One of the best gifts you can give this year is a jumpstart on being a smarter consumer next year.
If you still have money in your budget, you might consider some of these ideas. If your holiday budget is blown, keep these in mind for special occasions. After all, the spirit of giving should live all year long.
Remember, you can get these for yourself, too.
* COUPON ORGANIZER. Coupon users save hundreds of dollars a year on their purchases. You can buy an inexpensive envelope-size accordion file and stuff it with coupons you clipped. Or get a more expensive binder with clear pockets.
You could also spend $23 on the PricePlanner I found at www.couponorganizer.com. It's a little late for Tuesday gift-giving (paying for overnight shipping isn't being savvy), but Kwanzaa begins Wednesday. This compact organizer stores more than 300 coupons and has pockets for receipts and discount cards. It has an exterior pocket to keep coupons handy for checkout.
* COIN SORTER. I know this sounds old-fashioned in the plastic age, but some people keep a container full of coins that just sits around, losing value. That money could be wrapped and deposited into a savings account where it earns interest. A digital sorter that counts coins and makes wrapping them easy is a great incentive to manage change. This is a great gift for a child: Get them started early.
* COINSTAR DROP-OFF. Offer to take a friend's loose change to a Coinstar machine and exchange it for a retail gift card. Coinstar usually charges a fee for counting coins, but if you put the money on a gift card, that fee is waived. About a dozen stores participate, including Old Navy, J.C. Penney, Borders, Amazon and Starbucks.
To find machines that issue gift cards for coins, go to locator.coinstar.com and click on "advance machine locator."
* SUBSCRIPTIONS. Magazines such as Shop Smart, Smart Money and Money Magazine offer investing and savings tips.
* SHREDDER. Give a shredder that can cut credit cards. It will shred the pre-approved application forms and blank checks that credit card companies send. Those checks look innocent enough, but once cashed, the fees and double-digit interest rates quickly add up. Shredding that information also discourages identity theft.
* BUDGET SOFTWARE. Several packages are available. Many of my friends swear by Quicken, which works with most bank accounts and lets users write checks, balance their checkbooks and keep track of daily spending.
* FINANCIAL PLANNER GIFT. Want a great gift for a young couple or recent college grad? Offer to buy a planning session with a financial adviser. Pick a fee-based planner you've worked with and, of course, pick someone you trust. If you don't have a planner, financial guru Jane Bryant Quinn recommends three sites that list fee-only planners by ZIP code. CambridgeAdvisors.com and GarrettPlanningNetwork.com focus on middle-class families. NAPFA.com (by the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors) lists advisers for people in the high- and middle-income brackets.
You might have to nudge the recipient to take advantage of the gift. If they do, they will thank you all the way to the bank.
