Over the years I’ve tried to compile a few last minute gift ideas. Oddly enough, I nearly waited until the very last minute to run this post, as we find ourselves on the final shopping weekend before Christmas. However, it’s not too late to add some frugal gifts to finalize your Christmas shopping this weekend.

Black & Decker Energy Saver Series Power Monitor. Here is one we don’t have, but it is on our Christmas list this year.  I’ve become a bit obsessive about ways to cut our utility bills (yes, I admit it, I have a problem!).  It hurts opening those huge energy bills in the extreme summer and winter.  This gadget allows you to see the effect of each electrical appliance as they cycle on and off, and using info from your electric bill, you can estimate how much those appliances are costing you to operate.

Amazon Gift Card.  Amazon.com used to be the one-stop shop for buying books online. In fact, it still is.  But Amazon now offers so much more!  I have bought everything from packs of diapers to household appliances from Amazon, and I’m sure an Amazon gift certificate would go a long way towards pleasing someone on your list.  They offer several options for procrastinators like print from home or email delivery, so no waiting on a gift card via snail mail–perfect for last minute gifts.

Netflix Membership.  Plans start at $4.99 a month, and are a wonderful last-minute gift idea for the movie buff in your life.  Simply select the plan, length of time you would like to gift and you’re all set.

Programmable Thermostat.  Our utilities were out of control before switching to a programmable thermostat.  We managed to shave nearly 20% off our utility expenses by allowing the night temperature to float up in the summer, and drop lower in the winter.  Just before the alarm clocks go off each morning, the thermostat returns the inside temperature to a comfortable for the morning routine.  A 5-1-1 or 5-2 model even allows you to set a different schedule for sleeping in a bit on the weekend (unless you have small kids).  With utility costs continuing to rise, it won’t take long for this one to pay for itself.

The Total Money Makeover. This one remains in my top two favorite personal finance books.  Oddly enough, I heard the audio book first while commuting after accepting a new job in a new town.  I was hooked, or “gazelle intense,” as author Dave Ramsey likes to say!  I credit Dave, and this book, with helping turn around our financial lives.

The book is not overly complicated, is inspirational, and is written in a tone you’d expect from Dave Ramsey. It would make a great gift, and I recommend a copy for yourself if you have never read it.

Your Money or Your Life. I already mentioned The Total Money Makeover, but this book is my other favorite money book. It is the book that got me interested in the idea of personal finance to begin with, and it introduced the concept of financial independence.  Written in the 1990s, the information is timeless and thought-provoking.  When I read this book I finally made the connection between work, earnings, and life energy.  I realized that trading my precious life energy to pay for additional stuff was simply not worth it–that I could enjoy a more simple way of like and work less for it.

TiVo Series2 80-Hour Dual Tuner DVR. We’ve had our TiVo for a couple years now, and I have to tell you it is one of the best purchases we have ever made (this was a present to ourselves).  For a while we were renting a DVR from our cable company, and the digital service that went along with it. Then, I discovered TiVo.

I like the TiVo interface much more than the one that came with the cable box, and I like the fact that I own the machine outright. If I move, I can take it with me. If I want another one for the living room, I can buy one. No extra rental fees from the cable provider.

We have really cut back on television viewing, but enjoy the efficiency of watching a program on TiVo.  Fast forwarding through commercials cuts way down on television viewing time.  I also like the ability to log into my TiVo box from work, or on the road, and select a program to record via a web interface.

Programmable 5.5 qt. Crock Pot.  We stay pretty busy around the frugal household these days.  A couple times a week we have after school activities and sports practices on the same night!  Not much time for meal preparation on those days.  And that is where our crock pot comes in handy.

Our favorite meal is a large pork roast rubbed with garlic salt and cooked slow all day in a crock pot and about a 1/2 cup – 1 cup of water.  We have enough meat to slice for homemade barbecue sandwiches for days–delicious!

Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine Subscription. For one dollar a month (assuming a $12 annual subscription) you can get some of the best reporting on investments, taxes, insurance, paying for college, planning for retirement, home ownership, major purchases such as cars and computers and other personal finance topics. Over the years I have also subscribed to Money, Smart Money, and a host of other finance magazines, but Kiplinger’s remains my favorite.

529 College Savings Plan Contribution. You could just skip presents altogether and make a contribution to a child’s 529 college savings account. It could be for a niece or nephew, a younger sibling, or maybe even an unrelated child whose family could use a little boost. This is truly the gift that will continue to give for years to come.

Presto 22-inch Jumbo Electric Griddle.  I mentioned that we stay busy and have little time cooking most weeknights. To further complicate matters, we are experiencing more cold, rainy weather than we are used to.  This makes grilling outdoors tough. Our solution? An indoor griddle.

The griddle was given with the idea we could use it to make pancakes and breakfast foods, but we found it to be excellent for cooking slices of chicken, pork, and thin steaks indoors. As fattier meats cook the grease runs down into a drip container making meats a little healthier.  Cleanup is a snap thanks to a non-stick surface.

Money Mammals. We were lucky enough to receive a copy of Money Mammals from the creator, and my kids really enjoyed it.  In my review I posted here at Frugal Dad, I called Money Mammals the Little Einsteins for personal finance education for children.  It remains a unique product, and would make a great gift for little ones on your Christmas list.

