Summer is here (hooray!) and we can finally enjoy the warm weather, longer days and shorter work hours that accompany this time of year.

But while the snow has subsided to allow us a few months of much-needed sunshine, it’s important to consider the potential impact (for better or worse) this can have on your finances.

• If you’re a seasonal employee you may not have a job in the summer, and therefore, may not have a major source of income.
• If you do work full-time during the summer, but have school-age children, you may face additional costs associated with summer camps or daycare while they’re on summer break.
• While nice warm weather means increased enjoyment at the beach, it can also mean higher costs associated with cooling your home.
• If you have more time off over the summer, you may be more tempted to increase your spending, whether that’s through leisurely trips to the mall to pass the time or extravagant family vacations.
• The costs associated with summer yard work or landscaping projects may significantly impact your bottom line.

Potential financial benefits brought by the summer season:

• If you work fewer days per week in the summer, you will save money on gas as you will not need to drive to work every day.
• No need to pay costly bills related to heating your home, which for some people provides a much-needed chance to put some extra money in the bank or other investments.
• The longer days brought by summer may mean that you can rely on more natural forms of lighting your home than the need to begin “burning the midnight oil” at 4:30 p.m. as is often necessary in the winter months.
• In many regions it seems that indoor gyms are one of the only options when it comes to working out in the winter, however the summer months provide many alternatives and may help you eliminate the need for expensive gym membership fees.
• The amount of work necessary to properly maintain a yard during the summer months may enable you to pick up several odd jobs in your neighborhood if you’re looking for ways to earn additional money.

As we’ve said before on 22Dollars.com, constantly monitor your financial situation as matters constantly change. By planning ahead you’ll set yourself up for success and will ensure that you can enjoy the summer months while they last!

Clearly, you know this shouldn’t happen. You should have prepared for the fact that your rent is due on the first of the month, every single month. Unfortunately, sometimes life happens and you can find yourself late in the month not sure where that rent payment is coming from. Unexpected bills, unemployment or even plain old irresponsibility can leave you in this position.

Have you talked to your landlord? If you routinely pay your rent on time, they may be willing to waive late fees and allow you to pay a few days late if you are simply waiting on a paycheck. You might also be able to reduce your rent by offering labor in trade for some of that month’s rent, particularly if you have viable skills and are dealing with an individual.

There are some ways to put together quick cash if you have no other options. First, see what you have that you can sell. While EBay takes too long to handle emergency cash needs, your local Craigslist is free and may allow you to handle selling some items easily. This is one of the fastest ways to move items you might not need, and put money in your pocket. You might also be able to have a garage sale to bring in extra cash at the last minute.

While you may be tempted by ads from payday lenders, do keep in mind that the interest and fees on these loans can easily outweigh late payment penalties your landlord might set in place. Be certain that you only take this option if you have no alternatives and have weighed out the costs associated with the loan versus late payment penalties. You may also have the funds available on a credit card; however, credit card cash advances can be costly. Again, it can be smart to weigh out the fees and expenses associated with these options before making use of them.

There is no doubt that the US places a heavy emphasis on the oil markets, both domestically and internationally, as both citizens and industry are heavily dependent upon its production and pricing to meet daily consumption needs. With oil prices hitting an all time high in 2008, economic speculation has been generated both supporting the continued price movement and suggesting that there will be a market correction within the year. Both positions are based upon recent current events and traditional investor behavior. To understand the pricing of oil and how it affects investor decisions, there are several important economic events and factors to become familiar with.

In early March, oil prices fell following a mixed report from the Energy Department’s Energy Information Administrating regarding the levels of oil inventory. The department’s analysts were looking for a decline in oil distillate supplies, but the reports showed a substantially greater decline than expected. On a positive note, the energy department’s report showed an inventory rise in oil barrels, causing an overall mixed review for the release of their information among the investor community. This outlook created a short term drop in oil prices, but the market soon rallied with another spike, causing oil prices to reach over $100 for the 2nd time in 2008.

With oil prices hovering around and above all time highs, consumers have been experiencing price increases in their every day consumables, putting even more pressure on the middle class and the average investor within the US. As gasoline prices increase, a consumer’s available discretionary income to spend in other market sectors decreases, putting pressure on the retail markets and other consumer driven economies. Decreased consumer spending can also occur with relationship to the oil sector; consumers who are unable to afford gasoline prices may turn to alternative methods of transportation that if occurs in large enough volumes, can put pressure on the oil demand within the US. Both consumer reactions will affect the pricing of domestic oil.

