Holiday Gift Ideas

The holiday season is in full swing, with people rushing to holiday parties and getting together with family and friends.  To help you save some time and savor the spirit of the season, take a look at some of these gift-giving ideas!

Tips for Online Shopping

There are two really neat websites that help you compare gift prices, www.bizrate.com , www.shopzilla.com  Just type in what you're searching for and it brings back a list of all of the online stores that carry your item and lists them by price.  You can also do a generic search like men's watches and it brings back tons to choose from. 

IF you find a great deal,  open a new window and search for coupons at www.fabuloussavings.com .  You can usually find codes for free shipping or sometimes a % off your purchase.  This is one way you can save a lot of money this holiday season.

To keep the holiday spirit, make a purchase and donate to a worthy charity at the same time, go to www.goodsearch.com.  It's a newer search engine that takes part of its revenue and donates it to any charity that you specify.  If your charity is not on there, you can add it.  They make their money from the ads that are on search sites like yahoo and google and just direct some of that money to charity.  

 Homemade Gifts 

Keep those college students or first-time apartment owners in mind while holiday shopping this year.  Create a post card that has the recipients name, address  and a couple of blank lines to tell you how things are going. Then I put a box with three choices, "This postcard is good for a treat when YOU want it.  Please check if you want Chocolate Chip Cookies, Brownies or Oatmeal Raisin cookies."   The feedback will be yum, yum, yum!  

Simply address the post card to yourself (since you'll be doing the cooking), including a stamp, so they just mail it when they want a homemade treat sent to them.  This makes a perfect gift any time of year!

This same idea can be used for holiday stocking stuffers using coupons, such as, "Good for One Free______", or "Good for One Free Baby-Sitting Night".  New mothers would appreciate this more than you can imagine!  

Giving to those in Need

Check out www.DonorsChoose.org , a nonprofit that connects teachers and students with individuals in the community to provide students in-need with basic supplies and projects, just unveiled its gift cards in time for the holiday season.  Like any retailer's gift card, the DonorsChoose card has a specified dollar amount. 

The recipient simply visits www.DonorsChoose.org, picks a project to donate the money toward, and receives feedback from teachers and students about how their donation benefited them.  Recipients pick what project to fund based on project descriptions and schools. Alumni can give back to their alma maters, and other recipients can search for projects based on personal interests (music, journalism, math, Shakespeare).

There's still time to sign up for our Magazine Subscription Contest: 

The reader who signs up the most "new"                    fhi Chicago magazine subscriptions by December 21, 2006 will win a $200 cash gift card before Christmas! 

 So, here's the rules:

1. Go to our link,  Click Here to Sign Up!  and enroll your friends and family for a 1-year subscription to fhi Chicago (1st quarterly issue begins February 2006)

You can even just pass on this information, and if those referrals sign up, they can be counted on your list!