Shh… I’ve already opened up some of my Christmas gifts. Wait, what is this? A gift card? Nooo!!! Evil!

It’s trendy to bag on gift cards right now. Liz Pulliam Weston says gift cards are not gifts and complains that “holidays have rapidly devolved into what amounts to an exchange of cash. A gift card says nothing about the personality of the recipient — but it says lots about the giver.”. Miss Manners is quoted as saying they are “a pathetic compromise convenient to people who do not trust their judgment about selecting the right present for those whose tastes they ought to know.” Consumer Reports even took out a full-page ad in the New York Times with the following message:

Umm… So? How many *gifts* go sitting unused every year?! How many sweaters, handmade widgets, DVDs, scented candles, or whatever sit in your house right now, collecting dust in a closet. How about just saying “Last year, shoppers like you were out $80 billion because of unused, lost, or inappropriate gifts. Easy money for retailers…”

Truth is, converting cash into gifts of any kind creates the potential for waste. If you don’t want that, either (1) don’t buy gifts at all or (2) give cash.

I agree with Mighty Bargain Hunter when he says that gift cards are gifts. And like any gift, it can be good or bad. You know what happens when I receive a gift? I say thank you, and do what I can with it. Even if it’s hideous or not useful to me. I have mine all stored in baseball card sleeves ready to go.

Idea for gift card compromise?
First, pick something (doesn’t have to be perfect) that is in the price range you want. Then figure out the exact price, including sales tax. Buy a gift card in that amount, and attach a card with an explanation. “I thought you might like Rayman Raving Rabbits 2 for the Wii. Here’s a gift card for $54.86 from Best Buy”. There, you put a little thought into it, but they can use it to buy anything without having to “reject” and return your actual gift.

Also, for the curious, I even investigated which gift cards have the highest resale value. The result was that Amazon gift certificates are the most versatile.

What’s so bad about giving cash, anyhow?
Newsflash: In many cultures and households, giving cash is perfectly acceptable and in many cases even preferred. What are we pretending? That gifts don’t cost money?! I give cash gifts all the time. For more formal gifts I go to the bank and request crisp $20 or $100 bills.

Hazzard points out the story of a Taco Bell employee fired after 30 years of service, including two robberies and being shot once. Seems a bit like ageism to me. I see very little loyalty to companies these days… I wonder why?

Madame X explores if there is any connection between the amount you spend on food and obesity. Apparently at least one of her readers thinks spending $800 a month of food can’t be healthy.

Sun investigates some international dividend ETFs. Seems like ETF offerings are growing exponentially these days, I can’t even keep up.

Joseph Sangl made a graphical way to track his mortgage payoff process. Looks like so far he owns either his garage or living room. That’s one more room than me!

As I catch up on my feed reader, here are some posts from other bloggers that I found interesting:

The Digerati Lifeshares her latest portfolio update. I love open portfolios, I don’t know why.

Lazy Man has left his job, and his wife explains why that’s okay. I left my job about 2 years ago to go back to school and switch specialties, and my wife was very supportive, which made all the difference in the world. Best decision ever. You gotta be able to chase your dreams, even if you’re married!

IndexFundFan noted the arrival of an Emerging Markets Small Value ETF. Holy non-correlated-asset-classes, Batman! I like having more competition and choices, but I don’t think I’ll partake of this one. I wonder what the tracking error on this thing will be.

Get Rich Slowly states that a credit card is not an emergency fund… but then shares a story where it was ;). It was in a small business setting, though – should that make a difference?

CFO tried Dream Dinners, where you make your own take-out for a week. She liked it the first time, but not the second time. I still get a steady stream of comments on my old Dream Dinners post, although I must admit I never cleared out enough space in the freezer to actually try it ourselves.

While getting the numbers for my monthly net worth update, I noticed that Yodlee has added a number of new accounts to their aggregation list. Specifically, I use the licensed version at Bank of America called MyPortfolio. So if you haven’t checked in a while, you might be pleasantly surprised – I think they actually cover all my accounts now. Here are a few sites that I just added, along with some info on why I have an account with them:

Zecco Broker Review, free stock trades!
TradeKing Broker Review, award-winning broker, $4.95 trades
FNBO Direct Review, new online bank with 0.65% APY Promo
Bridgeway Mutual Funds Info, I hold the BRSIX micro-cap mutual fund

See here for more on Yodlee and why I use it.

