Frugal people are often the hardest to buy winning gifts for. Quite often, frugal people don’t want things that don’t have obvious utility or that don’t match their tastes well – it’s just “stuff” that takes up space. At the same time, they don’t often go for the obvious gift stuff, either – they really don’t need another tie or so on.

So what’s a person to do if they’re going to buy a gift for a frugal person? At the same time, what kind of sane answer can I give in response to that question?

Over the last few years, these questions have confronted me face to face many times. After some careful consideration (both for my own purposes and for The Simple Dollar), I’ve come up with a handful of general guidelines that will help in purchasing gifts for any frugal person – or might help a frugal person come up with gift ideas.

Focus on core passions. Get to know the person you’re buying for. What are they passionate about? What do they spend their free time doing? For me, the answers are pretty easy – I read, I write, I cook, and I play games with friends. So, for me, books are a good idea, as are nice notebooks. Good kitchen items are good, as are quality food items (like great cheeses). Board games are also good.

If you don’t know what specific item to get, get a passion-focused gift card or gift certificate. For example, a gift card for me to Barnes and Noble or Williams-Sonoma or Funagain Games wouldn’t be a bad idea. Why? This lets the person indulge in what they’re passionate about without feeling guilty about spending their hard-earned money on something extraneous.

Buy a single quality item instead of several of lower quality. Frugal people value things that are well-made and that will stand the test of time. Get a frugal person one good gift instead of three low-quality ones. Get them one good knife instead of a block of mediocre ones.

Consumables usually work. If you know a frugal person who likes chocolate, get that person a few bars of really good chocolate. If you know a frugal person who likes cheese, get them a chunk of Maytag Blue. If you’re gifting a beer loving frugal person, get a six pack from your local microbrewery – or if the person likes wine, go to a local winemaker.

A high quality food item in line with their tastes is usually quite enjoyed for several reasons. For one, it’s an indulgence they would likely not spend their money on. For another, it’s not yet another item that takes up space in their home because it’s consumed.

Avoid stuff that isn’t obviously useful or isn’t in line with their core values. Frugal people are often utilitarians, which means they don’t see great value in items that don’t fulfill a specific need or a specific use in their life. Avoid the kinds of gifts that rely heavily on aesthetic appeal unless you intimately know their aesthetics. If you miss their aesthetics, you’re just going to give them a gift that frustrates them.

In general, these are good gift-giving strategies for most people. The real core of the message here is to simply put a bit of thought into the gifts you give. “It’s the thought that counts” is often said tritely, but it’s really true: a little thought at gift-giving time goes a long way.

Out of nowhere, though, the person emailed me a link to their wedding registry. It had been emailed to a lot of people, apparently – everyone in their email address book. The email included a generic invitation to pick out one of the hundreds of items they had selected.

I deleted the email. This was greed, pure and simple.

After receiving it, though, the issue of gift registries stuck in my mind. What exactly is tasteful behavior for a gift registry? Also, what kind of items should one put on such a registry?

Here are some of my accumulated thoughts on the matter.

Should I Have A Registry At All?
Over the years, a few readers have emailed me asking whether or not they should even have a gift registry for their wedding or baby shower. Usually, their concern was tackiness – isn’t it tacky to make a big list of the stuff you want? Didn’t we outgrow making gift wish lists when we were kids?

To tell the truth, I’m completely in favor of gift registries for such occasions. Most people have large social networks that want to buy gifts for weddings or for new babies, but they might not necessarily know what a good gift is. By making a registry, you help them out – and also (partially) ensure that you don’t get redundant items.

How Should I Let People Know Tastefully About the Registry?
Similarly, I have no objection to letting people know about the registry under one condition: they’re invited to some sort of celebration of the event.

For example, if a person isn’t invited to your wedding or reception, they should not be told about your wedding registry. Similarly, if a person is not invited to a baby shower of some sort, they shouldn’t be told about your baby registry.

Thus, I find the appropriate place to mention a registry is in an invitation. Include a simple extra slip of paper that simply says, “For your convenience, there is a gift registry at Target” or whatever location is useful to you and to your guests.

Do not suggest people buy gifts from your registry if they’re not close to you – or at least not close enough to receive invitations to your event. Doing so will not get you more gifts, but it will ensure that those people look poorly upon you.

What Should I Ask For?
Many people simply put everything they could think of that they could possibly want on their registry. I know we did this – we simply walked down the aisles at Target and put literally hundreds of items on the registry.

Bad strategy. We wound up getting a bunch of things that we didn’t really need on our wedding day.

Instead, the best place to start is with a list at home. Over a period of time, identify the things you would actually use. Look for things that really need to be replaced if you’re making a wedding registry. If you’re doing a baby registry, ask parents, particularly those with kids under the age of four or so, because there are many baby items that seem like a good idea, but are actually pretty useless in practice.

Also, make sure you have a wide variety of values on the list – and have more less-expensive items than very expensive items. Don’t load your registry down with a bunch of $300 items – not many guests will be able to easily afford those items. Instead, seek out items with a wide price range – it’s fine to put a few big items on it, but have more inexpensive items on it. Think of it this way: even if someone is intending to spend quite a bit on you for a gift, they can always grab multiples of the less expensive items.

A final tip: if you choose items of direct and immediate use to you, there are several benefits. First, it becomes much easier to write thank you notes for the item, because you can comment truthfully on how you’re using the item instead of having to find tactful things to say. Second, if it’s something you’re actually using, it’s made your life easier and saved you money and probably time, which is what gifts in these situations usually hope for. Finally, it’s much easier to show your item in use to gift-givers should they stop in – for example, if you ask for a pan you’ll actually use, you don’t have to “drag it out” to impress someone.

In short, if you’re authentic from the start about what you want and need, that authenticity follows all the way through, from the gift itself to saying thank you for it and when you’re actually using it. And that’s the best outcome of all, for both the giver and the recipient.

Any other thoughts on gift registries?

This reader, who we’ll call Maggie, receives an over-the-top lavish gift from her great aunt each year. Her aunt loves buying the perfect gift for everyone in her family and, because she’s well off, she can afford to spend the time and the money in order to find that gift.

What I found interesting is that even though quite often the gift was a truly thoughtful and beautiful gift, Maggie reacts to it with only mild happiness towards the gift. I would have been ecstatic to receive the most recent gift – an Amazon Kindle with a $250 gift certificate to the Kindle Store – but Maggie did not.

In fact, what she felt was a mix of feelings, and most of them were negative. She knows her aunt loves her without the lavish gifts. She thinks that the money spent on the gifts would be better served going to charity or even kept in her aunt’s coffers so that she’d be okay in the event of something awful. She appreciates the gifts, but often finds much more meaning in the much less expensive gifts given to her by her mother, which are usually handmade or are extremely carefully thought out. And she also finds it difficult to relate to the life of a person who can throw around money so easily, buying everyone in the family gifts that push into the four figures for every holiday and birthday.

Maggie’s aunt has her heart in the right place, don’t get me wrong. It’s awesome that she’s so giving of what she has. But Maggie might better be served giving smaller gifts and instead perhaps putting the money she wants to give to her family into accounts for each of them, to be given when she passes away. This way, the aunt gets the joy of giving thoughtful gifts, is able to show her love through her largesse and make the recipient’s life more enjoyable, and doesn’t have to deal with the side effects.

Are you like that aunt, giving sometimes over-the-top gifts to the people you care about? You might be surprised to find out that sometimes the gift isn’t really all it’s cracked up to be, like the gifts from Maggie’s aunt. Here are six things to consider.

Overspending is not love.
Maggie knows her aunt loves her regardless of the gifts that she receives from her. This love isn’t formed under the Christmas tree. It’s formed with phone calls, afternoons on the front porch, family reunions, and big life events. Maggie doesn’t love her aunt because of Amazon Kindles – she loves her aunt because her aunt has been there for the big moments in her life and has been there for her when she needed her. That’s what love is, not stuff.

Overspending puts you at risk, and that hurts the recipient.
While Maggie’s aunt might be in a very strong financial position, many big gift-givers are not. Consider what happens if you give an expensive gift, then find yourself declaring bankruptcy soon. You’ve just given a second gift to your recipient: guilt. Your loved ones do not want to see you in a financially pinched situation where it’s difficult for you to live your own life. Don’t stretch things just so you can buy a gift that’s actually beyond your means, because the consequences will hurt both you and the recipient.

Overspending can create family rifts in unexpected places.
Imagine, if you will, Maggie’s mother. She might truly wish to be able to afford such lavish gifts as Maggie’s aunt tosses out, but she cannot. So she may feel inferior and guilty because of it. Imagine, for example, Maggie herself, who receives the items but then wonders whether the money used might not have been better used somewhere else. Little tics like that add up over time, over a period of many years where expensive gifts are sent and little bruises add up. I’ve watched it happen in my own family over similar circumstances – little, seemingly insignificant things build up and erode away a once-strong relationship.

