Guest post of the week by Nestor Nielsen

Someone once told me that their family always gets a big family gift instead of a bunch of small gifts that nobody even really wants. I thought this was a great way to cut down on expense and clutter, so I asked my family what they thought of the idea. We brainstormed a list of ‘family gifts” that we could get. They included a Wii, a family vacation, a basketball hoop, and a flat screen with a subscription to satellite TV. They are all, obviously, very different in pricing, but we thought that putting together a bunch of different options would make it a fun game. So, we put all of the ideas in a bowl and picked one out. It was very dramatic, and when I announced that satellite TV won, everyone was thrilled! I went to direct tv walnut creek, and ended up spending much less on that then I would have on all of the trinkets added together normally. I think it’s a great tradition, and will probably keep it up!