Personal finance blogger Penny Nickel outlines 14 ways to give “more meaning and less stuff” this holiday season. She writes: I don’t know about you, but it drives me nuts to give and receive so much meaningless stuff, just out of tradition. It’s bad for the environment, it’s stressful to have extra clutter in the house, and it emphasises material objects as the way to show people you care about them. Ugh!
Alternatives to giving stuff include giving favours (like babysitting “gift certificates”), giving experiences (like show tickets), choosing online gifts (like iTunes purchases), and giving to charity in someone’s name. How do you avoid giving stuff for the sake of giving stuff this time of year? Let us know in the comments. Holiday Gifting: 14 Ways to Give More Meaning and Less Stuff [Money and Values via Get Rich Slowly]
US-centric: Free web site TrackThePack offers an interface to simultaneously keep tabs on FedEx, DHL, and UPS packages. It sounds similar to previously mentioned PackTrack, but TrackThePack keeps your packages on its own page rather than moving you to the shipping companies’ web sites. It currently tracks only the three major private package firms, and can save your all-in-one screen through a free account or by your IP address. For corporate workers and serious online gift shoppers, it could serve as a handy toollbar link.
TrackThePack [via MakeUseOf.com]It’s not easy finding the right gift for everyone on your list, especially if you’ve got a lot of people to buy for, so today we’re taking a look at gifts small and large—from under $10 to the over $50 set—perfect for the life-hacking loved one on your list (even if that’s you). To make things a bit easier, our gift guide is sorted by price range so that you can browse gifts depending on what you’re looking to spend (from office gift to special someone), and if you’re quick, most of these gifts should make it to your doorstep well before the 25th.
Personal finance blog Get Rich Slowly rounds up some of its readers’ comments from a recent post about the pros and cons of gift cards, and unearths a few strong tips and things to consider in the process. For example, one reader advises against making those checkout-aisle impulse card buys: It is better to buy a card directly from the issuer versus at the grocery store, because the issuer will have greater control over adding refunds directly to the card (if you or your recipient should need to do so). Shell accidentally charged me a $1 or $2 inactive fee, but since my card had been purchased at Safeway, they could not add the balance directly back onto the card. I would have to write to them for a refund (in the form of another gift card). At that point it just wasn’t worth it!
Another reader who worked in retail points out that buyers almost always spend more when they’re toting gift cards—a good reason to avoid giving them to less money-savvy friends. How do you decide whether to buy a gift card or straight-up gift for those on your holiday list? Share your thoughts in the comments. Photo by misocrazy.
Gift Card Tips & Tricks [Get Rich Slowly]Ok elves, it’s T minus 15 days till your bag o’ presents is supposed to be wrapped and under the tree. To help you brainstorm, gather, and wrap the goods, Real Simple magazine offers holiday gift list worksheet as a PDF download. This is just a simple list with lines to fill in each person’s name, the gift idea, and checkboxes to mark whether you’ve purchased, received, and/or gift-wrapped it. If printing’s not your thing and you’d like to track your holiday spending as well, make yourself a spreadsheet with an additional column for cost, totaled at the end. Holiday Gift List Worksheet | 50 Gifts Under $50 [RealSimple.com]
Already spent enough cash to put that iPhone or iPod touch under the tree that you’re not bouncing with excitement at the idea of dropping more cash on a video stand… and you love origami? With Swiss photographer Enrique Pardo’s dollar bill stand for the iPhone or iPod touch video you can roll your own DIY stand with nothing more than a dollar-bill-shaped piece of paper. Pardo uses a Benjamin for his stand, but you won’t think I’m crazy to suggest you could use a twenty or even (gasp!) a one dollar bill. And if you’re giving one of these hot gadgets this holiday season, why not throw in a cheap little stand (there’s also the comparatively simple business card stand) and put your.gift over the top?
The $100 iPhone/iPod Touch Stand Made from a Piece of Paper [Gizmodo]If you send out Christmas cards every year, you know that buying cards can be a spendy endeavor. So in the spirit of saving money this holiday season but not skimping on the cool-factor of your cards, we’re rounding up a few very cool, very 3-D DIY Christmas cards that’ll help you spread a little holiday cheer without breaking the bank.
Like the pop-up tree and reindeer below, the video above (from this Instructable) details how to make an angel pop-up card. The video moves pretty quickly, so if you give this one a try you’ll probably want to go to the step-by-step on Instructables. Web site wikiHow describes in detail how to make a simple elegant Christmas tree pop-up card or this Reindeer pop-up card with a thick piece of paper, their printable templates, and some glue. The tree is probably the most elegant of the bunch, and even better, probably the easiest to pull off. Okay, so it’s not necessarily all that cheap or practical (according to the author it takes approximately an hour to complete), but if you’re only sending out a few very special cards, this full-on 3-D Christmas tree greeting card (complete with lights) is pretty cool. It collapses into an envelope for sending, and when it’s opened, unfolded, and connected, little LEDs glow for an impressive Christmas tree effect.Last, if you need help organizing your recipients, check out how your fellow readers keep their contacts organized.
If you’re looking to put your empty cigarette light to good use, the Spotlight LED flashlight fits snugly in your car’s cigarette lighter outlet and recharges with the power of cigarettes. The clever little Spotlight costs $14.95, comes in 12 colors, and looks like an excellent stocking stuffer or Secret Santa gift. Let’s hear other ways you put your cigarette lighter outlet to work for you in the comments.
Spotlight [JTSpotlight via Gizmodo]Still looking for the perfect gift for your office gift exchange? Web site LinuxInsider suggests giving the gift of free software this Christmas. Just grab a cheap USB thumb drive (you can find a 1GB drive for as little as 10 bucks these days), head somewhere like PortableApps, and grab some free portable software. Alternately, if you really wanted to go above and beyond, you could build a full PC on a stick. Not only might it make the perfect gift for a friend in need of some portable storage, but it could also be the perfect opportunity to introduce your loved ones to great open source apps like Firefox.
Nothing Says Holiday Cheer Like Free Software [LinuxInsider]Got an upcoming gift exchange at the office but not sure what cheap but hopefully not-too-crappy gift to buy for your officemate? Wired’s guide to choosing the right gifts for office parties has you covered. The howto suggests several questions that can lead to satisfying and cheap gifts perfect for your Secret Santee, like: What type of music does he/she like? Does he/she drink? Knowing the answers means the right CD or bottle of wine can make you the winning gift giver you were always meant to be. If you’re still stumped, you may also want to check out the advice your fellow readers had for Secret Santa gifts; if you’ve got a great idea or two of your own, let’s hear it in the comments.
Choose Gifts for Office Parties [Wired]