Overspending can create inflated expectations.
Alternately, imagine one of my old school pals whose grandparents got into a routine of giving him amazing Christmas gifts. One year he received a Nintendo from them, followed later by a Sega Genesis and then the following year a computer. He loved those items, but he also came to expect something awesome from his grandparents, so when their financial situation changed and they skipped Christmas one year, he accepted it on the surface, but on a lot of levels he was hurt by the change. He had spent months looking forward to a great Christmas surprise that suddenly had disappeared. While this may seem like a greedy child, it actually was not – he didn’t actually care that much about the items themselves. He mostly felt, through the emotional lens of a child, that he had somehow done something wrong and let them down, and it really dragged him down for quite a while.

Overspending doesn’t compensate for other mistakes.
Many guys tend to try to cover up for a big faux pas by buying an exorbitant gift for their wife – it’s so common, it’s often joked about in pop culture. While the gift might be appreciated, it’s not the gift that brings about the forgiveness for the mistake – it’s the fact that the husband seems to be truly showing regret. Instead of feeling like an exorbitant gift is in order, perhaps a more direct and true showing of your feelings might actually be what’s needed – and it might save a pretty penny, too.

Overspending can send the wrong message to others.
One year, I splurged on my nieces and nephews and bought them some stellar Christmas gifts. I found out much later that other members of the family didn’t interpret these as gifts for children, but as attempts as showing other family members up by buying the “best” gifts for the kids. What was intended as a gift to make a child happy instead turned into underlying resentment and some form of “Christmas Cold War” that wound up basically eliminating our family’s gift exchanges after a few years.

If you’re tempted to really splurge on a special gift for someone, think carefully about the reason you’re doing it and the potential consequences. Not only might the purchase be the wrong financial move, it also might be the wrong choice for everyone involved, including the recipient.

Because of this, I encourage people to give carefully considered gifts, not exorbitant ones. A well thought out $20 gift for someone is almost always better than an off-the-cuff $100 gift, any day of the week.

To a bookstore.

Ordinarily, this kind of thing is just something to laugh off and not worry about, but the whole situation made me think seriously about gift cards, and it made me realize that there are a lot of interesting little problems related to them.

Should you use a gift card as soon as possible after receiving it? I’ve come to believe that this is the optimal strategy for gift card use. Why? First of all, if you don’t use it, you tend to forget about it (and potentially lose it). According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, “More than 10 percent of the $58.3 billion in gift cards bought [in 2006] won’t be used”. Why? Often, it’s because they’re simply lost or forgotten about in a desk drawer somewhere. I know that we had a spa gift certificate for years floating around – it finally got lost in the move.

A second factor to consider is inflation. Let’s say, hypothetically, that you have a gift certificate worth $100 to a health food store. With inflation at 9%, if you hold onto that card for a year, you’ll only get roughly $91 (in today’s dollars) worth of stuff when you finally use it. Our spa certificate was for $50 off a couple’s massage – when we received it, the couple’s massage at that spa was $89. Now it’s $129.

My advice? If you have a gift card, use it as soon as you can. This eliminates the risk of forgetting about it or losing it and also prevents inflation from eating away some of the value of the card.

How should you handle spending “over” the amount of the card? I know that if I walked into a bookstore with a $25 gift card, the likelihood is that I would spend some small amount over the value of the card just to make sure I used all of it. If not, I’d keep the card around in my pocket and then use it in such a way in the future.

In either case, the presence of a gift card often subtly encourages us to spend money we wouldn’t otherwise spend. I often use them as justification – I can now get this $29.99 item I don’t really need for only $4.99! – for completely unnecessary purchases.

What’s a good strategy to adopt here? Go with a friend or two and then spend less than the value of the gift card. Then, if your friend is also making a purchase anyway, slip them the remainder of your card. Not only will they appreciate it, you also won’t find yourself stumbling to spend the last little bit of that gift card.

What if you don’t want the gift card at all? Not too long ago, I won a gift card to Sephora. For those unaware, Sephora is a store that sells cosmetics. What use could I have for such a card, really? I’m a guy living in Iowa who prefers to dress in blue jeans and comfortable shirts.

You have several options here, but my favorite is to simply re-gift such a card. Find someone you know who might actually use the card and give it to them, either for a gift-giving occasion or just because you can. This either serves a purpose of giving you a very inexpensive gift for someone or else helps you cement a relationship with someone. In either case, it’s an added value for you.

In my opinion, gift cards only work as a gift if you know they fill a specific desire of a person. Give a book lover a gift certificate to a bookstore and they’ll love you for it (especially if you’ve slipped it inside a gift of a paperback you think they’ll love or one that holds special meaning for you). Give it to someone you don’t know well and they’ll probably just shrug their shoulders. If you’re in a situation where you’re giving someone something as generalized as a Target gift card – one that doesn’t match any sort of specific interest or attribute about the recipient – just give them cash. Cash is the gift card that works anywhere, after all.

As for my book store gift certificate, I’m going to hold onto it until the end of my pledge. Using it now seems like cheating – and a sure way to convince myself to spend a little more and completely destroy my pledge.

In most of our lives, there seems to be a never-ending string of gift giving occasions – birthdays, graduations, baby showers, wedding showers, and so on. That often means a never-ending string of gifts to give, and because we’re all so busy and harried, it’s often easier just to pop onto Amazon.com or into a local shop and quickly pick out some material item that we guess they’d like. A few minutes, a few dollars, and it’s done: a social check-box filled with a material item that both of you will forget in a month.

The amazing part of all of this is it’s often less expensive, much more meaningful, and often less time-intensive to give a gift that’s meaningful and personal. Gifts like that don’t involve a trip to Wal-Mart (possibly for components, but not for the gift itself) – they involve just a bit of thought and care.

Doubt it? Here are some ideas.

A blank card where you write the note in your own handwriting. Don’t spend $5 on the Hallmark special for a card for an occasion. Instead, just buy a bunch of blank ones and write notes on the inside in your own handwriting. Don’t know what to write? Save poem snippets and such that you like in a box somewhere and use those for the right occasion – if you read a poem that makes you think of someone, save it and use it in there. The minute it takes you to write a nice handwritten note is far less time than it takes to sift through the overpriced cards at the store – and more meaningful and cheaper, too.

Baby shower? Give a certificate or two for nights of free babysitting. Again, this just takes a minute or two now – write it out on a slip of paper and put it in the card. Later on, when they redeem it, it’ll be a gift that they’ll cherish – an evening of free time with their spouse to have a nice dinner and rekindle their marital relationship without the child around. That’s an amazing gift – and it comes from being a caring friend, not from being a department store shopper.

Graduation? Send homemade care packages to a college student. Give them a card telling them that you’ll give them their graduation gift when they go away to college, then send them a few hand-made care packages – homemade cookies, snapshots of their home and families and places they hung out at in high school or local events, or even better, a letter bundle – collect short notes from several of their friends still at home, wishing them well. Make a video tape or a DVD of stuff from home and include it. Send some basic toiletries, too (whatever you can get very cheaply with a coupon) – I was always glad to receive these in college. Two or three of these throughout that first college semester will mean far more than $20 in a Hallmark card at the graduation party.

Wedding shower? Make them an address book. Ask the organizer for the names and addresses of everyone attending the shower, then fill out an address book for the person getting married. You can even contact the organizer of other showers to help with this. A basic address book can be had for pennies, but you can make something incredibly special out of it by doing this.

Or make them a “friends and family” cookbook. Ask all of the guests for recipes (esp. of foods the married couple liked as they were growing up), then assemble them together in the cookbook. Aunt Martha’s lasagna recipe, written out in careful detail, will alone mean more than the blue light special.

Anything you can make is a great gift. Here are a few cool ideas I’ve experienced.
- I like making food items for people as gifts – homemade bread and pasta, especially.
- My wife likes making homemade cookies and also makes homemade soap.
- One of our closest friends is a great photographer who likes finding personally meaningful things for people, taking the photographs, framing them, and giving them as gifts.
- Another person I know does the exact same thing with her sketches and watercolors.
- One friend crochets and knits all year long when relaxing, making scarves and socks and sweaters and afghans for people as Christmas gifts.
- My sister-in-law once gave us a journal made out of homemade paper and a piece of wire. The paper and covers had been washed, pulped, gently colored, and re-pressed into handmade sheets. My wife and I loved it.
- I’ve received many compelling and thoughtful mixtapes over the years that introduced me to lots of interesting music (india.arie, for one).

It works even for kids… One of my son’s favorite toys is a sturdy handmade picture book depicting all of his family and people he knows with their names spelled out under them. It’s just photos glued firmly onto stiff scrapbook pages with writing underneath. He went through a phase not long ago where this was his favorite item on Earth.

What do all of these gifts have in common? They all say “I care” far more than the Wal-Mart special – and they’re all quite thrifty, too.

And as for souvenirs while traveling, my solution is simple: I don’t buy them, period. Souvenirs are synonymous with schlock in my mind. I can return from a trip with the memory card in my digital camera full of pictures and have more than enough to remember the trip by. I don’t need a physical item to remind me of somewhere I’ve been; my memory is good enough.

I guess the question really is what value are souvenirs – or what are souvenirs – for the frugal traveler. For example, my idea of souvenir isn’t a snow globe or a t-shirt at all (although I do sometimes buy shot glasses for my father, who has an enormous collection). Typically, I don’t buy souvenirs for myself (I’m content with memories and pictures), but for others. Because of that, and because of my own lack of interest in the items, I don’t buy the usual souvenir junk.

