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4.1 MORE PRACTICAL CHRISTMAS GIFTS; CUT AND REDUCE CHRISTMAS SHOPPING EXPENSES.
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A rechargeable flashlight (about $9)
Three
years ago I bought my wife a rechargeable Coleman flashlight. It is small and self
contained. About once a month it must be recharged. You simply plug it into a wall socket
overnight with its built-in plug.
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A fun coin bank for children (about $7.50)
The
"Money Machine Action Bank" by Mag-Nif sorts, stacks, and counts coins. This coin bank is
a wonder to watch. When a child drops in a dime, for example, it goes through a series of
Rube Goldberg levers to eventually fall in the stack just for dimes. When there are enough
dimes, slide the bank open and insert the stack of coins into a paper roll. Savings banks
will only accept rolled coins today for deposits.
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An inflatable mattress ($18-$40)
We
use an inflatable mattress for our guests. We didn't want to buy an entire bed just for
the occasional visitor. Doing this would have been expensive and required a lot of space.
Instead we roll out and blow up the mattress. Guests tell us it's very
comfortable.
We
found a mattress works best when you put a pad or rug under it and a standard bed pad over
it.
Inflatable
mattresses come in all standard bedding sizes. Small and light when collapsed, you can
carry one with you on trips. Some mattresses can be inflated with cold air from a hair
dryer or a vacuum cleaner exhaust but others may require a foot pump or small electric
pump ($8-$20). Even inflating with a foot pump only takes five to ten minutes.
Price
example: queen sized bed with foot pump and two inflatable pillows = $49.99 (1999
prices)
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