What gifts do you get and what should you give in these times of depression?It’s hard, almost as hard as figuring out why, when we bailed out the people whose greed caused this whole bloody depression/financial system collapse thing, they now seem to be getting away with paying themselves more of the money that we gave them while charging us more of our remaining money for getting at what is our money.

Keep your cash under the bed, or better yet in a jar, because then you can see it, love it and watch it grow. Gifts for him in these credit-crunched times don’t come any smarter than a clever little money jar that has an intelligent top (if only the banks could say the same!).Every time you pop loose change in through the slot in the lid, it tots up the total, so you know how much you’ve got stashed. In weak moments, when you fancy luxuries like food or toilet roll or even fancy gadgets like cups or shoes to cheer up your otherwise humdrum, cash-strapped existence, when you remove the lid an LCD screen insists you enter the amount you’re snaffling. It automatically deducts that amount from the total and you don’t get charged or get any letters. Listen to the lid and you’ll be surprised how fast you save cash.

However, these things are mere toys in comparison with the real cost-saving present that’s practical and reliable.That’s right – we’re talking Unicycles here!OK, it’s half as useful as a bicycle, but then there’s only half the bits to buy and half the bits to go wrong.Twice as much fun though and they are a cost effective transport, fitness and entertainment rolled into one. If your sense of balance is more developed than your sense of self-preservation, then the Unicycle is for you. In these times of downsizing it’s true there are no handlebars, but you still get a wheel, a comfy seat as well as anti-slip pedals for half the running cost of a bike and ¼ the running costs of a banger.