I try to look for the following:

Distinctive postcards If I have time when traveling, I try to send a distinctive postcard to people I care about. It takes a few minutes and only a dollar or two, and it always raises a smile, as it’s a reminder that the human connection between the two of you is valuable. You were willing to stop on your trip and take the time to send them a quick note and a visual reminder.

Items that aren’t native to where I’m from The further I travel from home, the more unusual the fare becomes. Thus, I usually try to look for items that aren’t native to where I’m from, but aren’t tourist schlock, either. On one trip, I picked up some salmon that had been smoked overnight, flew home with it, and gave it to my father in the evening – he utterly loved it. That, to me, is a great souvenir, not some schlocky t-shirt.

An item the recipient will genuinely enjoy When I travel, I try as hard as I can to find a local chocolatier to get local chocolates for my wife. Sometimes I am successful – I found some incredible spicy chocolates on one trip – but other times, I end up with regional brands that aren’t particularly special but aren’t found in our local area either.

In short, I attempt to find things that have value outside of the context of the trip itself. I try to find things that would bring genuine enjoyment to the people that would receive it, like the simple and personal touch of a postcard or some distinctive chocolate for my wife. If it becomes an unwanted item, gathering dust or being only worn on weekends while cleaning the house, there’s no reason to bother.

In the end, souvenirs are in the same boat as any gift-giving situation: is it something that the recipient actually would enjoy and value? If you’re not sure of that answer, the souvenir should probably stay on the shelf.

Why I Should Cash Them In

The cash value will almost assuredly be greater in the long run in a 529. As I discussed before with my own savings bonds, the amount of money one could make in another investment far exceeds the returns one could expect from a savings bond. By cashing the bond in now and moving the cash straight into my child’s 529, the return is likely to be much better than just sitting on the bond.

Since these bonds were given as a gift for the child’s future, it makes sense to maximize the return. Savings bonds are given to children with the intention of providing them with money later that, in theory, they’ll use responsibly. That’s the exact reason why I’m putting money into their 529 – to provide them with money that they’ll use responsibly in the future. Why not consolidate the money where it will get the best return?

Why I Shouldn’t Cash Them In

The gift was not a contribution to their 529. The gift that was given was a savings bond, not a contribution to a 529. A savings bond quite often is bought for different reasons – the money is being invested in the government, not into corporations, for example, and the bond money, when cashed, can be used for any purpose, not just education.

The bond offers a guaranteed rate of return – the 529 does not. Although the odds are good that the 529 would put more money in the child’s pockets in eighteen years than the savings bond would, the bond is the one that guarantees a rate of return. The other investment does not.

Cashing in the bond might be socially questionable. It’s the equivalent of taking a gift that’s just fine and exchanging it because it doesn’t match your tastes. For some, that’s completely appropriate – for others, it’s a questionable social move.

My Plan

In the past, I would have just shrugged my shoulders, stuck the savings bond in our safe, and not worried about it. This “solution” was mostly borne out of a fear of money management and also a fear of how to talk about money with others. Now, my solution would be somewhat different.

First, I would have a conversation with the gift giver about the reasons they gave the bond to the child. Did they want the child to use it for college? For something fun when they were older? Did they really not care that much – they just wanted to give a financially responsible gift? Maybe it was just a way to buy a government bond.

Based on that discussion, I might tell them about the 529 and (possibly) ask about whether they would want the bond to contribute to that. This is usually the best option if the gift was given without a purpose, or with just the purpose of paying for school – if there are other issues at play, I’ll usually just put the bond away. I usually explain how the 529 works, how I’m contributing to it, and answering any questions they might have.

Regardless, I won’t convert the bond and add it to the 529 without approval. Most of the time, honestly, the bond will likely remain as a savings bond. However, in the case of at least one of the bonds, I’m pretty sure I will be redeeming it and depositing it into their 529 account.

What it really comes down to is this: was the gift given to help a child with college? If that answer is yes and you’re able to have a healthy and mature conversation with the gift-giver, it might be worthwhile to see how they feel about it. Otherwise, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth – leave the bond as it is.

I am continually blown away by the creativity and generosity of this woman. She lives on Social Security and saves up throughout the year to do this for us. She’s a quiet old lady who lives with her disabled son. She doesn’t have internet access and mostly spends her time reading and such. We talk on the phone each week and I make a strong effort to make sure she sees her great grandchildren each month.

Because of her relative poverty, I feel a strong sense of guilt when I receive her Christmas gift. She’s really the only person whose gifts I feel guilty receiving, because everyone else is spending at least somewhat within their means.

She puts a tremendous amount of thought into the gifts, and it’s one of the high points of her year when she sees me sit there in almost stunned silence, appreciating the gift. And I do appreciate it – more than perhaps any gift I receive in a given year, her gifts come with a lot of love packaged with them.

At the same time, I am aware of the challenges she faces in her life. I know she has difficulty paying her bills sometimes, and I know that the financial burden placed on her by her son’s situation makes things very tight at times for her.

I’ve found, from talking to many people, that there are a lot of us out there who are in a similar situation with someone in their life. A friend, an older relative, someone who showers us with overabundant generosity to their own detriment. We often receive their care with great appreciation, but also with a sense of guilt and confusion about what the appropriate response is.

After some discussion and thought about it, this is how my wife and I have decided to handle it.

We will accept the gift gracefully and happily. The gift is very important to my grandmother to give – it’s something that makes her quite happy. If she chooses to spend her money in this way, so be it.

We won’t compete with her in terms of gifts. Some people might decide to try to make a “gift race” out of it. All that does is encourage consumerism. We’ll continue to get her appropriate gifts, but we won’t turn it into a gifting arms race.

We will offer her help in other ways. I keep in contact with her throughout the year and, if she runs into trouble with her bills or something else, I’ll help her out. Similarly, I continue to make an effort to keep her as a part of my life – she’s my grandmother, and she’s been wonderful to me since the day I was born.

We don’t feel confrontation or a request to cut it down would really help. First of all, it creates a sense of hard feeling that doesn’t need to be there. Second, she’s far too stubborn and would likely ignore us anyway. This is something we’ve actually gone back and forth on, but we finally decided that the downsides of discussing it and encouraging her to stop isn’t worth the joy she gets out of the gift giving.

How do you handle this situation in your own life? Please speak up in the comments.

I will say this much: as a 29 year old, I’ve had far more fun with the Wii than I’ve had with any video game console since perhaps my Super Nintendo back in my early teenage years. Even better, it’s given me hours and hours of fun and bonding time with both my wife and with my nephews. It really is an impressive gaming device for busy people like me and for the family.

Anyway, as many of you may have already found, the biggest challenge is actually getting ahold of the system. If you’ve already got your Wii, you’re far ahead of the pack, as all of the games and accessories are pretty easy to find.

If you don’t already have a Wii in hand, Wired Magazine has a great guide to scoring a Wii. It mostly repeats the best ideas for finding any gift, with a few specific Wii tips. I’ve helped three people in the area find a Wii this year, and the best success I’ve had is with stopping at Target at the moment they open on Sundays, bolting straight to their electronics section, and asking for a Wii.

Please note that I’m going to link accessory and game titles to Amazon.com so you can read more reviews if you wish. Wii games, for the most part, have identical prices on Amazon and at your local retailers, so if you have coupons at your local retailer (like our handy 10% off your whole order coupons we get for Target), buy the accessories and games there. You can also sometimes find 5 to 10% discounts on accessories and games at warehouse stores like Sam’s Club, BJ’s, or Costco.

Most Useful Accessories
The basic Wii controller is the remote – it looks like a television remote control. Every game uses this as a controller in some capacity, and there are other devices that plug into the remote for some games. The most common plug-in device is the nunchuk, which is used in the majority of games (but not all of them).

The Wii system comes with one remote (needed for all games), one nunchuk (used in many games), and a copy of Wii Sports (a tremendously fun game). The first thing you need to ask is how many people might be playing the Wii simultaneously on a regular basis? For us, that number was two, so that means we bought another Wii remote and nunchuk. If you have three regular users, get two remotes and two nunchuks. Before you buy a remote, though, read this whole post.

You may want to also get a battery charging system, because the remotes use two AA batteries. I have had a lot of success with converting all of the AA and AAA battery devices in my home to the Energizer e2 rechargeable batteries – these batteries work really well even after a ton of recharges, though the individual batteries are a bit pricy.

If you have wireless internet access at home, the Wii will be able to hook up to it and you can use the Wii to download inexpensive classic video games originally made for the Nintendo, Super Nintendo, N64, and Sega Genesis. All of the old Super Mario Brothers games are available for download, for example. These are paid for with Wii points, which you can also buy at the store in the form of small cards which have a code on the back – entering that code . A Wii point basically costs a cent, and you can permanently download games for 500 to 1000 points. If you plan on doing this, though, you may want to get a Wii Classic Controller, as some of these games require a controller for more buttons (games originally released for the Super Nintendo, N64, and Genesis require the classic controller; NES originals – like the four original Super Mario Bros. games – do not). I’ve had a lot of fun playing these old games, but they may or may not be of interest to you. This old game download stuff is not necessary at all to use the Wii, just an interesting side excursion.

