How many Top Ten Christmas Presents list have you visited? They all are about "best prices" and "coupons" for your Christmas presents. None of them help you with the real burning issue during this tough economic Christmas: How to get the biggest bang for your buck to keep your family happy?

My Top Advice

My top advice this year is: Don't go for the obvious and don't make false economies.

Going for the obvious is buying lots of cheap little presents hoping that you will get away with it. But cheap is a false economy. Cheap very quickly adds up to very expensive: cheap things don't last because they are of inferior quality, and they don't give real, long time pleasure.

The Solution

Step out of the box and go for the opposite this year: Buy high quality presents at deep discount but, instead of buying lots of cheaper little presents, buy one great present for the whole family.

Why is this the solution?

Let's clear one hurdle for starters: Shopping around for real quality at deep discount is easy. All retailers want to sell now. They no longer wait for the Christmas sales to start after Christmas.

But look at what you and your family get out of it when you take this route:

Buying one bigger present that can involve the whole family has many benefits.

First of all, you can make the decision together, which presents to buy so that everyone will enjoy it. Set up a list of your top ten Christmas presents and reduce it together to something you all want.

Secondly, it takes the guess work out of it. You know that whatever arrives, you and your family will definitely enjoy it because you have all chosen it from the list of your own top ten Christmas presents. You did not buy it blindly from some store list that is only interested in selling.

Thirdly, when your Christmas present arrives you will use it together, play together, do things with it together.

With these benefits alone you can give your family a much greater Christmas experience than ever before.

But most importantly, your children will learn from this how to do things together, how to compromise, and that beyond "me, me, me," more fun can be had from being together as a family. This works much more effectively than telling them to be considerate and respectful of others.

Most people don't think of this, and certainly none of the Top Ten Christmas Presents lists sites that I have visited give you any advice how to get the best for your family with the money that is around this year.