Gift-giving by request? Weigh in

When I was growing up outside New York City, my best friend's family had an unusual Christmas tradition: Each gift could cost no more than a dollar.
This was the '60s and a dollar went further than it does today, but it still didn't go very far. I seem to remember my buddy giving his mother a vegetable peeler.
Of course, the idea wasn't to be cheap but to keep the real spirit of Christmas.
I know it's a clich & eacute; to gripe about holiday commercialism, but after spending an hour in the mall the other evening, I wish there were some way to rein in the vulgarity.
I reached my disgust threshold after getting the hard sell for a book of gift certificates entitling each recipient to 20 minutes in a water-powered massage machine that looked like a cross between a commercial dishwasher and a coffin.
Few surprises
At my house, we've compounded the loss of Christmas spirit by falling into the habit of prioritizing our requests. Even worse: In recent years, I've asked for gift certificates from specific stores, to be sure of getting the electronic gizmo with exactly the features I want.
It's not the thought that counts -- there is no thought. It's the cash value.
And yet, thinking about the best presents I ever got, they were all surprises. So this year I'm promoting the idea of skipping the request list, at least among the adults.
I'd like to know how other people handle these issues.
So let's have another contest -- along the lines of the cheapskate and complainer contests we did a while back.
The questions
Do you set a spending limit?
Do you ban requests or encourage them?
What's the best present you ever got -- that you didn't ask for? This should be something unexpected, like the time my anti-motorcycle mother gave me custom Harley Davidson tools.
What's the best present you ever gave -- again, that wasn't expected? This should be something that demonstrated how perfectly you knew the recipient.
What gift got the most bang for the buck -- the most pleasure despite its low cost?
What was your most clever gift?
What were the biggest duds you ever gave or got?
And so on ...
Categories aren't limited to these. As usual, I'll make up the categories after I get the entries.
I'll be the sole judge, and there will be no appeals.
And, as always, there's no prize other than fame.
But I can tell you this: The winner of the Cheapskate of the Year contest, the man who reused his dental floss, was interviewed by news organizations as far away as Australia, and he and I have on-camera roles in an important forthcoming documentary on the history of flossing.
Send or e-mail entries to the addresses below and include your phone number.
Interest rates steady
Now that the financial markets have had some time to digest the Federal Reserve's decision Dec. 9 to leave short-term interest rates alone, how should we ordinary folk react?
The bottom line is: The world is not much different today than it was before the decision. Most experts seem to believe the Fed will start raising short-term rates sometime next year. That's not much of a surprise, given that the good economic news of the past few weeks raises inflation worries.
It's probably safe to bet that interest rates will rise next year rather than fall. So if you're thinking of taking out a new mortgage, holding off probably won't get you a lower rate.
Also, this is probably not the time to lock up a lot of money in long-term bonds or mutual funds that own them. That's because rising interest rates cause the prices of older, low-rate bonds to fall.
Investors who want to keep money safe should probably use short-term bonds and funds, money market accounts, ordinary bank savings or short-term certificates of deposit.
XJeff Brown is a business columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer. E-mail him at brownj@phillynews.com.