Merry Minimalists Christmas

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You may be seeing a lot of posts recently about intentional gift giving and making the holiday season more authentic and less materialistic. Many families are overwhelmed with the busyness of the holidays. Between gift buying and giving, decorating, parties and planning matching outfits, it’s time to find ways to get back to the simple joys of the holidays. Minimalists can show you the way.
This might seem frustrating as you start to write out your holiday to-do lists and keep coming across all those pesky #millienials asking for the Gift of Time and experiences rather than more things. Minimalists are not making your gift giving harder because they are trying to be jerks, I promise! Having less things to clean up gives us more time to enjoy each other and what we already have.
Think of it this way, would you rather have 20 items from the dollar store or one item costing $20 that will last and adds significance to your life? This is how minimalists think about gift receiving and giving. Make your list with us in mind rather than browsing the aisles and throwing things in the cart. Make your gift show that you are actually thinking of us and putting an effort into your gift giving.
When money is mindlessly spent, those gifts are not usually kept.
Try giving the gift of experiences, especially to families with children. Most of us can agree that making memories with our children is preferable to filling our houses with more things. Since many of us struggle to make that a fiscal reality, you can help us by purchasing the admission to a fun experience.
For those of us who would like to express our desires for less this holiday season, here is a sample letter you can send or post to your families!
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Happy Holiday Season!
We have been discussing our home and possessions and we feel we have so many material items from clothes to games to toys and gadgets. We are committed to reducing the number of THINGS in our home. So we are asking our family to support us on this endeavor by not adding to our material possessions.
In the future, we will be asking for very specific items that we view as beneficial to our home and daily life, and we would ask that our family respects our wishes and only buys those physical items.
Now we also know that this is a season of giving and we don’t want to take away the joy of giving from you! If you feel you really need to wrap an item, ask what is on our needed list (Amazon Wish List, anyone?)! Here are some ideas for gifts you can give without adding to the chaos of our home:
  • Movie tickets
  • Zoo passes
  • Swimming lessons  (the AquaPlex and Flagstaff Athletic Club both have options)
  • Sewing / artsy classes
  • Home cleaning services
  • Polar Express tickets
  • Music Together classes
  • Meal delivery service (add your dietary restriction here)
  • Gift cards for Home Depot for home improvement projects
  • Bearizona tickets
  • Acupuncture or massage gift certificates
  • Babysitting time
  • Come DO some home improvement project with/for us
  • Restaurants gift cards
We love spending time with all of you, eating good food, and sharing our hearts with you most of all! We look forward to togetherness these upcoming months.
Let us know if you have any questions or concerns.
Love,
Insert awesome family here
***This post is done in collaboration with Karli Haviland and Jessie Luckey***