I’ve long had a problem with gifting at Christmas. The obligation. The cost. The consumerism. The waste.
But I’m also not a Grinch. I don’t want to be the party pooper who doesn’t bring any gifts out of principle. That’s not exactly the way to encourage people to live a simpler life and honestly, when gifting is done well, it can be a wonderful thing.
Enter the non-gift.
These are subscriptions, vouchers, and experiences. They’re gifting time. Knowledge. Ideas.
For the last mailout of 2023, I’m sharing a short list of my favourite non-gift ideas.
Have a great Christmas all. I’ll see you in 2024.
A couple of experiences from yours truly
A subscription to The Capsule Pantry
Some of you may know that Simple and Straightforward isn’t my only Substack, I also write (more frequently) over at The Capsule Pantry.
TCP encourages you to slim down your pantry into ingredients that you will actually use. I send out versatile recipes every week that are primed for adaptation. I’ll teach you how to make successful substitutions — no more buying one ingredient never-to-use again.
I’ve also got an offer on until 31st December — 30% off subscriptions making it $3.50 a month or $35 a year.
A personalised wine consultation
My husband and I recently launched a remote wine recommendation service called SommAnywhere.
Here’s how it works.
Buy a gift voucher on our site.
The recipient lets us know their wine preferences in a 5-minute quiz.
We personally compile a list of local-to-them and online wine stores they should be shopping at.
We will give them specific bottle recommendations from at least 2 and up to 4 of the stores we feel fit them best, based on their preferences.
They’ll also get a list of wine regions we think they’ll love AND our favourite wineries from each. This is like access to our little black book of wineries, those we can't help but buy when we see them. A list we've spent 10+ years compiling and curating.
Beats the same old bottle of wine for the wine-obsessed person in your life.
Giving the gift of Substacks
Substack is by far one of the best places on the internet for independent writing and easy to gift too. Here are some of my favourites.
Food
You don’t get more beautiful food writing than what
writes every single week at A Private Chef.’s The Recovering Line Cook will make you want to quit your job and become a chef so you can cook as beautiful food as he does.Culture
Friend
talks about how to achieve a semi-retired existence earlier than you’d think, whilst documenting his upcoming move from the US to Spain in Living The Semi Retired Life. writes one of my favourite Substacks Things Worth Knowing which covers everything from building your own Substack to navigating the world of work, society, and travel.Travel
Brent and Michael of
have long been writing brilliant travel content from the road. They will make you want to pack a bag and follow in their footsteps.My friend Rowena writes
filled with inspiring stories from people who have chosen to work remotely from all over the world.Gifting your time
Gifting time must be on every single simple living / minimalist blog out there, but that’s for a reason.
Time is something few people have enough of.
There are obvious ways to do this like babysitting, cooking a meal, or taking the recipient out for the day.
But the best way to gift time is to give something that falls within your expertise.
If you’re a good cook, could you teach someone a few recipes? My expertise is in wine, so many of my family (the ones interested in wine at least) will be getting a free SommAnywhere consultation. My mother is an incredible artist so I always ask her for a sketch for Christmas.
Giving your expertise is incredibly personal — something only you can do.
If you truly want to gift physical things…
…think long and hard about what it is this person loves (not just what you think they’ll love if they give it a chance).
I recently read this advice in an article discussing how many gifts are chosen based on the preference of the giver, not the receiver. For instance, you love cooking so you give your cooking-avoidant cousin a cookbook in the hope they’ll catch the bug too (they probably won’t).
My second piece of advice is the age-old “buy independent.”
I have a vested interest in buying from independent stores because I owned one for so long. I know firsthand how much every single sale means in an independent store. And it’s SUCH a better buying experience than hitting out of town malls or Amazon.
What non-gifts are you giving this year? Let me know in the comments
Wow. Thank you for such kind words. Thank you so very much.
Love love love 🫶