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Expand Your Mind: Gifts!

by Miki Saxon

Typically, my comments about gifts range from irreverent to downright sarcastic, but this year I actually have some pretty cool gift ideas for you.

First, however, let’s take a look at the cost of the traditional 364 gifts as described in the 12 Days of Christmas—the cost is up10.8% this year for a grand total of $96,824.

Or for a look at 50 years of extreme gifts, and I do mean extreme, for him and her check out the Neiman Marcus Gift Book.

For the geek you love who loves pictures or for those whose daily lives are so memorable they need recording consider a wearable camera—a gift they’ll never forget.

And for the not-so-geeky with faulty memories, like me, who still depend on their computer but forget to back up, there is Carbonite, not only a fabulous product, but from a company named as one of Boston’s 2010 Best Places to Work.

Two unusual books make my list.

The first of what will be three volumes is the “Autobiography of Mark Twain,” a $35, four-pound, 500,000-word doorstopper of a memoir” that Twain forbid his descendents to publish until 100 years after his death. Needless to say, his thoughts are exceedingly blunt.

The second is from a retired Wall Street banker who is dying of a brain tumor and offers “a remarkable story of an almost willful ignorance of the futility of active money management…” It’s good information for those on your list interested in having their money work smarter for them.

The last two are gifts that serve dual purposes.

The first is a $20 gadget called HydroRight that anyone can install without tools. (If the john still has a ball cock it needs an additional part and may run a bit more.) HydroRight turns your normal toilet into a two-level flush toilet that saves around 15,000 gallons of water a year. That saving is good for the planet and great for lowering monthly water bills. Best of all, it really works.

Finally, did you know that shoes prevent many diseases in poor children, so give shoes to your loved ones—specifically Toms Shoes. Besides being inexpensive and comfortable, the company gives away a pair of shoes for every pair purchased to poor children across the planet. They’re cool, Cameron Diaz and Demi Moore like them, comfortable, available for men, women and children and Toms just gave away the millionth pair.

I hope this list inspires you to look a bit further than the standard mall gift. There are some pretty amazing possibilities out there that won’t put you in hock.

Flickr image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedroelcarvalho/2812091311/

One Response to “Expand Your Mind: Gifts!”
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