Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Give Love, Not Stuff

It's another Works-For-Me Wednesday. I've talked about this idea before around Christmas time, but it's an idea that works for me throughout the year! For more works-for-me ideas, visit We Are THAT Family.

I love giving Clutter-Free Gifts! Clutter-free gift giving is the act of gifting that does not add more stuff (often unneeded) to the recipients' homes. With clutter-free gift (CFG) giving, you can make the move away from the "materialistic focus" of gift-giving to a "love focus".


I divide the ideas into 5 sections:

  • Experiences (family weekend at a water park, a day with grandma and grandpa at the zoo and a movie, a romantic weekend away with your spouse)

  • Donations (give to you local food pantry as a family, sponsor a needy family during a holiday, make a donation in honor of a recipient)

  • Consumables (gift cards, fruit of the month, certificate for cleaning services, memberships)

  • Time (offer to watch a busy mom's kid while she take a day off, start a family night)

  • Expressions of Love and Gratitude (letter, photo books, home-made calendar, coupon booklet)

If you like the idea of giving and getting less stuff, talk with family and friends about the ideas. Mother's Day isn't too far off. Oh yeah, Father's Day is just around the corner, too. What are you favorite CFG ideas?

I have shared over 100 CFG idea in my free guide book, Clutter-Free Gift Giving: Giving Love, Not Stuff.

Find out how you can get your copy here!

5 comments:

mub said...

Consumables are by far my favorite. I wonder what your feelings are about gift cards being seen as "impersonal." I don't see them that way at all, but it seems like a lot of people get all huffy about them for some reason!

Creative Junkie said...

Well ... for Mother's Day, I would love it if my family were to give me NO dirty laundry whatsoever. AS in ... it's all freshly laundered and folded and put away.

And a clean kitchen.

Paula @ Organizing Tips For Moms said...

mub--I LOVE gift cards. I guess it just depends on the person. You could make it more personal by adding a few touches along with the gift card, like treats and popcorn with a movie passes. Thanks for stopping by!!

Helene said...

You always have the BEST ideas!!! For my sister's upcoming b-day, I have offered to have all her kids stay at our house overnight so she and her husband can have the house to themselves. She appreciated that much more than any material item I could've given her!

Tess said...

I love gift cards too with the added cute stuff like popcorn for a rental movie, etc.

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