In addition to pressure on retail spending, the uncertainty among investors as it relates to the US stock market has a direct effect on the oil market. Investors have been traditionally known to turn to commodities as an investment alternative when the stock market becomes volatile, as commodities have less correlation to the same economic indicators as traditional stocks or bonds.

Another significant correlation to understand with regards to the US oil market relates to the value of the nation’s currency. When the US dollar becomes weakened, the oil market responds favorably. When the US dollar falls, it provides less financial incentive for foreign countries to increase oil outputs which reduces oil supply. This reduction in supply is known to cause a rise in oil prices. Crude oil in particular is thought of as a hedge against a weakening dollar by both domestic and international investors. As the US dollar has been on a steady decline in recent months, there has been a surge in investor interest within the oil markets, also contributing to the rise in price.

Another economic factor to become familiar with is the relationship of US interest rates and oil pricing. With the FED completing a series of interest rate cuts already this year in an attempt to stimulate the US economy in hopes to avoid a recession, the oil markets experience stimulation as this is considered among international investors to be a sign that the US economy is declining.

All of these factors have positive and negative correlations to both domestic and international oil pricing and are important to understand if you are personally considering taking a position in this always interesting market sector.

Now that the deadline for filing tax returns has passed, the flurry of tax season is behind us. Whether your tax return turned out just the way you’d hoped (maybe you’re getting a healthy refund) or you ended up with an unpleasant surprise (perhaps finding out that you owe more money than you’d planned), the season is behind us and it’s time to look toward our financial futures.

The end of tax season is also marked by the start of warm weather, getting many people in the mood for spring cleaning. As we’re doing yard work, cleaning out the closets and opening up swimming pools, there’s no time like the present to also do some “spring cleaning” for your finances.

• Take an inventory of your financial situation and clear away the clutter. It’s easy to accumulate a large collection of credit cards, online accounts and recurring monthly bills, and just as you’ll likely clean your house this spring, it’s important to do the same with these items, keeping only what you need and can truly keep track of.
• Remember that one person’s trash is another’s treasure and find ways to make money off the items you clean out of your house. Whether through the many online shopping sites available today or a more traditional garage sale, the money you earn from past splurges can be used for future investments.
• Rather than just tossing the things you don’t sell or no longer need, think about where you can donate them. This way you’ll be helping out someone else’s financial situation, and if you keep careful records you’ll be setting yourself up for tax breaks next year.
• As we discussed in a recent 22Dollars article, if you were lucky enough to get a refund this tax season find a way to put that money to good use. Rather than going shopping to buy things you’ll end up cleaning out next spring, think about something you can do with that money that will have long-term benefits – like paying off loans, investing it wisely or buying an asset.
• Reflect on your experience completing your 2007 tax return, particularly any issues that caused you frustration, and develop a plan to combat those issues this year. For example if you were missing many of the important documents you needed to claim deductions, immediately start a filing system to get yourself organized for 2008 and avoid this headache in the coming year.

Congratulations to everyone on making it through one season and best wishes as we start the next! As always we’d love to hear any other tips or tricks you have that others might find helpful as we all clean out the clutter!

Those of us that invest a great deal of time managing our finances may think we know the answer to the question “how much is money worth?” While it’s a complex topic, we think we have a straightforward, quantitative, clear-cut answer which involves exchange rates and currencies and inflation and the passing of time. We pull out our calculators and let the numbers do the talking.

But there’s another way to look at how much money is worth that doesn’t involve numbers or currency conversions. I’m speaking here about the qualitative side of the coin and where finance fits into your value system and life goals.

It’s true that people can easily become consumed by greed, or the desire to make or horde large sums of money. We see examples of this everyday in the news as scandals ranging from the small and local level up to the national and corporate level indicate the lengths people will sometimes go to just for some extra cash.

But maybe there’s another way to view the topic. Sayings like the one mentioned above have the connotation that placing a personal value on finance is a bad thing. Certainly everyone needs to make their own decisions when it comes to values, but perhaps it’s worth arguing that taking a vested interest in managing your finances can be a path to doing great things, not just greed.

Here’s some food for thought. On a personal level, by managing your finances properly you’re setting yourself and your family up for financial security. Should a friend or family member face an emergency (such as unexpected unemployment or the need for expensive medical treatment), you may also be able to help them out – which is a powerful positive impact you can have on a loved one’s life.