Bargain Games
The best game bargain for the Wii is Wii Sports, which comes free in the box. It is an amazingly fun game and extremely simple for anyone to pick up. It uses motion control to simulate playing five simple sports games – bowling, baseball, golf, boxing, and tennis. For example, when playing tennis, you just swing the remote to hit the ball. With bowling, you swing the remote with a bowling motion and release a button to release the ball. With baseball, you just swing the remote like a bat. It’s quite fun for everyone – my wife and I play bowling and tennis quite a bit, and my oldest nephew loves baseball and is far better than I am at it.

Wii Play has the normal $50 game price, but it has a very nice freebie in the box – a Wii remote. Since the remotes list for $40, that means if you’re going to buy a Wii remote anyway, Wii Play costs $10, a pretty good deal. Wii Play is a collection of simple mini games – they’re fun, but not exceptionally good. Some of them are far better than others and the game should provide a few hours of entertainment.

Link’s Crossbow Training is a new release costing only $25, and it comes with a “light gun” that, when attached to the Wii Remote, transforms it into something similar to the old Light Zapper for the original Nintendo. The game itself is pretty fun and easy to pick up – it’s basically a series of target practice games set in the Legend of Zelda universe. You basically use a “crossbow” to hit targets of various kinds from various distances, with growing levels of difficulty.

By default, the Wii can play any games made for Nintendo’s previous system, the GameCube, provided you have a GameCube controller (which can be found for just a few dollars). Since the GameCube wasn’t a big-selling system like the PlayStation 2 or the XBox, GameCube games can be found on the cheap, and there are some real gems for the system. For under $10, you can find games like Super Mario Sunshine, Wind Waker, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Sands of Time, Pikmin, or the amazingly compelling (and sometimes extremely emotional) Animal Crossing.

Best Games
If there is a single “must have” game for the Wii, it’s Super Mario Galaxy. It has the basic structure of most Mario games – run around, jump on mushrooms and turtles, save the princess – but the 3D graphics are gorgeous and the game is very long and in-depth. There’s a huge amount of variety within the game as well. Beating everything in the game will take countless hours and it will be a lot of fun doing it.

Aside from that, there are a lot of very good Wii games. I recommend any of these:

Guitar Hero III or Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party These games have a lot in common, so I’ll lump them together here. They’re both “rhythm” games, meaning that the game basically consists of hitting buttons in a rhythmic pattern in time with the music. Guitar Hero III comes with a controller that looks like a guitar and the songs are rock and roll oriented – the vast majority of the songs will be familiar to people who have ever listened to a classic rock station. Dance Dance Revolution uses dance club music and the control is handled by a floor mat that comes with the game – these songs are distinctly less familiar to my ears, but are quite catchy and very appropriate for the game. DDR will get you up off the couch, though, as it requires you to “dance” on the mat, hitting the buttons with your feet. I like both of these games, with a slight preference for Guitar Hero – my wife vastly prefers Guitar Hero because she doesn’t like dance music at all.

Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess This is a very long heroic quest game, excellently done from beginning to end. It has a multilayered adventure story that deals with self-identity, morality, and other such issues in a genuinely fun and still thought-provoking context. I’ve become engrossed in the depth of the world – one of the side quests allows you to go fishing extensively, and I’ve spent most of the time lately playing the game just fishing.

Madden NFL ‘08 This is the sports game for the system – if the person you’re giving the Wii to enjoys football at all, they’ll like this game. If you’re interested in playing along, it includes a “family play” mode (you’ve probably seen the ad for it, featuring an old lady in the middle of an NFL game shouting “This is my house!”) that greatly simplifies the controls so that anyone in the family can just pick it up and play. The regular version of the game is much more complex and nuanced, offering a lot of game to play through and master.

What Would I Do?
What would I buy if I were giving this system as a gift (besides, obviously, the system)? I’d give rechargeable AA batteries (along with a recharger), a single nunchuk controller, a copy of Wii Play, and one or two more games (depending on how much I was willing to spend). As default choices, the games would likely be Super Mario Galaxy and Guitar Hero III. As a parent, this would be my child’s Christmas gift, period.

If that’s too expensive (the total bill for the above would be close to $400), particularly if the system was for a child who would likely play by themselves, I would get the system, a GameCube controller ($10 or so) and a couple of the best GameCube games listed above ($5 to $10 a pop). That will provide a ton of gaming fun for now and keep the total bill under $300.

So I threw out the list and started over.

This time, not only did it have to be a good gift under $10 to make the list, it had to be one I would like to receive. Perhaps my tastes don’t match yours or the person you’re giving the gift to, but at least these gifts are known to appeal to someone.

That being said, here are twelve great frugal gifts I’d love to see under my tree.

High-quality basic tools My toolbox is filled with one dollar screwdrivers, most of which are stripped to some degree. A good, top quality screwdriver designed to last for years and years and years is a wonderful gift for a handyman – and can easily be found under $10.

Homemade powdered mixes I mentioned my hot chocolate powdered mix a few days ago, but I like any homemade mixes: spice mixes, popcorn flavoring mixes, and so on. Just mix it up and put it in a homemade jar and I’ll like it.

A memory stick full of memories If you have a USB memory stick sitting around, load it up with pictures, videos, and song files that express fond memories of the relationship you have with that person. Include a bunch of pictures of you both, your families, and so on. These can really be awesome.

A paperback novel that the giver really loves Think of the one book you’ve read in your life that had the most impact on you (or perhaps a small handful). See if it’s available in paperback. Bingo – great inexpensive gift. Even better, put a note inside the front cover that explains why you loved the book so much and why you want to share it.

A “coupon” for a big favor When my wife and I recently had a baby shower, one person gave us a coupon for a night of babysitting of both of our kids. It was the best gift we received, and it only cost the recipient a piece of paper. This is a great gift for parents, especially ones with multiple younger children – it’s hard for them to find time together.

A single pair of very warm, high quality socks Seriously, I get a pair or two every year and they’re among my favorite gifts. Nothing’s nicer than warm feet, especially if you live in a climate with a very cold winter.

A container of homemade cookies The container doesn’t have to be anything special – a large Gladware container will do. But the inside should be filled with the best homemade cookies you can possibly turn out.

A day of volunteering Similar to the coupon for babysitting but with more appeal to the environmentally and socially minded folks, a day of volunteering can be a great gift for someone. Agree to spend a Saturday volunteering for the local charity of their choice, doing stuff like hammering nails or picking up trash. Better yet, agree to go with the person on a volunteering outing, or offer to watch their children so they can participate.

An old-fashioned safety razor This sounds completely crazy, I know, but you can usually find a beautiful one if you ask around at resale shops for far less than $10, and then package it up with some razor blades. I am a big fan of shaving the “old fashioned” way, with a safety razor, though I don’t always do it (I sometimes use a cheap disposable in the shower when I’m in a big hurry). If you know of a young man who is shaving with disposables, give this as a gift and just see what happens.

Quality pens I have a burning, undying hatred for cheap pens, but the cost difference between a cheap Bic and a decent pen makes me often stick with the cheap ones. Because of that, I love a great pen as a gift, one of the low-end types you buy at a real pen store, not in the office supply section at Target. You can usually get a very nice pen for general use for right around that $10 sweet spot.

A picture frame Go find a nice, simple, elegant picture frame and gift it. Often, people feel obligated to put some picture inside the frame. Don’t. If you want to give some pictures, give several in an included envelope and say that they can choose one of those or anything else they might want.

A heartfelt, handwritten letter or note This one seems absolutely bonkers to some, but it is often the best gift someone can possibly give, especially to someone estranged. Sit down and take some time to just write a handwritten letter to someone important in your life. Tell them honestly how you feel about them, and if the relationship is strained, and put to rest any bad feeling you might have about the situation. It will leave you feeling much better and will often move the other person to tears.

The Dangerous Book for Boys This is perhaps my top choice for a Father’s Day gift (I’ve waxed ecstatic about it in the past), simply because it is loaded to the brim with wonderful, nostalgic, and inexpensive activities that fathers and their children can do together. I almost think the titular “boys” refers to fathers more than children, actually.

Yard work Mow the yard, trim the weeds and bushes, clean up the flower bed, and so on. Do this while you’ve told your father to go out and do something fun, like playing a couple rounds of golf with his friends.

Car wash and detailing Take a few hours and focus on really making your father’s primary automobile clean, inside and out. Scrub the whole exterior, wax it, and clean out the entire interior, including spraying down all of the surface and vacuuming everywhere, including the seats and the cracks between them. It’s an awesome gift that he’ll really appreciate.

Garage clean up This is something that my brothers and I did for our father once and it was a smash hit. We basically scrubbed down the garage, turning it from a dank pit into a very nice, clean place. The key part was that we noted where every item of importance was before we started cleaning and we put many of them back in the exact place we found them, save some tools and things that had designated places, so he had no trouble finding anything.

