Try Experiences, Not Things

Happy Almost Christmas, Minimalist friends!  It's that time of year when we are scrambling to match our budget with our gift list, then we might say screw it and spend on credit, facing the music as the year rolls into the next.  

Ok, don't do that last part.  It makes the new year pretty rough when bills appear in your inbox and you can barely click "view statement" without a Xanax handy.  Instead consider a few things while gift giving....

Forget the obligatory gifts.  The last thing Grandma needs is perfume, a scarf, or a leather case for her bridge playing cards.  Instead, if she is able, take the gal out for a nice dinner, or see a play that she loves put on by a local high school.  Even better if she knows some of the players.  After 70 years on the planet, she requires nothing.  If she really has needs, you should have taken care of them before December, anyway.  

My elder offspring has been baptised in the minimalist pool since he was knee high to a grasshopper.  This is not to say that he has suffered in the realm of Legos or Hot Wheels (thanks, grandparents...), but he has come to appreciate the value of doing things instead of holding things.  He and his girlfriend often gift each other with tickets, experiences, or consumables, usually considering their budget-conscious lifestyles of Gen Z'ers.  My greatest gift is that he (and she) appreciate the value of an experience versus another thing to dust (ok, they don't dust, but whatever...).

Often I hear people say that if you spend money, you want to have something to show for it?!  I would argue that the memories and photos you have of doing a thing are definitely something to show (or post about profusely, gawd help us all), and they take up no space and pose no threat to the environment.  Memories move with you and never have to be sold in a garage sale or dropped off at Goodwill.  

Can't think of an experience that your recipient would like?  Go give something together.  My son and I watched the show where Ellen DeGeneres pays off mortgages and sends people on trips of a lifetime.  He mused, can you imagine flexing on people so hard that you have so much you say, "I don't even NEED all this so imma give it away.  THAT'S how rich I am!" I think we are probably ALL that rich to a degree.  We all can open our heart and wallet to share what we have and don't need with others.  

Here in Fort Worth, there is a community restaurant called Taste Project (read about their magic here). At Taste, you sit and enjoy their chef-prepared amazingness, then pay what you can, or what you think is an appropriate donation for what you've received.  Maybe you can't pay at all.  There are no prices, so it's up to you to make a donation worthy of your heart.   I dare you to go and not leave with a full tummy, fuller heart, and water spilling from corners of your eyes.   This would be a lovely gift for you and your recipient.  Together.  It's an experience your memory bank will store for you forever. 

This holiday, give what you can, not what you can't.  No one wants you to hate January emails from VISA because you gave him a gift.  Enjoy a glass of Christmas cheer, whether it be bubbly water or grapes, and reflect on all the intangibles of the past year.  It's pretty freeing. 

Merry Minimalist Holidays, friends!