Once your own finances are in order, you may even be able to extend your influence and investigate philanthropic initiatives. Whether this means setting up a scholarship fund, lobbying for a particular cause or making a donation, you get to pick a cause that’s important to you and help ensure it’s security for the future.

As a result, while it’s only money and it’s not something most of us want to become consumed by, it’s worth considering the true worth of a dollar and where it fits in with the things we really value.

As tax season continues, and the deadline for filing taxes approaches, many people are finding out where their finances for last year netted out. While some people are getting the pleasant news that they’re getting a refund back and can plan accordingly, others are coming to the realization that they may owe a (potentially large) sum of money.

If the results revealed by your tax return come as a surprise to you it may put you in an uncomfortable financial situation, particularly if you owe money. We’ve often said on 22Dollars.com that no plan is a plan to fail, and it seems that this saying holds true in this case as well. Rather than scrambling to find a fast financial fix, it’s certainly going to be better for you both in the long and short run to do whatever you can to plan ahead for this type of expense.

Some people may not want to go this route, however, preferring to have their earnings up front to do with as they please. For various reasons, they might feel that they can earn more by saving/investing this extra money on their own, or need the extra income for expenses earlier in the year, and choose not to have it taken out of their paycheck in advance. Choosing this method, though, means that they must be disciplined and think ahead to tax time so that they have the right amount of money in their savings to make up for anything they may owe at the end of the year.

Certainly, as with most finance-related questions, there is no “one size fits all solution. But what pros or cons do you see with each of these options? Do you prefer to have extra money taken out for taxes so you get a larger refund at the end of the year? Or, do you have the minimum amount taken out so you can invest/spend it on your own and then potentially owe money at the end of the year?

When it comes to money, everyone has something to say. Each person has an opinion, and these individual opinions can vary widely. From those that believe in high stakes investing to those that do not believe in investing at all, the things people say about finance can be quite different. But the bottom line is that everyone has something to say.

At the same time, finance can be one of the most difficult things to discuss, because it’s a very personal topic that links many of the things that make us who we are: our values, our emotions, our pride, our status, and how we make our living. However, throughout history many people have found a way to capture their sentiments about finance in ways that can help us all express our varied opinions on money, and have helped us learn a thing or two about this complex topic.

So what quotes guide your financial decisions? What figures, whether from the past or present, have shed the most light on this potentially confusing topic for you? And what did they say? We at 22Dollars.com would love to hear your thoughts!

As the deadline for completing 2007 tax returns approaches, more and more people are filing returns each and every day. Once the headaches of making sure all your information is accurate and all your paperwork has been submitted, you should know in advance if you can expect a tax refund this year.

As with any income, it’s a good idea to think about what you’re going to do in advance and make a plan for how you will use it. We always quote the saying that “no plan is a plan to fail,” and it seems true that many of the worst financial decisions are those made compulsively. Since tax refunds are getting turned around more quickly than ever these days, take the time in between when you file and when you receive your refund to really think about what you’ll do with the money you get back.

* Deposit it in your savings account to help you meet your savings goals
* Spend it on something you’ve needed to buy for a while and that will help save you money in the long run – like a fuel efficient car for example
* Invest it in your retirement fund or in stocks you’ve researched
* Pay it toward debts you have such as school loans or credit card debt to help yourself avoid spending additional money on interest payments
* Donate it to a cause that’s important to you
* Budget it for expenses you know you’ll have throughout the year
* Use it to buy assets that will grow and make you money in the future

Remember that your tax refund is just that – a refund. It’s not free money, but in simple terms it’s getting back the extra money you already paid into the system. As a result you should think carefully about what you do with it. All of these options are not a good fit for everyone, but if you plan wisely you may be able to put your refund toward something that will give you a jumpstart in 2008.

If you find that you are steadily sinking into the dark abyss of endless debt, there is probably a reason. No one swipes your credit card, signs your name at the bottom of loan applications or borrows money without your consent, so it’s time to look inward for the reasons you can’t get out of debt.

According to Wendy Nesbit, who counsels consumers on debt management skills on a regular basis, there are eight basic reasons for the continuation of the debt cycle.

No one likes to see a reduction in income, but it does happen. Maybe your spouse has left his or her job to take care of your kids, so your family is now living off one income, or maybe pay cuts have become a constant with your employer. Whatever the case, you have to adjust your expenses to align with your income if you want to stay out of debt.

Canceling premium cable channels, purchasing off-brand products at the grocery store, trading in for a less expensive vehicle and moving into a less expensive house can all reduce your monthly expenses. “You can’t live outside your means and expect to stay debt-free,” says Nesbit. “But that’s what lots of people seem to think.”

