efficient’ and only used maybe 4 days a week and then only for 2-3 hours at a time. We have found that its in fact cheaper to keep the inside doors open and let the air flow naturally and thereby holding a more constant temperature than using a space heater to heat an area. Better to go with a new thermostat.

Only used it that one winter and donated in the spring to charity with a note taped on it “May increase electric bill substantially”. Merry Christmas!

A photo album with some handwritten notes would be a nice thoughtful, yet not overly time consuming present.