You know you’re already thinking about it, especially if you’re one of the 7,000 Americans whose unemployment benefits are running out, or if you live in, say, Michigan. In these darkest of before-the-dawn days, maybe it’s a good time to reexamine the holiday gift-giving ritual and all its evil, consumer-driven overtones.

Or maybe, you know, not. Not this year. This year some of you would like a little normalcy, a little dignity, a little tradition, just with fewer finance charges and bank overdraft fees sprinkled on top.

I hear you. You want your brother-in-law to look over at you and say, “Nice,” and mean it. Impact, not indigence. Let’s get started — yes, pre-Halloween, so sue me — with 5 gifts to avoid giving.

Don’t give . . . .

1. Baskets of stuff you put together yourself. If you’re trying to stick to a budget, there are only two variations of the basket theme that will work for you — the pre-packaged store-bought basket ‘o’ stuff that’s in your price range (and if it’s low-priced, it’s not great stuff), and a basket you fill entirely with stuff you bake or make. You know what? You can spend a lot of freaking money baking and making, what with mason jars and hot glue sticks and pretty stickers and essential oils and bars of baking chocolate. You know perfectly well that half of it (like your Swedish pancake mix with dried blueberries) will get forgotten or thrown away and your sister will end up wondering, “Did she really just give me a spatula for Christmas?” 
   Impact: Low. Cost: Higher than you expect.
2. Magazine subscriptions. You know, the giftee knows, and everybody in the room knows that it’s 12 months of love in the mail they’re really getting. But, is there anything lamer than wrapping a single issue of Men’s Health or Seventeen or Mother Earth News? And after the first couple of issues, it loses its giftiness and just seems like something you’re entitled to get. Now, if you find a really crazy cheap subscription to a good magazine (Esquire, $8) and you pair it with a related gift like a used copy of the Esquire Big Book of Fiction or a pair of cashmere socks, then you have a present.
   Impact: Could be low on its own. Cost: Not high.
3. Gift cards. It’s one thing to commit to a budget. It’s another to see it in writing on the back of a little plastic card that’s going to be laid out on the table or passed around the room. Better to buy a twenty-dollar scarf than a twenty-five dollar gift card. Cards are boring, unoriginal, and will likely cost more than you intended. 
   Impact: Very low. Cost: Higher than you want.
4. Tickets. Like gift cards, tickets have no intrinsic value, which is a fancy way of saying that plastic and paper rectangles are just naturally a little less fun than other gifts. Also, gosh, a lot can go wrong with tickets — if they’re for a certain date events can conspire against it, if they’re open-ended they could get lost or damaged. They also can carry hidden costs for the giftee — travel, babysitting, parking, dinner out, popcorn, etc. Plus, like gift cards, it’s apparent what they cost and so they’re often less cheap than you set out to be.
   Impact: Varies. Cost: Higher than face value.
5. Homemade coupons. Are you eight? If not, I don’t want my neck rubbed or my piano tuned or my feng shui mapped. Do not give me something that means you’re going to touch me or my stuff when you ordinarily don’t. Plus, if you give me a coupon for something really great, like converting all my old videotape to digital or babysitting every Saturday for a month, then I’m going to be too shy to ask you and you’ll have to foist it on me, and who needs the tension?
   Impact: Completely unpredictable. Cost: Not enough.

Next week — 5 better ideas for big-bang, low-bucks holiday shopping.

Got a holiday idea or two yourself? Tell Ruby.

Advice for the Rest of Us appears on Fridays, but is always with you in spirit.

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