[ 2021 ] Gift giving to adults that already have everything they need, ideas.

[mdurette]

A spin off on the food item thread.

What are some of the gifts you give or have received that you enjoyed.

My DH received a Yeti travel tumbler for his morning coffee and loved it so much he asked for another. The quality of this item, keeping his coffee hot even if it sits in his truck for 2 hours in the cold is what made this gift better than all the other travel mugs he had. He also takes it out on the lawn mower in the summer with cold drinks.

I have a bird feeder outside my home office window and I enjoy the small diversion of seeing what comes to eat, but I cringe a bit on the cost of quality/no waste seed. Last year, I received large bags of dried mealworms, peanuts and sunflower chips for my birthday. I was more than happy with these items.

Two years ago I found a local pottery teacher and arranged for the immediate family (including the grandparents) to take a pottery throwing class. We had alot of laughs during it and all went out for dinner after. We did the class in late Jan of 2020 and was supose to go back mid March to glaze the pieces, Covid put an end to that. But, later on in the fall the teacher allowed just myself and my DD to go in to do it, so we had the finished peieces for everyone last Christmas!

 

[jonmaiman]

Rather than a material item, a couple of years ago we started making donations to charities of the recipient's choice in their honor. It has been much better than trying to figure out something to get someone who needs nor wants anything they don't already have. The recipient's have been very happy with this gift.

--Jon

 

[am1]

I am a fan of Christmas is for kids. Sure get something for your parents (grandparents). Spend more for less people.

 

[geist1223]

Years ago Patti gave me a Leatherman (Wave). It has traveled all over the World with me and come in handy on these travels. On air flights it goes into my checked bag.

 

[Chrisky]

I am a fan of Christmas is for kids. Sure get something for your parents (grandparents). Spend more for less people.

I agree with that am1. Parents and grandparents have all passed away. We have 2 teenaged granddaughters who prefer receiving $$, which fine with us. I do buy them a small gift just for something to wrap up for them, and this year 2 of my cousins young children, will be getting gift cards for the games they play online, and chocolates, of course.

 

[Limace]

Christmas is a big deal in our family, for adults and kids. We all love giving (and opening!) presents.

We do often give experience gifts-for instance, we lost my dad this year and I’m giving my mom and sister tickets to go see a musical with me this spring. My dad always wanted donations to the local food bank where he volunteered.

Food and wine gifts are popular-often gave Dad a nice port and my BFF champagne.

My husband has wanted a Pendleton blanket for years and I splurged on one this year when everything was 25% off. Could he afford to buy it himself? Of course, but I know he never would.

Etsy is a source of a lot of great gifts, and our local holiday market.

A small cool thing I’m getting a couple folks this year from Costco-a Zippo brand combo handwarmer and portable charger. The snowboarders in the family should like it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[A.Win]

People that have what they need should like to receive photo books. They are sometimes too busy or lazy to put these together, so it is very helpful if someone else can assemble the photos, add captions, etc. Memories are priceless.

 

[geekette]

I like giving experiences. Some of that has been timeshare offers (of course) but also memberships to museums or zoos, tickets to amusement parks, etc. depending on the person, I give handmade crafty stuff, or, if they are crafty, gift card to where they buy their supplies. Always popular, the gift of food and wine. My sis has tradition of Xmas eve Starbucks and Chinese food so I send large gift card for Starbucks. Last year, I sent games and 3d puzzles since I know they like that kind of thing ( kids are grown)

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

I like giving experiences. Some of that has been timeshare offers (of course) but also memberships to museums or zoos, tickets to amusement parks, etc. depending on the person, I give handmade crafty stuff, or, if they are crafty, gift card to where they buy their supplies. Always popular, the gift of food and wine. My sis has tradition of Xmas eve Starbucks and Chinese food so I send large gift card for Starbucks. Last year, I sent games and 3d puzzles since I know they like that kind of thing ( kids are grown)

This!!!

I have been telling family for years that I don't need anything. First off, I'm done accumulating things. I have too many things I will soon need to get rid of as it is. If there is something I do need I can buy it myself.