2. Getting a divorce.

If you want to see how quickly you can fall into the depths of debt, get divorced. Between the division of assets, the payment of court fees and the purchase of your attorney’s time, you might not have two nickels to rub together. Divorce is one of the leading causes of debt, and it can take years to recover.

Of course, this is one of the reasons you can’t get out of debt that can’t be avoided if you and your spouse just don’t want to be together anymore. However, you can mitigate the damage by working things out amongst yourselves rather than hiring high-priced lawyers to fight for your right to the antique coffee mugs.

3. Failing to maintain a budget.

If you don’t know where your money is going, you won’t be able to get out of debt. Guaranteed. The purchase of a budget is to decide how much you should spend on certain items, then to compare those projections against what you actually do spend. After a month or two of budgeting, you should be able to accurately predict your expenses—unless you don’t consider your budget at all.

Americans are natural spenders, but we can quench that urge by thinking of our budget at all times. Do you really need a new stereo system for your car? Is there money in the budget to eat out again? This doesn’t mean that you should feel guilty about every little indulgence, but you have to have self control if you want to get out of debt.

4. Thinking you’ll have money tomorrow.

Some of us live under the perpetual delusion that a better job offer is just around the corner or we’ll pick the winning numbers next week. If you spend according to what you might have in the bank next week or next month, you’re going to stay in debt. Instead, live within your means as they exist right now, and experience delayed gratification if your predictions happen to come true.

5. You can’t stop gambling.

Whether you plan a trip to Atlantic City twice a month or can’t resist the scratch-off cards in line at the supermarket, gambling can be a formidable Achilles’ Heel. Gambling is highly addictive, and if you’re like most gamblers, the house usually wins. So save your gambling trips for a once-a-year excursion or a special treat when you have a surplus of cash.

Furthermore, if you think you can’t get out of debt because you’re addicted to gambling, seek help immediately. There are Anonymous programs for gamblers as well as individual counseling that can help you overcome the urge to gamble your cares away.

6. Using credit cards for medical expenses.

If you’ve gotten into the habit of swiping plastic at the doctor’s office, you might be having trouble with debt. This is especially true if you lack medical insurance or if you have lapses in your coverage. You want to pay your bills on time, but you wind up paying several hundred dollars more in interest.

In some cases (though not all), it can actually be cheaper to purchase private medical insurance coverage than to try to cover your doctors visits with plastic. Check out some of the private insurance policies available on the Internet or talk to your doctor about options.

7. Failing to open a savings account.

When you have a savings account in addition to checking accounts, credit cards and other types of banking services, you’ll be more likely to actually save money. Opening that account usually only takes about $50—less with some banks—and you’ll be glad you did. If you have at least four or five months of living expenses saved, you won’t have to rely on credit to make ends meet.

8. Failing to communicate.

One of the most common reasons you can’t get out of debt is due to lack of communication within your family. If you and your spouse (and kids, if applicable) don’t talk about what you buy and how you spend money, you’re likely to fall more quickly into debt. Make sure you talk to one another about your spending practices so that no surprises come on your monthly bills.

As I’m sure the readers of 22Dollars are aware, tax season is in full swing. By now, we all should have received the necessary paperwork from our employers, banks and other investment institutions and can get to work on our tax returns if we haven’t already.

It seems like each year there are more and more options for individuals looking to prepare their tax returns, and it can be difficult to know who to trust. Lately the news has been filled with stories about tax-related scams to watch out for and everywhere you look there are advertisements offering “worry free” solutions.

So with the April 15 deadline looming, here are a few simple tips to keep in mind as you’re preparing your taxes:

Despite its challenges, tax season provides a great opportunity to reflect on your financial situation from the past year and focus on how you want to manage your money moving forward. We at 22Dollars.com wish everyone the best during this time of year and would love to hear any other tips you wouldn’t mind sharing for preparing your tax returns!

A wise person once said that time is money. In many ways that’s still true today. People are paid on an hourly basis and most companies rate their employees as part-time or full-time, based on the number of hours they work each week. We pay rush charges for packages that are delivered quickly and fees for movies we return late. But when looking at time and money - is one more important than the other?

Retailers often charge extra for goods or services that are intended to make our lives easier – like dry cleaning delivered to our houses, bottled water or pre-chopped, pre-cleaned lettuce for our salads. In this hectic day and age, many people are willing to pay for these conveniences. For some, anything that saves time or puts a few minutes back into their day is worth the additional costs associated.

