By Tisha Tolar There are the cynics that say Valentine’s Day is a retail racket meant to guilt people into spending too much to prove their eternal love to others, but there are also many consumers who will still go out of their budget to buy some pretty impractical things. The Valentine’s Day celebration often includes expensive jewelry, cards, candy, and flowers but as times change, more people are constricted by tight budgets and obsessing about not being able to do more this year.

By Andrea Dickson I frequently read budget- and eco-conscious articles that urge people to find the meaning of the holidays through simple gift-giving. I admire this impulse, but this year, my gift giving is going to be curbed more be necessity than by my sense of goodness, frugality, or my love for the environment. I just can't afford to splurge on gifts, even though I want to.

By WC Porter Let’s be honest. Most gifts you receive during the gift-giving season are pretty lame: a sweater you politely wear a couple of times or a CD you casually listen to in the car and wonder, "How did I end up with this?"
Most of the time you show a little interest and then it fades away — you’ve wasted your money and the person getting the gift hasn’t gotten much in exchange.
Such is life.

When I look back at all of the wonderful, generous gifts I've received over the years, one of my favorite presents was one of the most unexpected (and frugal!)

I was in college, living in the dorms.  I had a room all to myself, but hardly any furniture.

One night I came home from a Communications Club meeting (yeah, I know) to find a note on my door.  It said, "Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas, Christina! Love, Susan and Nick"

One thing I’ve always half-lamented, though lamented more in the past when my funds were a bit tighter, is the office holiday gift exchange. I’ve participated in everything from the Secret Santa to the grab bag to the system in which you can ruthlessly steal the gifts selected by your coworkers (up to three times). In