Here are some happenings from the blog festivals and carnivals that I’ve participated in recently:

The Carnival of Personal Finance included our Roth or Traditional 401k decision process.

My pick from this Carnival was the sarcastic Ah… The Joys of Home Ownership by Grad Money Matters. He talks about how the accessories for a microwave can cost as much as the microwave itself! I found this timely as we were looking at washing machines the other day, the optional pedestals they come with cost upwards of $200! Is it me, or are these things just empty metal boxes. You could buy a entire new washing machine for around $250.

The Festival of Frugality at FILAM Personal Finance included my MagicJack Phone Review.

Here I liked the Is This Frugal? .. Or Just Not Quite Right? by Money, Matter, and More Musings. While I don’t hoard ketchup packets, I’ll admit that I do grab a few extra salt packets when on one of my rare fast food visits if they are the “dual cylinder” type. You know the ones… the salt is finer than usual, and I keep them around to put on microwave popcorn. Once I get two or three, I stop collecting them. Whew! It felt good to get that off my chest.

I’d like to know what topics that you’d like to read about here. Got a burning question in mind? Simply leave a comment below. Keep in mind, the more specific the better.

As usual, I can’t make any promises, but I will take each suggestion into consideration. Thanks!

Here are some blog festivals and carnivals I participated in recently:

The Carnival of Personal Finance included my profit calculation tool for making money from credit cards.

My pick from this Carnival was Top 10 Wealth Building Ways Of Ordinary People by Digerati Life. The post covered a lot of ground and reminded me of the many different comments from real people on my post exploring who’s earning six figure salaries.

The Festival of Frugality included my post on how we pre-plan our food shopping at Costco.

Here I liked the review of Restaurant.com savings certificates by Living Almost Large that basically mirror my feelings on the subject. 95% of the restaurants on this list are either overpriced, serve mediocre food, or both. Coupons at restaurants are usually not a good sign.

I’ve been reading up more on 403(b) plans since my wife is getting one. Although similar to a 401(k) in many ways, there are some important differences. Did you know that if you are unhappy with your administrator, you may be able to transfer it to another provider without changing jobs? This is called a 90-24 transfer. The catch is that the plan must allow for such transfers.

But you’ll have to act quickly, as the Financial Page blog reminds me that the deadline for a 90-24 transfer is coming up on September 24, 2007. (You can still move the plans if you change jobs.) Read more on the 403bWise page on 90-24 transfers, as the transfer can be somewhat tricky.

Now that I’m getting a bit more settled, I’m making an effort to get back to being more active in the blogging community. Carnivals are a place where blogs get together and share posts pertaining to a specific topic. Here are a few that I participated in recently -join me in perusing them and sharing what you found especially helpful.

• Carnival of Debt Reduction at Low Income Lady
• Carnival of Personal Finance at Plonkee Money
• A Frugal Festival at FrugalBabe

Whenever I participate in a referral program, although it also benefits me, I am always thankful for the readers who let me refer them. So when I run out of referrals, I try to “spread the love” by directing future requests to those that allowed me to refer them initially. I have been doing this informally up until now, but I want to set up a more direct and systematic way to do this over the weekend.

Here are two programs that I can’t provide referrals for anymore. If I referred you to these referrals initially, and you are willing to release the needed information in order to fill future requests, please let me know and I will add you to the rotation. If I don’t get enough response, I will open it up to all readers. Please don’t ask for referrals in the comments, e-mail me instead. Thanks!

Sprint Referral Program – For new accounts, allows both referrer and referred Sprint wireless customers to both earn $25. I will need to share your Sprint wireless phone number.
Scottrade Referral Program – For new accounts, allows both referrer and referred to earn 3 free stock trades. I will need your full name and e-mail address, and preferably the address of your local Scottrade office.