Despite the two sides to this coin, there are many similarities between time and money. Both are saved. Both are spent. Both are in demand. And it seems that both are always in short supply. But which is more valued?

On a personal level, with the constant struggle to balance both our checkbooks and our date books, it comes down to our values. Are we willing to sacrifice our valuable time (time we could spend with family, relaxing or pursuing hobbies) to earn or save more money? Or are we willing to spend the valuable money we work so hard to earn (and certainly don’t want to waste thoughtlessly), to buy additional time?

On a societal level, it comes down to the same two questions but in this case the answers are based on the collective values of our population, as well as the demands we’re facing as a group. Interestingly, it often seems that despite the fact that society represents a collection of people, its values are not inline with, and perhaps even a direct contradiction to, those of the individual.

For most of us it’s not one or the other, but a constant struggle to find the balance between our time and our money. But where does your balance lie? Would you really say it’s 50/50? Where do you think society’s balance lies?

The double bottom is probably the most popular technical pattern of all time and thus worthy of your attention to help better understand its opportunities and correctly judge buying points. One of the most attractive attributes of the double bottom patter is its 35% average rise after confirmation. So lets start with the identification guidelines of the pattern.

• A downward stock motion leading into the pattern
• Two distinct V-shaped (or price spikes) bottoms
• At least 10% rise BETWEEN bottoms
• Bottom prices that do not vary more than 3% apart
• Valley should be approximately 5-weeks apart (for best performance)
• Volume usually higher on the left valley formation

Confirmation of the double bottom is confirmed once the price closes above the peak between the two valleys. This means there are TWO good buying opportunities here. My favorite is that of the second valley bottom with a tight stop just below that the low of the first valley. This maximizes opportunity and limits your downside risk. A seemingly simple objective for any trade but one that too many traders fail to do on a regular basis. The other opportunity is a upon the confirmation of the close above the peak between the two valleys. However, with a 65% pattern throwback rate, taking a position at this point in time serves both opportunity and risk to the investor.

Bull Market Target Price:
(highest peak price minus lowest valley price) x 66%

Bear Market Target Price:
(highest peak price minus lowest valley price) x 40%

Of course we are in a bear market right now and will probably be in one through much of 2008 and into early 2009. So how about a real time example of this pattern in action you ask? Sure, but remember that almost all chart patterns perform better when applied to stocks that are industry leaders. With that being said, here is one of my favorites for the 2008 calendar year. VMWare Inc. (VMW:NYSE) - Sector: Technology, Industry: Software & Programming. Due to the nature of this post (chart pattern series), I won't get into the reasoning behind why VMW is an industry leader but rather focus our attention on the pattern itself and allow you to watch its progress in real time rather than giving you a past example.

Notice the very steep and aggressive run the stock made upon its IPO offering and the equally as aggressive sell off to form a nice top left peak. The stock continues to decline to a low around $71/share before bouncing hard. This bounce creates our first valley and what is to be the peak between the valleys. The share prices again fall to the around $71 and a sizable position is taken by me at $72 (with a close stop set just below). Now even in the face of all the market turmoil and volatility, VMW pushes higher and closer to its double bottom breakout confirmation. Of course that confirmation will have to wait until the market stabilizes a bit. Fed cuts rates by 75 basis points this morning helping to ease what would have been a 600 point drop at the open. Again giving investors an opportunity to get into VMW fairly cheap.

VMW proves itself to be an amazing opportunity both technically and fundamentally and I would expect a strong performance from this stock even in the struggling US economy that is 2008.

Full Discloser: Long the shares of VMWare (VMW) and happily long many more double bottom chart patterns.

2007 has probably been one of the greatest years for the commodity market where there has been exuberance across the globe. Gold has been one of the beneficiaries that has witnessed one of the most phenomenal and unprecedented increase in prices. Prices have been up by almost 80% in the last 2 years and approximately 35% during the year 2007.

Gold has generally been a counter-cyclical commodity. This is the reason why a general downturn in the economy is always accompanied by a rise in Gold prices. This time around, the increase was perpetrated by a rise in oil prices, and the weakening dollar. Liquidity also declined later in the year, decreasing investment demand and thereby pushing up prices further. Declining tensions amidst Iran and Syria also fueled the rally.

Other than serving as a perfect hedge against inflation, Gold has been a relatively risk free asset ensuring stable and consistent returns for its investors. Thus, in the wake of instable markets as well, the rise in demand for Gold as an investment tool has been on the rise.

