We all have too much stuff and not enough quality time these days. Rather than make it worse this Christmas, why don’t you have a go at reversing it a little? What better way than to get some gifts that won’t clutter up the lives of your loved ones. After all, who needs more stuff? Here’s some ideas to get you thinking:
Movie tickets- A dinner voucher (or you can combine them and get a movie/dinner package)
- A baby-sitting voucher (again, combined with dinner and a movie would be awesome for busy parents)
- A voucher for some organising or decluttering (from Clear Space, of course!)
- A voucher for an assistant-for-a-day/week
- Tickets to a theatre show or sporting event that is meaningful for them
- A home-made “I’m your slave for a day” voucher (or if you prefer..”I’m your personal assistant for a day”)
- A donation to a charity (see Oxfam Unwrapped or World Vision Smiles to buy a goat, a school kit, or blankets on behalf of someone – there are hundreds of gifts to choose from)
- Flowers delivered every month for a year (or even once is just as nice..and far less expensive!)
- An annual membership for their favourite sporting club
- A car detailing package
- A spring-clean service for their home
- A gardening service (don’t do this if they love their gardening!)
- Singing lessons
- Music lessons (guitar, drums, piano etc)
- A massage
- Dancing classes
- Art classes
- Gym membership
- Voucher for a treatment of their choice at a beauty salon
- iTunes (or similar) gift card
- A homemade frozen or fresh dinner home-delivered (great for new or extra-busy mums)
- A zoo membership (South Australians click here for Zoos SA membership details)
- A ticket for an adventure such as a ride in a racing car, vintage fighter jet, jet boat, hot-air balloon, sky-diving (but be sure they’re up for it!) or something milder like a hike, canoeing or a day-trip boat cruise
- An opportunity for them to meet their hero. For my husband’s 40th I hired Stuart Dew from Port Adelaide FC to make an appearance at his party. He will never forget it!
- Take them out for the day and let them do whatever they want to do, eat whatever they want to eat and go whereever they want to go (great for kids)
- Hide a picnic lunch somewhere for the two of you and give them the GPS coordinates so they have to find it (make it a scenic route!)
- Photography classes
- A session with a stylist
- A coupon that entitles them a few hours of your time helping them organising their digital photos
- A week of full-time housekeeping (yes, please!)
- A week of a personal chef (again…yes, please!)
- Take them out volunteering for a day with you (you have no idea just how much you’ll gain in return)
- An e-book reader (so they can reduce their book clutter)
All of these things either save time or space or give a unique experience and memory. Far better than adding to our cluttered lives, don’t you think?