Make Magazine This is another item I’ve been quite excited about for a while and is perfect for a father who loves to tinker with things. Much like the Dangerous book above, a lot of these projects can easily revolve around fathers and their children – the cover of issue #10 even pictures the editor and his daughter working on a project together.

Home maintenance work Similar to the yard work concept, you could do some home maintenance tasks to give your father the gift of some free time to enjoy a baseball game or something else he would enjoy. Don’t know what to do? Here’s a useful checklist of tons of ideas for regular home maintenance. Just write down all of the things that you did and present that to him – he’ll be thrilled.

Garden weeding My brothers and I did this for Father’s Day one year. We pulled a ton of weeds out of the garden, saved them in a bag, and gave him the bag of weeds as a gift. With the three of us working on it like madmen for several hours while my parents were off doing something else, we saved him many hours of work in the garden, freeing him up to do other things that he would enjoy instead of the relative tedium of weeding.

Communication Sometimes it is hard, but spending some time to really communicate how important your father is to you can be the best Father’s Day gift you can give. Don’t run to Hallmark and buy a card – spend a half an hour and try to write down on a blank card in your own words how important and wonderful your father is.

Today, though, there are only a few that really stand out from the pack, gifts that really stuck with us and proved to be really useful in our life. In every case, these gifts were ones that helped us to be more frugal and do more things for ourselves. They’ve saved us money, saved us time, and helped us to build a richer relationship.

With that in mind, a reader sent me the following email this weekend:

What sort of possessions would give newlyweds a helping hand along their road to financial independence? An good example is a crock pot – affordable, useful and will save us many $$$ in the long run.

So, without further ado, here is The Simple Dollar’s Frugal Wedding Registry. All of these gifts should help a couple get on or stay on a solid financial path leading toward a very bright future together, both financial and otherwise.

For any couple: Smart Couples Finish Rich
Virtually all couples, when they are married, are not yet on the same financial page. That’s what this book is about – helping couples sit down and define their financial relationship, figure out if their financial goals match and ways to encourage the goals to match, and also plan for a lifetime of financial success together. They might forget about this gift at first in all of the hubbub around their wedding, but give it a year or two, and they’ll likely turn to this book when they discover that their financial life is leaving the honeymoon stage. At that point, this book is an incredibly valuable gift.

For the outdoorsy couple: A national or state park pass
If they enjoy backpacking, hiking, or camping, free access to state and national parks will provide them with many, many hours of wonderful experiences for free. Some of our nations’ most beautiful areas are in state and national parks, and I can’t tell you how many fond memories I have from hiking and walking in national parks with my wife in the early years of our marriage. We used a park pass at multiple parks across the northern tier of states and some of our best memories of our marriage come from those state and national parks.

For the time-constrained couple: A high quality crock pot, like the KitchenAid KSC700SS
Couples made up of two professionals often barely have time to see each other in the evening, let alone prepare a meal. So they burn money on takeout instead. With a crock pot, though, they can easily prepare their own meals in a few minutes before work, and have a delicious homecooked meal waiting for them when they arrive home. You can also print out my earlier posts on slow cookers, The Art of the Slow Cooker and By Request: Five Essential Crock Pot Recipes for inclusion with the gift, to give them some free materials to start off with.

For the couple without anything saved: A mutual fund
Buy them an appropriate amount of a mutual fund somewhere and tell them to hold onto it until they need it for a major purchase, like a home. This is a great gift to get a large group of relatives involved in. Just a few months ago, I saw a couple receive only one “major” gift: a $5,000 mutual fund that was to help them make a down payment when they went to buy a house in a few years.

For the do-it-yourself couple: A sewing machine
Some of you might immediately write this off as archaic, but an individual who thrives on making stuff for him/herself can get a ton of value out of a quality sewing machine. My wife has one and has made everything from curtains to pajamas to quilts with it – it’s one of the best gifts we’ve ever received.

For the kitchen-averse couple: How To Cook Everything
Forget Betty Crocker or even Joy of Cooking (even given my attachment to the latter), this is the single best book I’ve ever seen for beginning cooks. This book is loaded with details on preparation, explaining the finer points of almost every common culinary practice. The recipes (and there are a bunch of them) focus on a merger of simplicity and flavor in an effort to show beginning cooks that it is indeed easy to create something delicious in the kitchen. If you know someone who doesn’t cook for themselves much but has any potential at all, this is the book to give them.

For the food-loving couple: A high quality knife set
During our first few years together, we made do with a cheap knife set that made most tasks very difficult. When we upgraded to a high quailty knife set, it made all the difference in terms of our food preparation. Suddenly, it didn’t take an hour to chop vegetables, and with some practice on how to actually use a real knife, I was chopping carrots in fifteen seconds where before it would take eight minutes or so. This increase in speed got us to cook at home much more, and the knife set has paid for itself.

For the movie-addicted couple: A prepaid subscription to Netflix
If the couple loves watching movies together and has built up a large DVD library, that DVD library is probably sucking away a lot of their money each month. Get them a gift subscription to Netflix so that they’re not burning so much cash buying movies – and can instead find better uses for the money. My wife and I received a year-long subscription to the service and it massively cut down on our DVD buying habits.

For the thoughtful couple: Your Money or Your Life
This book, more than any other, presents a thought-provoking view of money’s role in a person’s life. It makes some very powerful connections between reducing spending and quality of life and provides a ton of interesting activities that can authentically change a person’s perspective about money in their life. If the couple is thoughtful and loves discussing things, get them a copy (or a pair of copies) of this book – they’ll find plenty to discuss in it, and may find themselves making better and more frugal financial choices as a result.

If all else fails…: Cash
For many, this seems unimaginative, but actually think about the bride and groom for a minute. They’ve just gone through a wedding that had great expense and may have put them in debt, and they’re about to embark on a married life that will probably involve even more debt. Help them out now with some cash, and maybe they won’t fall as deep into debt. I know that many of our friends and family gave us cash for our wedding several years ago with explicit instructions to use it to “get started,” so we used it to pay off some wedding, honeymoon, and credit card debt. Because of that, we had our wonderful wedding memories without the bad feelings of all of the debt we had to pay off.

Eventually, this tactic bit me very hard a few times: I found myself with literally no money on the day of a gift-giving occasion and no gift in sight – or even in mind. It was time to get desperate – and get creative.

Here are ten really inexpensive gift ideas that you can whip up quickly that will impress your friends and family – or, even better, be a gift they’ll really appreciate.

A recipe-in-a-jar
(i.e., everything you need to make a certain recipe) For Who? Anyone

Take a favorite recipe, make a copy of it, then put all of the non-perishable ingredients together in a jar or bottle. Most of the ingredients can already be found in most kitchens. You can tie a ribbon around the top or any other simple personalization you’d like. My favorite example of this was when I made cajun seasoning in a jar, but put it in a Corona bottle with a replaceable cap instead … it was a huge hit. Some great ones include gingerbread cookie mix in a jar, soup mixes in a jar, and hot chocolate mix in a jar. If you’re lazy, go to a coffee shop and fill a jar with about half a pound of beans or ground coffee, though this will be a bit more expensive.

A framed picture
For Who? Family members, friends

For grandparents, this is easy: pictures of grandchildren always do the trick. For others, it can be harder, but photos of moments that you shared together can usually work. Look through your digital photo archives, go get a one hour print of it (remember, last minute!), and while it’s printing, go find a nice picture frame to put it in.

A music memory stick
For Who? Techies, music fans

I have a bunch of memory sticks laying around that were given to me during various giveaways. I would feel pretty cheap giving them as gifts, but with a little spruce-up, they make great gifts. I load up the memory stick with a bunch of mp3s of my favorite songs (that I own, of course), then give the memory stick as a gift. It’s a legal way to share music with friends (the legal issues come with anonymous sharing) and it enables you to make a gift with utility and excitement out of stuff you might have laying around.

Babysitting
For Who? Parents

Get an envelope and a piece of paper. On the paper, write “One evening of babysitting.” Put it in the envelope. Seal it. Give it to parents of toddlers. Watch the tears of joy.

A computer spruce-up
For Who? Anyone who has a computer but isn’t highly technical

If you’re reading this, there’s a decent chance you’re technically proficient, and there’s also a very good chance you know someone with a computer who isn’t. Offer to give their computer a tune-up, which basically involves running a defragmenter, running Ad Aware, cleaning up their Startup folder, and so forth. You can even go the extra mile and pop open the case and give the insides a good cleaning, too. Many of my relatives really appreciate this gift, and it only takes me an hour or two to make their computer run noticeably faster.

Goodie assortment
For Who? Anyone

You probably have a fair idea of what foods really hit the buttons of your friends (hint: if all else fails, try chocolate for girls and meats for boys). Just go to the grocery store and select an assortment of appropriate finger foods. Put them in a box. Wrap it. Give it. For me, this would be cheeses, but that can run to the expensive; chocolate assortments can be pretty cheap. For teenagers, get them five random candy bars and they’ll flip (if you don’t believe me, try it … it almost always works!); the best part is that the gift can be assembled at the local 7-Eleven with pocket change.