On the supply side, the push factor has been the unavailability of Gold to match the rise in Demand. The steadfast uptrend in the cost of gold mining and extraction, coupled with a shrinking global output of Gold mines, has exerted an upward pressure in the prices of Gold.

The previous high in Gold prices was achieved way back in 1980 when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and the Iranian Revolution took place.

The price reached a high of 891.70 as reported by Bloomberg today. According to analyst's gold is expected to even trade higher with some predicting levels of 1000 for 2008. The short-medium term bet is that it will trade a lot higher and could be 900 by mid year and 1000 by end of the year!

Whatever be the year end figure, the resonating view is primarily the same. With the current economic and political state of affairs, this unprecedented Bull Run in the evergreen precious metal is unlikely to let up.

Chart pattern trading is something that takes a lot of discipline. By this I mean stock charts cannot look "kinda" like a pattern or have certain elements of a pattern. They need to match the pattern's characteristics by 100% or they will not work. Think of it like you are taking a test and the only way to pass is to get exactly a 100%. Anything less and you could be setting yourself up for danger.

The Ascending Triangle chart pattern is one of the most easily identifiable patterns and also one of my favorites to trade upon a confirmed breakout. Correctly identifying this pattern has made me a lot of money in the past and continues to prove itself as one of most profitable trades. The pattern is a bullish pattern sporting a triangle shape with a horizontal top and upward sloping bottom.

The above is an example of what a real ascending triangle pattern looks like. What you should note is the following key characteristics:

1.) A horizontal trend line drawn across the minor highs.
2.) A upward sloping trend line connecting the minor lows.
3.) Volume diminishes the further along we get in the triangle. Heavy at the beginning of the triangle, lighter at the end.
4.) Price should cross the chart pattern (the triangle) several times. I usually like to see at a minimum two minor highs and two minor lows touched.
5.) Heavy volume on breakout - the day the price pierces the horizontal resistance line.
6.) Throwbacks are common after breakout. Look for the horizontal resistance line to become new support level before stock goes higher.
7.) Any breach of the upward slopping minor lows line could indicate a pullback and indicate the pattern has failed and to sell in order to limit your loses.
8.) Other indications of a busted pattern would be a less than 5% move after breakout before returning to the triangle top and shooting out the other side.

The pattern is has an average rise of about 35% in a bull market and 30% in a bear market. The average triangle length is about 2 months long although this is not an essential trait. The shape of the triangle itself will give you a clue as to how far the stock price will rise and what your target price should be. To calculate this price, simply compute the height of the triangle and add that to the horizontal minor tops line. This will give you the minimum predicted price.

Ok great! Now that we all have a basic idea of what the pattern looks like, can you give me an example of one that you found on your own? The one that I am watching right now is Mexico's iShares (EWW). Take a look at the chart pattern. It should look familiar to everyone now :-)

For those of you that are financially conscious, or just like to get a good bargain, you’ve probably been carefully planning your holiday spending for a few weeks now. Scanning the weekend papers for good coupons, keeping an eye out for holiday-related sales and carefully budgeting how much you can spend on each gift to make sure you make the most of your money and avoid getting yourself into debt. I know some things that have worked well for me in the past include deciding what I want to get each person on my list before heading to the store (so I don’t make impulsive decisions while at the crowded malls) and start my shopping early (so I don’t feel rushed on Dec. 24 and end up spending more than I had planned).

But what about the flip side? Most of us have probably thought at length about how the holiday gifts we give impact our own finances (whether it’s in the budgeting stage, or after the fact when we get our credit card bill). However a recent article on Yahoo Finance made me stop to think about how the gifts I give this season may impact the recipients’ finances.

The ideas given in Jeffrey Strain’s article referenced above range from $8 to $600 plus and run the gamut of the responsible (such as rechargeable batteries that save the recipient from constantly having to buy new ones) to the entertaining (such as the Nintendo Wii which can provide the recipient with home-based entertainment that is cheaper than going to an arcade and can even save them from having to join a gym). So while savings bonds and shares of stock might have been the first financially conscious gifts that came to mind, now-a-days you can be fiscally responsible and still get something the recipient will really like.

Maybe this also means we need to expand our view of what makes a good gift. Advertisements will lead you to believe the hottest new electronics or hippest clothes are what will make your friends and family most happy this holiday season. But I know I always welcome gifts that will make my life easier and leave me in a better position than I was before the holidays.