It is virtually Christmas. Yes, we have to go through the motions of Thanksgiving, shopping, wrapping and all that, but it might as well be Christmas already. That's how fast it's going to be here.

This season is going to be a little different. The economy stinks and I don’t know a single person who is not affected in some way. So suddenly, the $10 gift you have to bring to every party you go to for every group you are involved in is just not so easy. You begin to resent any forced exchange of gifts. You look longingly at the perfect gift for your sister or best friend and have to think about whether you can afford it. Yes, it’s the thought that counts, but you still have to hand over your credit card.

If you are looking for an alternative for this year, you have come to the right place. I have come up with the perfect solution and we are launching it with my family and with my neighborhood girlfriends. This year we are going to have a virtual gift exchange. My family will still buy gifts for the children, but the usual adult exchange of names is going to be different. Gone is the $75 limit. Gone is trying to figure out what your brother-in-law, who you see once a year, wants.

In the virtual gift exchange, the sky is the limit. There are no maximums on what you can spend. The difference is that you can’t actually spend any money. You think about the person and what he/she REALLY wants or needs and present it to him/her as a print out, probably with some funny explanation accompanying it.

Let me give you some examples:

Let’s say that I pick my McCainiac friend Marcy. I might present her with a photo of John McCain and his wife sitting in their home and photoshop her into the picture, presenting her with a personal visit with John McCain to commiserate on how the country is going to go down the tubes since he wasn’t elected.

Let’s say I pick fellow blogger, Leigh, who tells me she was, well, um, a handful as a teenager. I might find some pictures of goth teens, runaways, etc. and give them to her as a glimpse into the poetic justice that awaits her with Flipper.

And what about whoever picks me? My Cantina friends might construct a virtual device that turns off my iPhone when I cross the threshold of the Cantina. My carpool kids might create a virtual heating device for my car since it starts to warm up right about the moment I drop them off.

Think about the money you can save. Think about how you can take the pressure off. Think about how you can stay focused on the joy of the season instead of the misery of the mall.

What are YOU doing differently this season?

Di appears Saturdays on TriangleMom2Mom.com Read more about Di at her blog Live and Let Di.