Cash. If all else fails, give cash.  Cash is the universal gift. It can be spent anywhere that accepts money!  No worries over expiration dates, stores going bust and gift cards becoming invalid.  And one of the best things about cash is the recipient doesn’t have to spend it at all.  Maybe they can use it to add to their debt snowball, or get a jump start on an emergency fund.

Growing up, I took little interest in the subject of money. I’ve had a job since the day I turned 16 years-old, and I spent nearly everything I earned those first ten years! Recognizing my lack of a solid financial education, I started to look for ways to learn about money without turning to what I call “textbook materials.” After all, I was good with numbers, but I wasn’t what I would consider a “numbers” person.

Advanced finance concepts bored me, and for the most part still do. However, the concepts of personal finance, or “family finance” as I like to call it, are of great interest to me. Fortunately, radio introduced me to these concepts and my interest took off from there.

While working a graveyard shift in a customer service call center I stumbled on this guy named Bruce Williams, host of The Bruce Williams show.  Williams doled out advice from callers on subjects ranging from credit issues, retirement investing and small business dilemmas. His style reminded me of my grandfather, imagining he had his own radio talk show.

From there I started looking for other personal finance radio shows on the internet and found a website for this guy based out of Nashville, TN. His show was only broadcast on a handful of stations, but they did stream the show on the internet – which was still fairly new at the time. I started listening with great interest as this guy railed against the credit card companies (who I worked for at the time, oddly enough). That was how I found Dave Ramsey, and as they say, the rest is history.

Dave piqued my curiosity for family finances, and I began to take steps to create my own financial turnaround. I started hanging around the “business” section of bookstores and magazine stands. I subscribed to a number of personal finance magazines and newspapers, and soaked up all I could find on the subject.

Here were a few of my favorites that helped get me started:

Personal Finance Magazines/Newspapers

Kiplinger’s Personal Finance remains my favorite personal finance magazine. To me, it has just the right balance of “family finance” topics and more advanced investing advice. I particularly enjoy their “Living” section which often runs articles on how to save money on used cars, where to find the best CD rates, and a personal story feature.  To me, Kiplinger’s is a true “personal finance” magazine.

Kiplinger’s is available at Amazon.com for $12.00 per year, or $1.00 per issue

Money is  a close second favorite in the category of personal finance magazines. I think Money appeals to a wider group of people, including those not typically interested in finance. Like most anything, I don’t agree with their advice 100% of the time. Personally, I think their family profiles often feature too many suggestions involving turning to debt for answers (i.e. suggesting a reverse mortgage to an elderly person short on cash, tapping home equity to pay for kid’s college, etc.). I realize these are mainstream ideas, but I don’t necessarily agree with them.

Money magazine is available at Amazon.com for $19.95, or $$1.66 per issue

Smart Money was a magazine I added on after about a year of reading both Money and Kiplinger’s. Smart Money features more advanced columns on investing and they overall economy, and they typically follow some political trends as they relate to the world of finance. I particularly enjoy senior writer Anne Kadet’s contribution, which appears on the very last page, but is the first thing I read.

Smart Money is available at Amazon.com for $11.00 per year, or $0.92 an issue.

The Wall Street Journal is great for those that want daily insight into the markets, personal finances, and news on the global markets. I let my subscription run out when I was in frugal, cost-cutting mode, but there are plenty of places to look for great deals for new subscribers.

Get The Wall Street Journal for 75% off!

What is your favorite personal finance magazine or print news source?

This contest is now closed.  Using random.org’s random integer generating tool we have selected three winners – comment numbers 12, 82, and 107.  Congratulations to Jenny, Street Preacher, and ~Kat.  I’ll be in touch with each of you over the weekend to coordinate getting your information to All You.  Enjoy your 1-year subscriptions! Thanks again to All You magazine for sponsoring this contest.

ALL YOU Magazine is geared to the value-driven consumer and offers practical, affordable solutions for every area of life.  The magazine features money-saving strategies, fashion ideas, easy-to-prepare recipes and more. ALL YOU is available at Wal-Mart stores nationwide and by subscription.

The April Issue

One of the things my wife and I look forward to from ALL YOU Magazine is the coupons!  I often forget to look through publications like this for coupons, but it is a great source to supplement your weekly newspaper and other online coupon sites.  In fact, the April edition features $51 worth of coupons, including a FREE Rimmel Sexy Cures Mascara, and $1.00 off People magazine.

To make things easier, they even publish a coupon index to help maximize the savings in ALL YOU.

To get an idea of the types of articles featured in ALL YOU, check out their website at allyou.com.  Get tips for  for making your clothes last longer.  Learn how to go green and save money at home.  Get inspiration for creating your own price book.  Lots of frugal ideas here!

How To Enter The ALL YOU Giveaway

The folks at ALL YOU were nice enough to let me give away a 1-year subscription to THREE lucky Frugal Dad readers.  Entering is a cinch.  Simply leave your favorite money-saving tip in the comments for this post.  Be sure to include your email address in the comment form (not the body of the comment) so I can contact you if you are a winner.  When the contest ends, I’ll randomly select (3) entries, using random.org, and put winners in touch with the folks from ALL YOU to begin your 1-year subscription.

Comments will close Friday, April 10 at 11:59pm.  Winners will be announced the following day, Saturday April 11th.  Look forward to reading your favorite money-saving tips!