As you’re thinking about your Christmas or Hanukkah gift list this year do you think you could approach some of the adults on the list and propose that you not exchange gifts at all?
Tagged with: ease, gift giving, gifts, holidays, worth repeating
I’m a big proponent of letting the holidays be easier by planning ahead. This year it’s more important than ever to plan ahead for holiday gift giving.
Tagged with: ease, gift giving, gifts, holidays
My father, Gene Adams, turned 90 on September 11. He lives in Walla Walla, in remote southeastern Washington state. I usually visit about four times a year but because of COVID, I hadn’t seen him since early February. I couldn’t stand the idea of not being with him to celebrate such a big day, but I also wasn’t comfortable flying there and potentially picking up and transmitting the virus to him. So I drove. It was a 4,000-mile roundtrip journey and I had a great time despite the weirdness of COVID-era travel. (I promise a post on the trip and the precautions I took.)
Tagged with: geralin thomas, gift giving, gifts, trello
This time of year I always receive requests for gift certificates. The inquiring person wants to give a session or sessions with an organizer or organizing team. Is this an appropriate gift? It can be.
Tagged with: gift giving, gifts
A year ago, I wrote about what a great bargain (and clutter-free gift) Amazon Prime is. For $99 a year, I get not only free two-day shipping, but access to TV shows, movies, digital books, audio books, music, magazines, games and photo storage. I decided to run the post again this year, because I’m still thrilled by Amazon Prime. The benefits from last year remain. In checking it out again this year, I saw that I could borrow a Kindle book and synced audiobook free of charge. I love it! By the way, while I’m working on this blog post, I’m listening, free of charge, to the Hamilton Mixtape on Prime Music.
Tagged with: amazon, gift giving, holidays, worth repeating
I almost never give an item I’ve knitted as a gift. And that’s because I’ve seen among my clients a real difficulty in giving up an item that was a gift. And it’s even harder to give up hand-made gifts, even if they’ve never been used or loved. Sometimes the gift recipient just doesn’t share the taste of the giver.
Tagged with: gift giving, gifts, holidays, martha stewart, worth repeating
I’m a big believer in not giving people clutter as gifts. In my clients’ homes, I often see how hard it is for them to let go of items they received as a gift, even if they don’t like or don’t use the item. As I’ve blogged about before I’m in favor of making the holiday season easier on gift givers by simplifying or limiting the gifts you give and receive.
Tagged with: ease, gift giving, gifts, holidays
This Sunday is Father’s Day and it’s also the second anniversary of the day my other passed away. When I was on the airplane on my way to my mother’s bedside the day she died two years ago, I wrote a post about giving our parents our time, not stuff. Here’s that post. I truly believe that we benefit, as do our parents, when we make an effort to spend time with them, especially on holidays. It’s a much better gift than a tie or after shave!
Father’s Day is Sunday and that always makes me want to encourage you not to give gifts that will become clutter. I think this is particularly true of gifts to parents, who may have an especially hard time letting go of items you give them.
Tagged with: father's day, gift giving, gifts, worth repeating
I’ve been a member of Amazon Prime for years—well over a decade, I’m sure. I first joined when pretty much the only benefit was free two-day shipping (and it cost $79 annually). Now the price is up to $99 but to me it’s an amazing bargain. The free shipping is great. But they have added some benefits that make the $99 expenditure well worth it, even you never have a thing shipped.
Tagged with: amazon, gift giving, holidays
One of my refrains around any holiday is urging folks to give the gift of experiences, not stuff. I see how gifts can so easily become clutter, because people tend to resist discarding anything they received as a gift.
So I was really pleased to get an email from Sparefoot about their recent study that found that most people don’t use the gifts they receive and that 81% would rather receive experiences.
Tagged with: gift giving, gifts, spare foot
Father’s Day is Sunday and that always makes me want to encourage you not to give gifts that will become clutter. I think this is particularly true of gifts to parents, who may have an especially hard time letting go of items you give them.
Tagged with: father's day, gift giving, gifts
I used Montage to make a photo book for her, full of current-ish family photos, most of which were taken on a recent visit I took to visit my parents with my niece and nephew, who live in Australia. Their visits are understandably rare, so these family photos are precious.
Tagged with: gift giving, mothers day, photographs
And now for my annual plea not to give gifts that will clutter the recipient’s home. A nice bonus of most of these gifts is they don’t require leaving the house to purchase, so they’re great for Christmas procrastinators. I wrote this post two years ago and I stand by it today.
Tagged with: gift giving, great day st. louis, holidays, worth repeating
Mother’s Day is in a week (and my mother’s birthday is today!), so I’ve been thinking about gift giving again. If you give your mom an experience, service or something consumable, you don’t have to worry about cluttering up her home. Here’s a post from a couple of years ago that I think is worth repeating. (I’ve updated it a little.)