A charitable contribution
For Who? Adults or charitable children

If the person is giving and doesn’t seem to really need anything, give a charitable donation in their name. Go print off some basic information about the charity as well as something showing your gift amount. Need a good charity? How about Heifer International or my favorite charity, the Child Abuse Prevention Center. Charitable donations are tax-deductible, so if you donate $50, it could save you up to $14 on your income tax as well. If you’ve got no money, pledge time to give to a charity like Habitat for Humanity.

Seduction
For Who? Your significant other

Forgot your anniversary or her birthday? Rather than buying something, be romantic. Make her some food, give him a long massage, cuddle up with her in front of a movie she likes, massage his feet, pour a hot bubble bath … do something exceptional and romantic. No preparation time required.

A home-cooked meal
For Who? New parents, the elderly

An offer to go to someone’s home, prepare a meal for them, and clean up everything afterwards is an unbelievably great gift for new parents (who are pretty much burning a candle at both ends for the first few months) and for the elderly (who may have difficulty preparing meals for themselves). Much like the babysitting offer, all you need is an envelope and a piece of paper. You might even want to specify the meal to be sure you know how to prepare it.

Auto detailing
For Who? Anyone with a car

Offer to detail someone’s car on a future Saturday morning so it can be nice for a big date that night, or on a Sunday afternoon for a fresh ride in the week ahead. If you’re unfamiliar, here’s what the process of auto detailing involves – it’s mostly just some hard work and a few cleaning supplies that you can get later.

At least one of these ten ideas should rescue you in any gift-giving occasion.

Acquire
Avalon Hill

While yesterday’s choice was a fine example of a market at work, it didn’t capture the elegance of true competition, mergers, and acquisitions, the kind of moves one expects to see from a large scale market. Thankfully, the number two choice turns the magnificent beauty of an open market into a really compelling game.

How the game works The board is a grid of 120 squares. Upon these squares, players take turns laying tiles out of their “hands”; this is all much like Scrabble. Each tile has a letter and a number in it that refers to a specific square on the board, so you choose the tile from your hand that best improves your situation on the board. Tiles that are next to each other represent corporations, and players can buy stock in these corporations. Over time, as more tiles are placed, corporations grow (a group of adjacent tiles has another tile added) or merge (a tile connects two corporations). When corporations merge, the larger one swallows the smaller one, and so the smaller one can cash out their stocks or receive stocks in the larger one. The game ends when the market is full (i.e., no more tiles can be placed). The player with the strongest portfolio of stocks and cash wins.

In other words, the game represents a market, with corporations merging, investors capitalizing, people holding insider information (like in Scrabble, you know what your tiles are, but the other players don’t), and people diversifying their portfolios. It’s an incredibly enjoyable simulation of the wild ride that is Wall Street.

What sorts of lessons about finance does this game teach?

Buy low, sell high You win the game by doing this well. If you know a corporation is going to grow in the future, you can do very well by buying stocks in it.

The only kind of information is insider information The tiles you hold for yourself are your insider information; you know some elements of where the market is headed that other players do not, and you can choose to guide corporations in these directions. For instance, a handful of tiles that can help one corporation means you have a ton of information about that company, and thus buying stock in them early means you’ll turn a nice profit.

The market is complicated Once you get into the game, many layers of strategy begin to reveal themselves. How long do you hold onto certain tiles? Should you force a merger now? Do you cash out or take valuable stock in a huge corporation?

Startups are insanely lucrative but very risky It is this aspect of the game that so effectively parallels the stock market. When companies start up in the middle of the game, there’s a chance that the holders of the stock will get very rich. There’s also a chance that they’ll barely be worth the paper they’re printed on. Does the investor have inside information?

Mergers often pay off better for the acquired than the company that acquires. Quite often, it is the investors in the smaller company that gain the most in the long run with a buyout. This is true not only in this game, but in real life.

Acquire is deliriously fun and a great abstraction of how the real market works. If you want the challenges and the joys of stock investing in a board game form, Acquire is a wonderful choice. Plus, it may be my favorite game of all time.

So what could possibly top my favorite game of all time on this list? Tune in tomorrow to find out.

Modern Art
Mayfair Games

I first discovered Modern Art during a “game night” held in my college dormitory. There were all the usual games there: Monopoly, Risk, and so forth, along with a few others I hadn’t seen before. One of these involved people staring at each other intently, then participating in an auction. As I moved closer to that table, I began to be sucked into one of the best games I’ve ever played.

How the game works Each player has a handful of cards that represent paintings by one of five different artists – you can think of the “artist” as being much like a suit in a normal deck of cards. The players go around the table and auction off the paintings, with the highest bidder collecting that painting. At the end of the round, the paintings are sold: the most popular artist has the most valuable paintings, followed by the next most popular artist, and so on. This gives the players money with which to bid the next round. It’s worthwhile to note that artists maintain their popularity into future rounds, so artists popular early on will always have some value to their paintings. The winner is the player with the most money at the end of four rounds.

In essence, the paintings are like any free market, and that’s what makes Modern Art so interesting: it’s the best game I’ve ever played for teaching the concepts of a free market. What can be learned from it?

Relative values change over time As the game goes on, some artists stagnate in value, while others suddenly skyrocket. If you keep betting on the same horse over and over, you’re going to lose out to people who diversify their investments.

You win by finding bargains and riding their escalation The real key to success at Modern Art, just like in the stock market, is looking at the game situation in front of you and determining which artist is going to make the biggest value jump in this round, then buying that artist’s paintings. The best investor will be the one that picks right.

Bubbles will always burst Whenever people start bidding like crazy for one artist, a good player (and investor) will hold off on investing and will look for something else to invest his or her money on. After a round or two, the bubble will burst and those paintings will be too expensive at auction to turn a strong profit on.

The art of negotiation A big part of this game is knowing how to negotiate with other players, mostly in terms of convincing them to not participate in auctions that you are hoping to corner. This usually ends up with various types of negotiations, including manipulating auctions on some paintings. It’s up to you to determine how much of this to allow, of course, but it can get very interesting.

Aesthetics versus the bottom line Another interesting aspect of this game is how many players seem to bid in relation to their personal feelings about the paintings themselves, even though it really doesn’t matter in the game. This can cause some players to train-wreck their own game, much like investors who bought into sexy stocks like Enron.

Different forms of auctions mean different strategies The game allows several different kinds of auctions, from a “once around” auction to a double-painting auction and several other variants. Each one requires a careful evaluation of what’s actually for sale and what other players are doing.

Aside from some very complicated (and often boring) board games, this is the best version of an open market I’ve ever seen in a game – plus it’s incredibly fun to play. If you want to teach (and learn about) the open market to someone, this is easily the most enjoyable way to do it. You might even find yourself playing it again and again – it takes only about an hour to play, and it gets very interesting as the players gain more skill at the game (i.e., they understand the market better).

Simple. I buy gadgets that can pay for themselves (and even see a bit of return) over the long haul. This usually means I look for energy-efficient gadgets, but it also means that I try to evaluate things in terms of whether or not they can potentially return money to me. What’s nice is that many of these gadgets that save me money in the long run make a great deal of environmental sense as well.

Here’s a list of twenty five neat items I’ve found that can save a lot of money, along with their cost and the amount of time that it will take before their extra cost is paid for by their utility. Since they’re gizmos, they make for great gift ideas, plus you can use the argument that “this will save money” when suggesting the purchase of one of these items to your significant other. In fact, I actually started this list as justification to my wife for a few items I wanted to buy for myself.

1. Filtered Water Bottle
Sample Model: Katadyn Exstream Personal Water Bottle Purifier
Price: $39.95 + $32.95 cartridge refills
Time Until Break Even: 180 days of daily use

If you drink a bottle of water each day (as you should), but you buy bottled water instead of drinking tap water, you can pay for this nifty device in half a year. You can fill it from any tap and the internal filtering device will clean the water for you, eliminating viruses and bacteria. Thus, each day you use this bottle, you pay off a little more.

2. Battery Charger
Sample Model: Rayovac Universal Battery Charger
Price: $17.95
Time Until Break Even: How many kids do you have?

My son has a bevy of toys that just gobble batteries. It seems like every day I’m dropping more and more batteries into these devices. Thankfully, a battery recharger can trim the costs down really quick. Just take your Rayovac AAs, toss them in this, plug it in, and they’re good to go again. It’s absolutely perfect for parents that have children with lots of battery-powered toys.

3. “Smart” Power Strips
Sample Model: SmartStrip LCG4
Price: $34.95
Time Until Break Even: 60 days

If you use a desktop computer at home, it won’t take long until this device is a money saver for you. Simply plug in your main unit into the control outlet and all of your other peripherals (monitor, printer, speakers, etc.) into the other outlets. Whenever you power on your computer, the other devices power on; whenever you power off your computer, the others power off. Even better, it actually functions as a switch, so when your main unit powers off, there is no phantom “standby” electricity being drawn to the other peripherals. Not only will you save money on the powered-down peripherals, but you’ll save money from the lack of phantom charge.

