Susan Tompor: 5 on-the-money, out-of-the-box holiday gifts

Stuffing cash in an envelope can be a pretty great gift in many households. Unfortunately, some people do view cash as a tad impersonal.

Yet there are plenty of other creative options for show-me-the-money gifts that can go beyond the usual U.S. savings bonds.

Here are five on-the-money gifts:

n Ever think about five gold rings? You could dish out roughly $750 for five gold rings, according to the 2015 PNC Christmas Gift Index. The price for a simple, no-fuss gold wedding band is about flat from last year, according to PNC.

But the price of gold has been trending down lately and was down roughly 10 percent in late November from a year ago. Some think the downward trend will continue.

Silver is a less expensive gift option. You can start out as low as $15 or $16 for a troy ounce for silver and "go up to a lot of money," Abbott said. "There's a wide range."

n How about a little financial drama? Pick up a gift card to a movie theater for the new financial thriller "The Big Short" or maybe even wrap up the Michael Lewis book of the same name along with a gift card.

n Ever think of paying someone's electric bill for a month? Or maybe buying them a week's worth of groceries?

Sure, it's practical. But it can be practically delightful to be surprised by extra breathing room in the family's budget for 2016.

n Wrap up a tiny piece of Wall Street. This holiday season, it is easier to buy just a small part of a share of stock in Apple, Nike and other popular companies.

n Gather your own change to buy a gift card. If you've got $25 or $50 in spare change sitting around the house you may want to a CoinStar location to convert the change into a gift card for Starbucks or Amazon.com or Toys R Us.

Susan Tompor, the personal finance columnist for the Detroit Free Press, can be reached at stompor@freepress.com.

This story was originally published December 12, 2015 at 7:16 PM with the headline "Susan Tompor: 5 on-the-money, out-of-the-box holiday gifts ."