Tagged with: gift giving, gifts, mothers day, newsletter, worth repeating
I’m a little bit crafty. I love beautiful, handmade items. I knit as a hobby and especially appreciate hand knits.
But I almost never give an item I’ve knitted as a gift. And that’s because I’ve seen among my clients a real difficulty in giving up an item that was a gift. And it’s even harder to give up hand-made gifts, even if they’ve never been used or loved. Sometimes the gift recipient just doesn’t share the taste of the giver.
Tagged with: gift giving, gifts, holidays, martha stewart
I love giving gifts that leave no clutter footprint. If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you know that every year this time of year I blog about giving gifts that don’t create clutter.
Tagged with: amazon, gift giving, holidays
Father’s Day is on Sunday and it brought to mind my message about avoiding gifts that create clutter. I’ve been writing about that for years in terms of Mother’s Day gifts, but it’s just as true for Father’s Day. Your dad (or husband) probably doesn’t need another tie or bottle of after shave. I thought I’d repeat a post I created last year for Mother’s Day, which actually reprints a newsletter article I wrote in 2007. I’ll share a little secret (because my father doesn’t read my blog): I’ll be giving him cut flowers, like I have been for some years. They brighten his day and and he doesn’t have to find a permanent home for them.
Tagged with: fathers day, gift giving, gifts, newsletter, worth repeating
I’m all about letting the holidays be easy. And I’m also very keen on not giving gifts that might weigh the recipient down. I see in my clients a tendency to hang onto items that were given as gifts, even if the items aren’t used or loved.
Tagged with: gift giving, great day st. louis, holidays
Mother’s Day is just around the corner. Since moms tend to want to hang on to gifts their children give them, I urge you to consider giving her something that won’t become clutter.
Tagged with: gift giving, gifts, mothers day, newsletter
I shot a segment this morning on Great Day St. Louis about clutter-free gift giving, one of my favorite holiday topics.
Tagged with: gift giving, great day st. louis, holidays
Mother’s Day is one of those holidays that seems to invite clutter, in the form of gifts. I know I have a hard time coming up with gifts for my mother, who pretty much has all the stuff she needs. I don’t want to add another knick knack for her shelf, so I usually resort to flowers.
Tagged with: allison carter, gift giving, gifts, mothers day
I haven’t managed to write a post this year about holiday gift giving, so I thought I’d do it today before it’s really too late. I started looking back on the posts I’ve written in the past about gift giving (this is my fourth Christmas as a blogger) and realized that I’ve written some pretty good stuff. So rather than reinvent the wheel, I’m going to point you to some past articles as well as some stuff written by others.
Tagged with: bobbi nesladek, etsy, gift giving, jeri dansky, naomi dunford, silvercreek glider club
Traditional Mother’s Day gifts are a recipe for clutter as far as I’m concerned. The thought behind the is great, but since sentiment is attached to them, the recipient doesn’t like to part with them. That can add up to major clutter over the years.
Tagged with: emily wilska, gift giving, gifts, mothers day
If you have anyone on your gift list who has a problem with clutter, please, I implore you, consider giving them an experience or a service, rather than a thing. Chronically disorganized folks tend to attach sentimental value to items easily, making them difficult to part with. If it’s a gift, it’s especially hard to pass along to someone else. So your well-intentioned gift might turn into clutter.
Tagged with: gift giving, silvercreek glider club, soaring
The horrifying tragedy at a Walmart on Long Island the day after Thanksgiving represents holiday shopping at its worst. Folks waited in line for hours, then broke down the doors, actually trampling an employee. All in the name of getting a good deal, I guess.
Now I like a deal. But this year I’m encouraging myself (and you) to practice mindful shopping when it comes to the holiday season.
Tagged with: gift giving, jeri dansky, naomi dunford
This time of year I sometimes receive inquiries from people who want to give my services to someone on their gift list. That’s a tricky proposition and I’ll tell you why. Folks who look like they could use the services of a professional organizer might be perfectly happy with their current state of affairs. Or they might just not be ready to even think about decluttering. They might be insulted by the suggestion, which is an awful reaction to a gift.
Tagged with: gift giving
If you haven’t already purchased your holidays gifts this year, I encourage you to consider giving gifts that won’t contribute any clutter to the recipient’s home. I wrote about this in the November 2007 issue of my newsletter. My readership was smaller then, so I’m going to repost it here for those who may not have seen it. (If you like it and would like to subscribe to my free monthly newsletter, which comes out on the 15th of every month, please subscribe.)
Tagged with: clutter, gift giving, gifts, online shopping
I decided to offer a quarterly newsletter with a little article, a tip, and an offer. Maybe a little news.
Tagged with: gift giving, napo st. louis, newsletter