4. Blender
Sample Model: Oster Classic Beehive Blender
Price: $47.99
Time Until Break Even: 6-12 months

A quality blender (like the one above) can save tons of money if you use it regularly. You can switch to grinding your own herbs, spices, coffee beans, and so on. A regular kitchen user can make back the price on herbs alone if they buy fresh herbs and grind them in the blender for long-term storage. Plus it’s invaluable for making drinks at home when you have guests, which ends up being much cheaper than a night out on the town. Get a good one, though, so it will chop and cut what you want.

5. Electricity Usage Monitor
Sample Model: Kill-a-Watt Electricity Usage Monitor
Price: $24.99
Time Until Break Even: 3 years

With this device, you can see how much of a phantom load your powered-down electrical devices are still pulling through the wall outlet. If you discover devices that are pulling a significant load, unplugging them (or using an appropriate device to stop the drain) will save you money over time. This device is also useful for figuring out how much power various home devices are draining and, with some quick calculations, exactly how much it’s costing you.

6. Flash Drive
Sample Model: Kingston Data Traveler 1 GB
Price: $17.95
Time Until Break Even: 1 month

I find countless uses for my flash drive, the best of which is for an emergency backup of key files. A flash drive has saved my cookie during hardware crashes and it has also saved a lot of money in terms of burning CDs for software installation packages off the network. In short, it’s invaluable.

7. High End Solar Calculator
Sample Model: Texas Instruments TI36X
Price: $10.99
Time Until Break Even: 2 years

I like to keep one of these in my pocket for doing calculations at the grocery store. Which package is the better deal per unit? It’s always a good idea to figure this out before blindly making a purchase at the store. Plus, with a solar calculator, you don’t ever have to worry about batteries or anything else – just keep using it.

8. Efficient Power Supply
Sample Model: Antek EA 380
Price: $81.00
Time Until Break Even: 1 year

A high-efficiency power supply not only protects you from electrical faults, it also ensures that your devices drain electricity at the minimum rate, which means your power bills go down. If your home has any sort of questionable power distribution, this device is essential for protecting your electronic equipment, but even if you have normal power, you can save money with this gadget because of the power drain that it reduces.

9. Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs
Sample Model: GE Soft White Spiral T4
Price: $1.79
Time Until Break Even: 4 months

CFLs can easily save $100 a year, plus they look a lot cooler than ordinary bulbs. The simple fact of the matter is that by merely replacing a regular bulb with a CFL, you’ll save about a dollar per bulb every two months or so.

10. Efficient Shower Heads
Sample Model: Niagra Conservation Earth Massage Showerhead
Price: $15.99
Time Until Break Even: 10 months

High efficiency showerheads save money by reducing the amount of water that needs to flow through your hot water heater. An average American household can save as much as 15,000 gallons of water per year by installing high-efficiency shower heads. Even better: that’s 15,000 gallons of hot water that your heater doesn’t have to heat, cutting down on your energy costs as well.

11. Fuel-Efficient Scooter
Sample Model: 2006 Vespa PX 150
Price: $4,200
Time Until Break Even: 4 years

A high-efficiency scooter is perfect for people who have a relatively short work commute that’s just a bit too far to walk every day. Leave that car in the garage and travel on a scooter. Plus, you can scoot around town and quickly run errands on this thing. Of course, a bicycle is even less expensive, but scooters are much faster and won’t leave you sweaty when you arrive.

12. Solar Outdoor Lighting
Sample Model: Silicon Solar Innovision LED
Price: $12.95
Time Until Break Even: 180 evenings

This is a great choice if you want to light your yard and patio in the evening but don’t want to spend on electricity all the time. Solar powered outdoor lighting will provide adequate lighting for much of the night after recharging themselves during the day. Their design incorporates solar panels, a nice geek factor, and they can provide wonderful low light in the evening, perfect for a nice ambience.

13. Dance Dance Revolution
Sample Model: DDR Extreme 2 (plus peripherals)
Price: $200
Time Until Break Even: 8 months ($25/month gym fees)

If you use the gym for a cardio workout, cancel your gym membership and get a home video game system, DDR, and a good quality dance pad. The game itself provides all the motivation you need, plus you have to be in pretty good shape in order to play the game for extended periods. I lost about 20 pounds playing DDR instead of going to the gym once upon a time.

14. Self-Cleaning Electric Shaver
Sample Model: Braun 8995 360 Complete
Price: $169.13
Time Until Break Even: 8 months of daily shaving

A top-quality self-cleaning rechargeable electric shaver saves significant money for each shaving over disposable razors and shaving cream. Although there are still upkeep costs (recharging, a rare replacement of the blades, and facial wash), the costs are much less than what you’ll incur with shaving cream and blades. Plus, you get the unbridled joy of owning a new gadget.

15. Espresso / Cappuccino Machine
Sample Model: Gaggia Carezza
Price: $200
Time Until Break Even: 80 visits to a coffee shop

Do you stop by Starbucks each day to pick up a fresh cup on your way to work? If you invest in a decent cappuccino / espresso maker, those visits can go right out the door; you can make it at home and it tastes at least as good as the stuff at the shops, especially chain ones like Starbucks where they have the “process” down to an art form. Plus, once you get used to using it, you can experiment a lot with different beans and grindings and make some truly sublime homemade coffees.

16. Programmable Thermostat
Sample Model: Honeywell 5/2 Programmable Thermostat
Price: $39.99
Time Until Break Even: 6 months

If you have central air conditioning, you need programmable thermostats. They provide very precise temperature control and can be programmed to automatically lower your air conditioning and/or heat use while you’re not home. Just program it and forget about it; it will automatically adjust things for you so that you aren’t wasting electricity and money.

17. Coin Sorter
Sample Model: FastSort Electric Coin Sorter
Price: $95.99
Time Until Break Even: 2 years

Most banks will no longer count change for you, but they will accept pre-rolled coins as deposits. CoinStar, on the other hand, will cash out change for you, but they have a 10% surcharge. Why not just sort and roll them yourself? Keep this device on the dresser, dump in your pocket change each night, change the rolls in and out (the device comes with a bunch of coin rolls), and when you go to the bank, take in a bunch of coin rolls and deposit them. Over time, the device pays for itself over the amount you would lose using CoinStar.

18. Efficient Space Heater
Sample Model: Honeywell HZ-315
Price: $19.95
Time Until Break Even: One cold winter

Small, efficient space heaters can save a lot of money because they allow you to not have to spend lots of extra energy keeping some rooms heated (such as the bathroom). Instead, just put in a space heater and turn it on when you take a shower. It’s substantially cheaper than keeping that spare room heated. Plus, you can use them when working in the basement or other rooms that you don’t bother to heat, or in the bedroom at night if you lower the house heat during the nighttime hours.

19. Solar Christmas Lights
Sample Model: Silicon Solar LED Christmas Lights
Price: $59.95
Time Until Break Even: 2 Christmas seasons

Instead of buying strands of electric lights for outdoor Christmas decoration, get a set of solar LED Christmas lights. They eat no electricity as they charge up during the day, come on automatically in the evening, and stay on most of the night. You can just set them up and let them be with no maintenance cost or effort at all. The start-up cost is a bit high, but the cool factor of LED solar Christmas lights, plus the energy savings, quickly makes up for it.

20. Remote Control Power Strips
Sample Model: Lacrosse RS-204
Price: $29.95
Time Until Break Even: 2 years (depending on use)

Quite often, we find ourselves plugging lots of lights and decorations in during the Christmas holidays, and it becomes a hassle to power them all off and on, so we often leave things on more often than we’d like, sometimes even overnight. To solve this problem, install a remote control power strip. This device can be turned on and off by remote control, meaning that you can have all of the cords out of the way and flip the Christmas tree lights on and off with just a button click.

21. High Efficiency Washing Machine
Sample Model: Whirlpool Duet Front-Loading High-Efficiency Washer GHW9150P
Price: $859
Time Until Break Even: 3 years

If you buy a large-load high efficiency front loading washing machine, you’ll do many fewer laundry loads per month and each load will take less water than before. A machine like this can easily save $10 over a regular machine in water usage in a family home per month; even better, a large load machine will save a lot of time. Given the cost of a normal low-end washer, it should only take three years or so for this machine to pay for itself.

22. A Laptop
Sample Model: Dell Inspiron E1505
Price: $819
Time Until Break Even: 1 year

Now that laptops have reached a usability and reliability standard that approximates desktops, it becomes a serious choice whether or not to replace a desktop with a laptop. If you make the leap, you’ll find that the energy savings are tremendous. I often run it from battery at home and charge it using available outlets in other places, such as the local bookstore, meaning I have very little home energy use from the laptop. It won’t take long for this savings to make up for the differences in cost, plus you’ll have all of the laptop portability advantages.

23. TiVo
Sample Model: TiVo Series 2 80 Hour Dual Tuner
Price: $49.99 + $9.95 a month
Time Until Break Even: 6 months

If you have cable and a TiVo, your needs for DVD purchases and rentals will almost disappear simply because of the plethora of programming you’ll be able to watch commercial-free. This will begin to save you money before long, plus it will give you a much greater control over what you watch on television – I skip a lot of programs simply because of the commercials and the inability to pause them to chase my child.

