But there are a ton of money books out there that can provide inspiration, either for yourself or for the people you know who may be struggling. This year alone has brought a bumper crop of great titles, including:

“The Money Book for Freelancers, Part-Timers, and the Self-Employed: The Only Personal Finance System for People with Not-So-Regular Jobs” by Joseph D’Agnese and Denise Kiernan. This is, quite simply, a must-have book for those who work for themselves—including regular W-2 employees who have a business on the side. Written by two freelancers, it’s clear, it’s funny and the money management system they outline is simply brilliant. Give this to your contractor/freelancer/self-employed friends and get prepared for them to start lavishing you with thanks when they’re only a few pages in.

“Generation Earn: The Young Professional’s Guide to Spending, Investing, and Giving Back” by Kimberly Palmer. Palmer, who blogs as the Alpha Consumer, turns the idea of the debt-riddled “slacker generation” on its ear, using solid research to show that the youngest generation of professionals has more skills, and far less debt, than is generally acknowledged.  Palmer also reaches beyond tried-and-true personal finance advice to discuss values, giving back and living more lightly in the world. This would be a great pick for a recent college graduate or really anyone in his or her 20s or early 30s.

“Psych Yourself Rich: Get the Mindset and Discipline You Need to Build Your Financial Life” by Farnoosh Torabi. People who keep trying to get their financial act together, only to have everything fall apart, may want to reconsider how they think about their money. Torabi points out the many ways we can sabotage ourselves as well as techniques to get beyond the roadblocks that prevent us from taking control of our cash.

“Your Money: The Missing Manual” by J.D. Roth. Roth’s popular Get Rich Slowly blog documented his journey digging himself out of debt, but his first book goes lightly on the personal anecdotes and focuses more on the nuts and bolts of getting your finances in order. Refreshingly, he doesn’t assume his readers all want to become Donald Trumps, assuring us that it’s more important to be happy than to be rich—but having a handle on your money can help you reach either goal.

“The Simple Dollar: How One Man Wiped Out His Debts and Achieved the Life of His Dreams” by Trent Hamm. Hamm is another popular blogger, and—in contrast to Roth’s approach—this book is all about his journey out of debt. It’s inspirational and accessible and, like the other books on this list, all about creating a happy and prosperous life rather than just an impressive balance sheet.

“Be Centsable: How to Cut Your Household Budget in Half” by Chrissy Pate and Kristin McKee. Even black-belt frugalistas are likely to learn something from this book, and it’s an absolute goldmine of great advice and tips for newbies just starting to get a handle on their household spending.

Update: And how could I forget “Debt-Free U: How I Paid for an Outstanding College Education without Loans, Scholarships or Mooching Off My Parents” by Zac Bissonnette? Bissonnette is one of the new shining lights of personal finance, who wasn’t even out of school yet when he wrote this book, which delivers some great ideas for getting an education without drowning yourself in debt.

Got a book to recommend? You can do so in the comments.

I was just about to pull the trigger on the purchase when I remembered to check the return policy–and I’m so glad I did, because it said “No Refunds or Exchanges will be made after 7 days.”

The retailer didn’t specify whether the 7 day period started: when you ordered, when it was shipped or when you actually received your shipment. In any case, the return period would have expired long before Hubby opened the box on Christmas Day.

I was burned once before on a return policy, when Overstock refused to return my money even though it shipped me the wrong item, and acknowledged it had done so. So I learned that no matter how tempting the savings, you have to weigh it against the fact that mistakes happen, and I’d rather deal with a retailer that makes it easy to rectify those mistakes.

So I paid a little more for a retailer that offers a 14-day return period, starting the day you receive the item, and that has extended the warranty through January for purchases made this month. (I’d tell you who it is, but then Hubby would know what I got him.)

In my view, these are the retailers we should bless with our business–not those who undercut on price and then skimp on customer service.

