'Tis the season once again for wracking your brain without wrecking your budget as you search for the best gifts for your family, friends and business associates.

Here are some ideas culled from Oprah and Amazon that offer something for just about everyone: scrapbooking materials, a toothbrush sanitizer, candles, cookbooks, make-up, a gravity inversion table for sore backs, pedometer, perfect pushup devices, puzzles, tire gauge, weather radio, digital camera, flash drive, computer and cookware.

Most women I know enter the holiday season filled with the desire to make it special. They want their loved ones to be happy and they take great pains to provide just the right gift, delicious meal, favorite treat, or other seasonal delight to bring twinkles to the eyes of their loved ones.

But somehow the magic doesn’t always happen. The busier and more crowded the season, the less time loved ones have to appreciate their gifts. With so much stuff coming at them, it’s hard to muster the energy to be excited about a new gadget or pretty sweater. Women end up feeling disappointed or hurt by this lack of appreciation and wonder why they knock themselves out year after year. Not to mention the strain on their budgets!

May I suggest a new approach this holiday season? Think of yourself as the gift that keeps on giving. Now before you roll your eyes or laugh yourself silly, let’s examine this idea.

Imagine the difference you could make by offering the gift of your time and attention, not just for the day, but also for the whole year ahead. A homemade coupon book filled with loving promises is inexpensive to create and easy to customize for the recipient.

For a teenager, you might offer a monthly pizza or burger night out. Of course this would have to be good only during the week; what teenager wants to be seen with mom on the weekend? Included in the evening is your undivided attention for a conversation about whatever your teen wants to explore. Your job is to notice what’s neat about your kid and pay close attention to it. The expiration date is the last day of each month, and you should follow up by making sure you schedule it.

Your teen may think this is weird at first, but when you make this date as important as a monthly budget meeting at work, she will begin to see that she matters.

In the same fashion, you can offer a monthly one-on-one meeting to your direct reports at work. The rules of engagement are the same: they get your undivided attention and you get to learn what’s on their minds. As a side benefit, you may find those annoying “got-a-minute?” meetings begin to disappear.

You might offer your friends the chance to share a favorite meal each month. Or take a favorite road trip, see a favorite movie or play a favorite board game. Get creative!

There are a million little things you do that nobody else can do in the same way. Share your reassuring touch, soft smile, the twinkle in your eye, the strong shoulder or generous ear. Listen without comment to a friend’s rant, and then ask how you can help. Endure with good humor the story you’ve heard fourteen times already from your spouse. Call good morning to the kids as they rumble into the kitchen for breakfast. Share the news or weather report that you heard before anyone else was up.

At work, keep your wits about you when everyone else is panicking. Clean up the coffee spill in the break room even though you didn’t make the mess. Turn gossip to more productive conversation.

A creative coupon book is a tangible gift of promises. Yes, it will require a true commitment of time. But as you fulfill your promises each month, you will be rewarded with newly enriched relationships and a growing bank of memories. Talk about a gift that keeps on giving! Happy, happy holidays!