Bah humbug on what the financial experts are saying.

We can be as extravagant as we want this year if we buy modest gifts but wrap in enhancements worth their weight in gold. Time. The extra perk in this is the fact that you'll be giving to yourself as well.

Long before LOL was accepted into Webster's, the letters IOU meant you would make good on a promise. There is nothing you can give a friend or a family member that has more value than your time. Below are a few suggestions to spark your own creative thinking:

WAIPUNA AND WAIKIKI

Package the new CD by Waipuna with a view of Diamond Head at sunset as surfers catch their last rides of the day. Add falsetto voices and the strum of soft guitar, offering beautiful "Mana'o Pili." Wrap the CD with an IOU for a Sunday sunset drink at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel's Mai Tai Bar, where the duo of Kale Hannas and Matthew Sproat entertain Sunday from 6 to 10 p.m.

CD, $16; drinks include validated parking

TUNE UP

Pick a chord of your own. At Mana Hawaii at Waikiki Beachwalk, Tangi's handcrafted koa and mahogany 'ukuleles have the look of family heirlooms and the sound of top professional instruments. Give one to yourself or make this a gift. Can't play? You have to start strumwhere. Begin with the basics. At 4 p.m. Thursdays and 10 a.m. Saturdays, Mana offers free 45-minute 'ukulele lessons.

Koa Standard, $310; Concert Mahogany, $420

WEAVING MEMORIES

Wearing a lauhala hat or sporting a lauhala bag is a fashion statement. Weaving your own is a commitment. Start easy. Visit Native Books/Nä Mea Hawai'i to shop for a lauhala-covered brick for a doorstop or a bookend. The gift that keeps on giving is the IOU to attend the free lauhala classes from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays and Fridays. For a small materials fee, begin with a lauhala fan or bracelet. Weave up!

Lauhala-covered brick, $24; full roll of ready-to-weave Hawaiian hala from Kahi McClellan, $60; instruction free

CHOPPING WITH CHUN

The top chefs say nothing stays as clean as a glass cuttingboard. Also guaranteed, nothing stays as colorful in the kitchen as a glass cuttingboard imbedded with a Peggy Chun watercolor, available from the Peggy Chun Gallery on Nu'uanu Avenue. Add in the cookbook with recipes from Peggy and a few dozen of her closest pals, and add an IOU for a cookoff in the kitchen — yours or your gift recipient's.

Cutting boards, $38 and $48; cookbook, $10, ingredients to taste

HULO HAWAIIAN

If Scrabble is your game, then add a command of the Hawaiian language and the Hawaiian Word Game — Hulo! will be your shining hour. For those of us who are 'olelo-challenged, the Pocket Hawaiian Dictionary is a must. The gift of time to play will bring the reward of realization that through our day-to-day activities we know a lot more of our native language than we think.

Hulo! game, $12; kitchen table, free

ROYAL VISIT

Books are a very personal thing. Some love history, others prefer romance. "Aloha 'Oe — A Song Heard Round the World" by Leslie Ann Hayashi and Kathleen Wong Bishop has both. The small book documents the history of the song written by Hawai'i's beloved Queen Lili'uokalani. For the added gift of time, book a tour of 'Iolani Palace. Savor the grand furnishings, imagine the gala entertaining of world leaders and understand more about the only royal palace on U.S. soil.

"Aloha 'Oe," $14.99, at bookstores and Mutual Publishing; 'Iolani Palace guided tours, $20, audio tours, $13, Tuesdays through Saturdays

WAVE RIDER

Solid koa home furnishings from the Martin & MacArthur shops may be a dream to save for. A solid koa surfboard-shaped cuttingboard is a start in the right direction. Every piece of Big Island koa is put to a purpose at the Kalihi factory. Every board has an intricate inlay center and a distinct grain. Add a surf lesson or simply tuck the cutting board and cheese into the pupu basket — for your 'ohana beachside picnic gathering.

Koa cutting board, $59

WINE FIND

Everyone takes one home — a bottle of your personal blend of wine, that is. At Wine The Experience on Kapahulu Ave-nue at Kilohana Square, the first step to 28 to 30 beautifully labeled bottles is a tasting. Variety selected, the two-month aging process begins. Meanwhile, your inner graphic artist comes out as you design a private label.

Gift-wrap the invitation to the finale, a bottling party in the tasting room, hosted by the winemaker — you.

Average price per finished bottle, $10, 738-0738