Well, Thanksgiving is past us and Christmas is right around the corner. Let’s face it, it’s been a tough year financially for many people. On the postive side, some have shifted from free spending to saving and frugality. I love that more people are focused on performing wise money management practices and some are even eager to learn what the Bible has to say about managing money.
That’s why this Christmas I’ve identified my top 10 Christmas gift picks for equipping and enabling wise personal money management in 2010. I think these items help the money manager perform his or her responsibilities and are geared to keeping the new focus (frugality and saving) versus shifting back to old habits.
Top 10 personal money management gifts
1. Start a debt snowball and learn how to makeover your money management habits with The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. This book is one of the more popular and practical money management books available. You can find a mini review on my recommended reading list.
2. Your Money Counts by Howard Dayton is a great resource to learn more about what the the Bible says about money. I like this resource for helping people learn more about and build a strong foundation for financial stewardship. You can find a mini review on my recommended reading list.
3. One of the leading personal finance software packages online today is Mvelopes Personal. Mvelopes provides the capability to perform electronic envelope budgeting, bill pay from any account and support wise money management practices. Read my review of Mvelopes to learn more.
4. For only a few dollars you can get a copy of the Crown Money Map which is a roadmap to achieving personal finance goals. Each of the seven destinations contain specific goals such as saving for emergencies or paying off debt.
5. Stay current on personal finance by subscribing to Money Magazine. I’ve subscribed for several years now and always find interesting articles each month that help me expand my knowledge about areas in personal finance such as investing, saving and frugal spending.
6. Sound Mind Investing is an organization focused on helping people plan for the future using money management principles from the Bible. You can stay current on their latest investing advice by subscribing to the Sound Mind Investing Newsletter.
7. Speaking of Sound Mind Investing, the founder, Austin Prior, has published a well-known book called Sound Mind Investing which teaches investing using Biblical financial principles. I’m hoping to also add this one to my recommended reading list. It’s on my personal Christmas wish list this year. 
8. A one year subscription to Consumer Reports Magazine will help in purchasing products that will last. Wise spending decisions is an important part of wise personal money management. For example, we used Consumer Reports to purchase our vacuum cleaner. We got a good product at a below average price.
9. Every money manager who is carefully tracking expenses and making sure bills are paid on-time needs some mechanism for doing so. The Bill Organizer from Crown Financial Ministries is a handy gift.
10. What would money management be without a calculator to help in calculating spending and tracking against the monthly spending plan? I like the Texas Instruments calculator (TI-1795SV) because you can program in a sales tax which is then automatically included in your calculation with the punch of a button. I use my TI calculator to help me split receipts into different budget categories.
What are your Christmas personal finance gift picks? Let us know in the comments.