There are a bunch of reasons why:

Black Friday is mostly hype. Yes, there are some eye-popping deals being advertised, but you probably won’t get them because they’re “doorbusters” available only to the people who started waiting in line before, say, Halloween. Either that, or you could get pretty comparable deals if you shopped online or later in the season. DealNews, FatWallet and other sites do a pretty good job of tracking the deals (and DealNews did just post a guide to the best deals…some of which are available now, online, at prices that aren’t much different from the Black Friday prices).

Black Friday encourages overspending. If you did wait for hours, you’re going to feel like you have to make the ordeal worthwhile—and probably end up spending too much. The whole Black Friday thing was ginned up by retailers to get you into the store and whip you into a consumer frenzy. I’ll pass.

It’s kind of a weird thing to do on this particular holiday. Yes, I’m way old school. I remember when stores actually closed for Thanksgiving. But the whole point of the holiday is to give thanks for what we have—not add more to the pile. And the things that make us the happiest in life—warm relationships, positive experiences, warm memories—typically aren’t created or nurtured in packed parking lots and overheated malls.

So we won’t be cruising the stores on Thursday or Friday. The extended clan may take in a movie, if we can agree on what we want to see, but we’ll spend most of the time talking, eating, playing games, napping, and maybe taking a hike together to work off those last slices of pumpkin pie. That’s my idea of a holiday.

Have a great Thanksgiving.

Fortunately, it doesn’t take much effort these days, thanks to Catalog Choice, a free service that helps you boot catalogs you don’t want. Sign up is easy and the site lists most major catalog mailers (although you can speed up results by using the information from the catalog’s back page, which often includes a customer number that can help the retailer pinpoint you in its database and a source code that tells where it got your information).

For $20, you also can sign up for its “unlisting service,” which helps scrub your information from third-party marketing databases.

A few minutes is all it takes to save some trees–and space in your mailbox.

NerdWallet’s new online discount tool lets you type in the name of a store and see every rewards offer available from the online shopping malls.

If you don’t know what an online mall is: It’s basically a portal, offered by credit card and travel rewards programs, where you start your shopping to rack up extra rewards points or frequent flyer miles. If you wanted to order something from Target, for example, you could start at an online mall offered by your airline, hotel or credit card rewards program and collect extra points or bonuses for that minimal effort.

The problem is that these online malls offer vastly different deals. One mall might offer 2 bonus points for every dollar spent at the destination retailer while another offers 10, or cash back. Enter NerdWallet, which captures them all and allows you to compare.

I’m about to create our holiday cards, for example, so I typed “Shutterfly” into the tool. Up popped 15 offers ranging from Choice Hotels Privileges Mall’s 14 bonus points for every dollar earned to Discover’s 10% cash back. (Which kind of made the 4 bonus points offered by the United Airlines and Chase online malls look a little puny.)

Cool tool, and just in time for holiday shopping.

So, you can find it here. It certainly isn’t slick, but you may find it helpful. The first section helps you not only plan and budget for gifts, but allows you to keep track of what you’ve acquired and where you’ve hidden it.

There are sections for holiday decorating, entertaining and travel as well. The numbers included are just placeholders–you can replace them with your own.

You can also add extra lines (if you have more gift recipients, for example). As long as you do so above the lines that have “total” in them (gift total, decor total, etc.), your new line and its numbers should be included in the totals.

I’d love to hear if you think this will be helpful and if you have any suggestions for additions or improvements. Thanks!

That can’t possibly be right, I thought, but it is: Hannukah starts Dec. 2 this year. Those who celebrate Christmas have a little more time to prepare: Dec. 25 is 15 weeks from today.

For most of us, the Big Spend starts earlier, as we gather friends and family for Thanksgiving.

So it’s a great time to open a savings subaccount earmarked “holidays” at your favorite online bank or credit union, and start shoveling in the cash. If you spend what the National Retail Federation said was average last year for the holidays–$683–you’ll need to put aside $45.53 a week between now and Christmas (or $56.92 if you celebrate Hannukah).

Also read this great post from Trent at Simple Dollar about stopping, or altering, traditional gift exchanges.

This year, it looks like the extended Weston clan will be skipping most adult-to-adult gifts in favor of a trip together to a favorite national park. Given that experiences and relationships contribute more to happiness than stuff, I think we made a great choice.

