The day after Thanksgiving is traditionally the biggest shopping day of the year. However, holiday spending is still in full force.

Throughout ABCIncome.com a simple but powerful theme is continually stressed, avoid debt if possible, avoid spending money (especially that you don't have) on things that don't make you money, and try to instead make wise decisions and expenditures that will add to and improve your financial health and overall well being.

And, no, the above statement doesn't mean that I'm saying that you shouldn't buy toys or all of the other wonderful gifts and gadgets that we all love to eye, buy, and receive around this time of year. If you can afford it, especially without going into debt (i.e., carrying a balance on your credit cards), go ahead! After all, while it's true that few of the gift items in this category are likely to improve your financial picture, they do bring joy and happiness, and, what would life be without a little of both :)

Unfortunately, though, statistics show that year after year Americans continue to pile up debt, especially credit card debt, in the process of making holiday expenditures.

There is an old and well known saying, "Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime."

Likewise, one could also say, "Spend your money to give someone a gift and he or she has a gift for today. Teach someone to earn and manage money, and he or she can have money and gifts for a lifetime."

One of the oldest forms of the above kind of giving is when someone gives stocks or savings bonds. However, did you know that some of the most powerful gifts that you could ever give (including to yourself) also happen to be among the least expensive?

What am I talking about? Some of the best advice ever given about how to earn and manage money is available in the form of small, easy to read, books and other resources, many of which cost less than $10.00. Some are even free.

Wealthy people pass along sage advice amongst each other, and especially family, all the time. Just one of the reasons the very old saying that the, "rich get richer," remains very true. People with money tend to have acquired it by making wise decisions and purchases that enabled them to have even more money. People without money tend to do the opposite.

If you're among the smaller percentage of people who will do their holiday shopping this year without going into debt, give yourself a big pat on the back!

If, on the other hand, the budget is a bit strained, why not consider a gift like those mentioned here? Something that, whether for yourself or others, is the gift of knowledge of how to be better off financially.

Ever heard of a pearl of wisdom, or a jewel of knowledge? That's because the right wisdom and the right knowledge can easily be worth far more than its weight in gold.

Among the most precious jewels of knowledge that you will find anywhere are two very inexpensive books that you can buy for yourself or give to others:

Think & Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill

The Richest Man In Babylon, by George S. Clason

If you don't mind spending a little more and want to treat yourself to a veritable tour de force of some of the best money, money making, money management, life experience, and business building philosophy that you will find anywhere at any price, you would be hard pressed to find a better single source of wisdom than the wealth of advice contained within Jim Rohn's video seminar, "How To Have Your Best Year Ever!"

Two relative newcomers ( at least in comparison to how long the above classics have been around ), but well worth it, are the two books below:

The Millionaire Next Door, by Thomas J. Stanley, William D. Danko

Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money--That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!, by Robert T. Kiyosaki, Sharon L. Lechter

Even if you were to purchase ALL of the above books, all of which line the bookshelves of my library, it would probably still set you back less than a fraction of what you are probably going to spend over the holidays. More importantly, how much are the pearls of wisdom worth that are contained within? The answer is that any one of the items mentioned above is easily priceless, impossible, in fact, to put a true price tag on.

Many people have turned their lives around and earned thousands, even millions more than they earned or were worth previously simply by acquiring knowledge from one of the above resources.

Speaking of libraries, by the way, one of the bits of wisdom that Jim Rohn dispenses in the video seminar mentioned above (which you can also attend in person) is that if you go into any home worth more than $200,000 you'll find that it probably has a library.

Well, when that video was originally taped two decades ago, at least in many parts of the country, a $200,000 home was likely to have been the home of a "well to do" person. Now, of course, in 2004, a $200,000 home is merely an "average" home, and in some places might even be considered a rather modest abode.

In 2004 dollars you would probably have to up the value to a half a million to a million dollar home or better before it would again be true that every home in that price range is likely to have a library.

If it's true that inside the home of every wealthy person you are likely to find a library, what does that tell us? How might we imagine they spend their time? What do they spend their money on? Did they get where they are by spending lots of time in front of the TV and running up their credit cards on things they couldn't afford, or did they go about it a different way?

Is it a coincidence that each of the mentors whom I was privileged to know who shared with me the first three books (and video) mentioned above just happened to be millionaires, each had a library, each had read these very same books (and many more) and each just happened to have a habit of giving those very same books (and the video) to others? I'm so very glad that they happened to include me as one of those people. And now I'm sharing the same information with you!

Except for the video, you can probably pick up a copy of any of the above books at any good bookstore. More information, and links, can be found here under the Resources section on ABCIncome.com:

About the author:

GRPMAX, L.L.C. was founded by CEO Phil Covington in 1979 and is the parent company of ABCIncome.Com. GRPMAX specializes in developing Uniquely Innovative Technologies & Solutions™ and has worked with clients ranging from small business, to government, to the Fortune 500. Specifically, GRPMAX creates solutions that automate processes that previously required human staffing