Instead of giving a cheap, lousy gift, pool your money and upgrade

It's too early to think about Christmas, but I'm doing it anyway.

With a large family and enough in-laws to fill a bus, picking a name out of a hat is the best way to avoid having to buy everyone a Christmas present, and to avoid getting 50 inexpensive gifts that will end up lost in a closet within a week. You spend more money one one gift for one person, instead of a little bit of money on a lot of knickknacks that adds up to a larger sum.

Lolligift, a Web site based in Seattle, has an even better solution.