Other expenditures may seem like splurges, but are well worth the money. Here are my nominations; feel free to add yours in the comments.

Valet parking at the mall in December. They could charge me $20 or even more, and I’d think it was a bargain to avoid the endless circling looking for a parking spot. So far, though, the most I’ve paid is $8 plus a tip, and many places charge less.

Oil changes. I used to do this myself—yuck. Now my trusted mechanic does it, and checks all the tanks and belts and other do-dads while he’s at it. He also has to dispose of the oil properly, another yucky task I’m happy to delegate.

Date night. Even when money was tight, hubby and I went out to eat once in awhile. There’s something about being out of the house, where we weren’t constantly reminded of all the chores we had to do, that helped us relax and focus on each other. Now that we have a kid, date night is even more important.

Preventative care and screenings. We have a high-deductible health insurance policy, which means we pay out of pocket for a lot of our health care. I don’t enjoy shelling out huge wads of money when a trip to Paris isn’t involved, but my mom died of a cancer that could have been detected and cured with a simple screening. So spend it we do.

Charitable donations. MSN contributor Donna Freedman has written frequently about how important she feels it is to give, even on her super-tight student budget. Through thick and thin, we’ve tried to keep up our giving, as well. This year, we feel especially blessed, and it’s been fun to involve our daughter in our end-of-the-year donation decision-making. (She likes cheetahs, so some of our contributions will be going to a cheetah preservation fund.) We’re also making a donation to Heifer.org, so I get to say, “I’m getting a water buffalo for Christmas!”

Whatever holiday you celebrate, may you have a joyous and peaceful one and a happy new year.

A better carry-on bag. The right roll-on can help you avoid checked baggage fees, which now run $15 and up at virtually all airlines (JetBlue and Southwest are two exceptions). But the wrong one will leave you blocking the aisle, trying to stuff a too-big, too-heavy bag into a crowded overhead. My vote: The Delsey Helium Fusion Expandable Suiter Trolley, which I’ve owned for more than a year and absolutely love. It’s inexpensive (around $80), lightweight and tough, with a basic built-in suiter that allows me to keep jackets and pants from getting too wrinkled. Consumer Reports liked it, too.

Sandwich and snack wraps. I like the selection offered by ResuseableBags.com, which range from clear to colorful. Made of cloth or non-leaching plastic, these cost about $5 to $8 each and replace throw-away plastic bags and wraps.

Rechargeable batteries. Now that our house is littered with Leapsters and other battery-operated toys, I’ve finally seen the light and started using rechargeable batteries. I like this Energizer charging gizmo for $20 that plugs into any outlet and allows you to shut off the charger.

A subscription to ShopSmart. This is Consumer Reports’ answer to Real Simple. ShopSmart magazine is a nicely designed synopsis of CR recommendations, with a “Buy this! Don’t buy that!” spin and a tagline of “No hype. No ads. Just great buys.” I especially like the fashion feature in each issue, where noted stylists offer their advice on how to update your wardrobe for less. A subscription is $18 for six annual issuers.

The right crock pot. Not eating out can save a ton of money, but many people are too tired after work to think about cooking. The solution: a crock pot, which allows you to start a meal in the morning and have it ready when you come home. You’ll want one with electronic controls that allow you to delay cooking and automatically reset to “warm” when the cooking is done. Unfortunately, too many slow cooker these days aren’t; the manufacturers have set them to heat up too fast, so you’ll want to read user reviews before you buy. I like the Hamilton Beach Set ‘n Forget model, which retails for $60 to $70.

I knew I liked Ron Lieber. He clearly dislikes gift cards as much as I do.

His recent New York Times column “Redeem all of gift card, or give store a present,” discusses the incredible $5 billion lost each year to “breakage,” or the amount of money put on gift cards that never gets spent.

His article is more circumspect than my MSN rant, “Gift cards are the new fruitcake,” but we make the same points. And the advice is the same: if you get one of these buggers, spend it fast, before the store goes out of business or fees eat up what’s left.