24. A Hybrid Car
Sample Model: Toyota Prius
Price: $22,175
Time Until Break Even: 5 years

If you compare a hybrid side-by-side with a non-hybrid, the hybrid costs more up front. The savings, though, kicks in over the life of the car with much lower fuel costs. Plus, it has a great “geek factor” and it’s a solid environmental decision.

25. A Residential Windmill
Sample Model: Skystream 3.7
Price: $8,500 (including installation)
Time Until Break Even: 8 years

If you want to be “king geek” in your area, few things will top this. $8,500 will get you a windmill on top of your house, which can, by itself, take care of almost all of your home electrical needs. It looks like a high-tech antenna up there, quietly whirring away, using the wind to provide your juice. For an average household, the device will pay for itself in eight years; after that, it’s all gravy. Plus, you’re helping the environment by almost eliminating your load on the power grid.

Sometimes, you can buy gadgets to save money.

On one hand, the relatives expect you to spend it on something you’ll purely enjoy. They won’t be impressed if you use their $50 to buy toiletries. On the other hand, putting that $50 towards retirement will allow your retirement to be just a little bit nicer, particularly if you invest aggressively when you’re young.

A similar dichotomy exists for children. On the one hand, the kids want to use the money to buy a new video game or some such trinket. On the other hand, you’d like to see them save it for college.

Here’s how we handle these difficult issues.

For gifts to adults, we save it with the caveat that it’s going towards a greater cause. Right now, we are using any money we are gifted for Christmas as part of our savings for furniture, as we are moving next year and, well, pretty much any home will have more space than we have now.

This can be handled with a clear and thoughtful thank you note that not only cements the family bond, but lets the giver know that your gift is important to you and you do plan on spending it on something nice.

For gifts to children, it depends on the child’s age. For children too young to understand money (such as ours), we invest all of their money. For older children who understand that money can be exchanged for goods but who don’t yet understand the value of saving, we’ll merely require that they save at least half of it. For teenagers who can comprehend why one should save, we’ll let them make the choice, but if they choose to spend it, we’ll want to know what they bought.

In short, it’s okay to save it if the goal is specific and tangible. Just be sure to write a thank you note!

Monopoly
Milton Bradley

For many of us, Monopoly is the game that pops in our heads when the phrase “board game” is mentioned. Rainy afternoons and marathon games of Monopoly were rites of passage when I was growing up – my cousins and I played a five player game that ended up running for 34 hours because we wound up in a deadlock and no one would trade lest the other one win.

How the game works You move around the board in a loop, buying unowned properties and charging rent to other players who land on your properties. Each completed lap around the board earns you a small income. Event cards (Chance and Community Chest) alter the game a bit, but the real charm is in the player interactions: can you convince Uncle Walt to trade you Illinois Avenue for Reading Railroad, completing both of your sets?

So what does this game teach players about personal finance?

Investments pay off If you spend your money on a property, over time that property will generate income for you, enabling you to buy more property. In other words, investments earn income.

Investments have different kinds of value Many players are initially drawn to Boardwalk and Park Place because of the fantastically high rents that they bring in, but as you play more, you discover that other properties (such as Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky) are landed on much more often. Which is more valuable: a space rarely landed on with a huge rent, or a space with a lower rent that’s landed on regularly? Players learn to compare values and how to invest for themselves.

Random events Not only do the dice determine your route, but the Chance and Community Chest cards interject a good deal of randomness into the game. These cards often represent completely random events that can devastate you or save you, teaching players that if they get themselves into desperately overdrawn situations, they can lose everything at the drop of a hat. The game almost requires an emergency fund, and it shows clearly why it’s important.

Negotiation A big part of Monopoly is the art of negotiation. Can you talk your sister into trading Pennsylvania Avenue to you in exchange for the electric company and water works? A big part of the deal is how you sell it.

Infinite variety There are countless “house rules” for Monopoly that changes the flavor – and the skills needed. As the rules of the game change, so must your gameplay. For example, the free parking variant makes die rolling more important, whereas the bank lending rule enables players to go into debt without mortgaging. Different rules mean different strategies.

Write a letter
Instead of worrying over a material item for someone, spend an hour and hand-write a letter to them. Start off by telling them how important they are to you, (if you want) let them know how current circumstances in your life have made you think about the value of them in your life, tell them everything you’ve ever wanted to tell them, and at the end wish them a merry Christmas. Be sure to hand-write the letter, not type it (although you can draft it a few times by typing – just recopy it by hand when you’re ready); the letter is meant to be a personal expression.

A gift of a handwritten letter is great for:
Family members with whom your relationship has been rocky with This is where a letter gift really shines. A long, handwritten letter can fix a relationship that has been damaged over the years. Not only is it a powerful gift, it can re-establish a connection that was greatly valuable in the past.
Distant relatives and friends If you don’t see people too often, it’s a great way to keep in touch and let them know how important they still are to you even if distance separates you.
Older relatives and friends As people get older, they get sentimental and want to believe that they have established good relationships in their lives, plus their material wants are lessened. You can help with both aspects with a personal letter.

Make a meal
Volunteer to make a meal for someone. Go to their house, prepare the food, and serve it to them. You can do this on Christmas day if you wish, or give them a certificate that you’ll do this at another time during the year. You don’t have to be a stellar cook for this to work, just willing to prepare a basic meal.

A gift of a homecooked meal is great for:
Parents Particularly new and expectant ones, but parents of any stripe will appreciate the gift. Time is very valuable, particularly when parents are getting used to being parents. In this case, almost anything homecooked will be nice as long as you clean up after yourself.
The elderly If you have older relatives, go to their house, prepare a meal, and dine with them. More than anything, they’ll appreciate the time that you spend with them.
Very busy people When I was young, my oldest brother was working two full time jobs and a part time job. The amount of appreciation he had for a meal where he could show up and quickly enjoy a homecooked meal was impressive. Go there, prepare a lot of food (for leftovers, of course), and just allow them to eat and go on with their crazy lives.

Give some time
If you have plenty of spare time but not plenty of spare money, you can offer some of your time as a gift: after all, time is money. A card with a coupon inside for some use of your time is a great way of giving this gift.

A gift of time is great for:
Socially conscious people Tell them that you’ll volunteer a number of hours to the local charity of their choice. This way, they can choose a charity and know that they’ve contributed to a good work.
Parents Offer to babysit, especially an all-night one if you can do it. This can actually reduce parents of toddlers to tears of joy.
Children Offer to spend an entire day with a child, taking them to a zoo or something. If you plan the day well, it can be extremely low-cost and it will mean more to the child than any cheap plastic toy that they’ll forget by the turn of the year.

These gifts mean much more than the typical material goods that are usually given and received for the holidays; plus, they provide relief to an overstressed pocket book.

The Game of Life
Milton Bradley

Life is one of those “standard” board games that are often found in the back of a grandparent’s closet, pulled out once every few years to be played by the kids during holiday get-togethers. Yet hidden behind this simple facade is a game that teaches a number of valuable and interesting lessons about the progression of a person’s financial life.

How the game works The board consists of a long path of rectangles, most of which refer to specific life events, such as having a child, having a home fire, collecting stock dividends, and so forth. You’re represented by an automobile with a small peg in it (representing you) and room for many more pegs (representing your family). You move along the board using a spin-dial, moving the number of spaces represented by the dial, and perform whichever action is prescribed by the space.

So what does the game teach players about personal finance?

Random events Over time, random events can greatly help or greatly hinder your personal finances. You might buy a great stock and make a truckload of money, or you might lose a lot of your money to a long hospital visit. This can be used to demostrate the usefulness of an emergency fund; in fact, spending all of your money in the game is a very, very dangerous strategy.

The use of insurance The game allows you to purchase insurance against various calamities. This insurance is inexpensive and can be purchased early on. If you buy the insurance and hit one of the “disaster” spaces later on, you won’t have to pay the steep cost, but if you hit that space without insurance, it’s terribly expensive. Of course, there’s a good chance you won’t hit a disaster at all because of the “chance” factor. Is insurance worthwhile? This game can generate a good discussion on the topic.

The progression of life events – and what they cost As you move through the game, you might get married, have children, get divorced, and so on. These choices have financial consequences within the game, but can also have benefits depending on the path that you follow throughout the game and which spaces you happen to land on. Life events affect future life events and can have significant and unseen costs and benefits.

Setting individual goals and meeting them Although the official rules of the game state that the goal in the end is to have the most assets, the game allows people to set their own goals. I used to play with a young girl who would believe that the winner was the person with the most children at the end, because having a big family was the best life you could have. The game lets people figure out what’s important to them, whether it’s money or not.

Different lives have different issues If you’re not as rich as your neighbor, it might be because you chose different jobs, had different numbers of children, and had different life events. Even if you measure your success within the game as the amount of money you have at the end, the game reveals that different life paths can mean different levels of financial success and that having money is a mixture of good fortune and good choices.

The Game of Life is a simple game that can be played in an hour and provides great insight into many of the financial issues that an average life can have. Throughout the game, there are countless opportunities to learn about and teach key personal finance issues. Plus, it can be a lot of pure fun, and you can engage relatively young children (second and third graders can handle it with some occasional reading help).