Giving the gift of frugality

[David DeFranza]

The shopping insanity known as Black Friday is only a few short hours away and it has me thinking: are there gifts that we can give our friends (be they frugally minded or not) that support and/or encourage frugal behavior?

I have come up with the following possibilities:

Start a targeted savings account for someone with a Smarty Pig Gift Card.

The Game of Life is a great financial planning education tool, especially for the younger audiences. Free Money Finance eloquently explains why it is so great: http://www.freemoneyfinance.com/2008...e-game-of.html

In my experience, if someone doesn't cook, there is nothing in the world you can do to convince them to change their ways. However, for people who wish they cooked more or are on the fence, a new, comprehensive cookbook that makes cooking fun and easy is a great gift. Possibly something like How to Cook Everything, Joy of Cooking, or the Fannie Farmer Cookbook.

Any other ideas?

[Greg]

This is a great question / thread, David! It reminds me of a related thread that had a lot of strong opinions:

Help someone pay down debt -- tacky?

[David DeFranza]

Originally Posted by Greg

This is a great question / thread, David! It reminds me of a related thread that had a lot of strong opinions:

Help someone pay down debt -- tacky?

Indeed. I enjoyed reading that thread. It is interesting that giving cash is such a taboo for people, even though it is often the most practical thing.

I have been thinking about this some more today and I came up with a few other ideas:

A coupon book to a favorite store or restaurant. I did some research and I am not sure this exists, but I am imagining a deal where you pay say $20 to a restaurant and, instead of getting a $20 gift certificate you get two $10 off coupons.

Give a National Parks Pass. Not cheap by any means, but for that special someone a pass to state or national parks encourages frugal travel and healthy time spent outdoors.

Any other ideas for gifts that promote or teach frugality?

[Philip Brewer]

Any gift that doesn't require or encourage further spending is a good start. (So, don't give someone a video game console).

Giving someone a gift that lets them make their own stuff--a camera, yarn or fabric or beads, tools--at least produces the opportunity for people to do frugal stuff.

Unless someone is already committed to frugality, I doubt if there's much point in trying to encourage frugal behavior. Probably the best you can hope for is to facilitate it--and hope that they come to frugality on their own.

[FruWiki Meg]

If someone is open to the idea of saving money, you could give them The Complete Tightwad Gazette. It's an enjoyable read and it really helped me get into frugal living.