Over the years I have written several blog posts with ideas for clutter free or almost clutter free gifts for Hanukkah and Christmas. Since my mother and mother-in-law had mentioned years ago that they didn’t need or want more things to fill their homes I’ve done plenty of research to come up with different ideas.
When my mother was moved to a nursing home in 2014 and we had to go through her entire house to sell it, I was glad she told us not to get her more “things”. She did not have a lot of clutter laying around but there was still plenty of stuff to go through in a her three bedroom home. She has since passed away but I still have some things to go through.
My 90 years old mother-in-law is the same way. She lives in a three bedroom townhouse. She doesn’t want more things. She’s had many friends downsize to retirement apartments and she’s seen what they had to go through.
So the challenge has been what to give them that they can enjoy but not add things to their homes. If you have family members or friends that have mentioned that they don’t want more “things” it’s time to honor their request.
In this post “Clutter Free and Almost Clutter Free Gift Ideas” you’ll find plenty of ideas for gifts they will enjoy. If you’re not sure what they would like then simply ask them. If they give you the standard answer, “I don’t know” or I don’t care, anything is fine”, then make some suggestions from the list. It should spark a conversation with them saying yes or no to many of the items on the list. You might be surprise about what they would enjoy and what they don’t like at all.
At least it will narrow down the list to make your shopping easier.
So go check out this list and have that conversation if you need to.
One word of warning. Even the almost clutter free gifts such as lotions can become clutter if they don’t use them. For several years in a row we would give my mother-in-law scented body lotions from Bath and Body Works. She told us she did use lotions. I started to notice several unused bottles in a bathroom cabinet. I guess she wasn’t using enough lotion to use up the bottles we gave her as a gift. Obviously we stopped buying her lotions. Now we give her specialty food items we know she enjoys and come from stores she doesn’t shop at because they are too far for her to drive to.
If you are trying to reduce your clutter then pass along some of the ideas from the list to your family members that will be buying you a gift. They’ll appreciate not having to spend a lot of time trying to figure out what to get you.
So lighten your load and someone else’s by not giving gifts that will become clutter.
Janice