But what I can't buy are experiences, especially family experiences. So every year, the kids plan a family event together. Many years it's a family winery visit, where they buy several bottles and we enjoy lunch at the winery. One year we did the USS Midway museum. Other years we've done the San Diego Zoo. Sometimes it's a special dinner.

This year I'm kind of doing the gifting. I ordered 64 oz. of American Wagyu filet mignon from Snake River Farms (I was able to buy at a significant discount), and we're planning a special family Christmas dinner centered around that. Everyone is chipping in with other dinner elements.

It's stuff that after I'm gone, the kids will be able to share as family memories. To me, those are the perfect Christmas gifts.

 

[Luanne]

We always ask for lists. My lists usually consist of gift certificates for places I go, or would like to go. I also will ask for things I'm too lazy to get myself (like new slippers this year). Steve asked for a new 6 quart stockpot, new rugs for the front and back doors, a sharpening steel for knives. I do try to surprise him with at least one gift, but I'm afraid this year that's not happening.

 

[heathpack]

I like food gifts.

 

[Luanne]

I like food gifts.

I like some food gifts, lol. My brother in law sent us candied fruit one year. No one would eat it. I can't remember how we gently told him that while we appreciated the thought, this just wasn't something we'd eat. Since then he's gifted us with citrus fruits, and we send him Omaha steaks. Everyone is happy.

 

[MULTIZ321]

Years ago Patti gave me a Leatherman (Wave). It has traveled all over the World with me and come in handy on these travels. On air flights it goes into my checked bag.

Hi Geist1223,

Is this what you are referring to?

Sorry the pic didn't post - it was a multi-purpose tool

Richard

 

[easyrider]

Everyone enjoys a good time.

Bill

 

[SueDonJ]

I like giving experiences. Some of that has been timeshare offers (of course) but also memberships to museums or zoos, tickets to amusement parks, etc. depending on the person, I give handmade crafty stuff, or, if they are crafty, gift card to where they buy their supplies. Always popular, the gift of food and wine. My sis has tradition of Xmas eve Starbucks and Chinese food so I send large gift card for Starbucks. Last year, I sent games and 3d puzzles since I know they like that kind of thing ( kids are grown)

Consider a membership to the recipient's state audubon society. Sure, it's all about birds but it's not ONLY about birds! With my MassAudubon.org membership I get free admission to wildlife sanctuaries but even more useful is the Explore newsletter that has interesting articles about all kinds of things related to nature as well as details about local preserves/hiking trails and a calendar full of activities for all ages. My sisters and I like getting together to go walking a couple times a month and this membership has led us to places we didn't even know existed.

I don't know if every state has as active an audubon society as Massachusetts does but try searching "<state> audubon" for the correct .org site, or start with audubon.org. If you're looking for a small something to give with the membership, check out Stan Tekiela's "Birds of ____ Field Guides" on amazon. They're awesome for beginning birders, and once you get out there walking you can't help but become a birder!

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Consider a membership to the recipient's state audubon society.

An idea that is for the birds, literally. Figuratively as well, for some people. Tippi Hedren for example. .

 

[TUGBrian]

finally got into the "smart switch" devices that work with alexa/etc....have to say its pretty darn handy and I got it as a gift.

certainly a bit complex to setup from the start (requires its own app, then to configure alexa to use the devices via that app)...but not ridiculous for the tech savvy type!

teaching the kids to say "alexa christmas tree on" was more fun than i thought it would be.

 

[bizaro86]

finally got into the "smart switch" devices that work with alexa/etc....have to say its pretty darn handy and I got it as a gift.

certainly a bit complex to setup from the start (requires its own app, then to configure alexa to use the devices via that app)...but not ridiculous for the tech savvy type!

teaching the kids to say "alexa christmas tree on" was more fun than i thought it would be.

I got my parents google hub/nest doorbell etc.

They've really liked it, and since I get to provide ongoing tech support it's the gift that keeps on giving.

 

[geist1223]

Hi Geist1223,

Is this what you are referring to?

Sorry the pic didn't post - it was a multi-purpose tool

Richard

A Leatherman is a multi-purpose tool. Leatherman may or may not have been the Original.

 

[GetawaysRus]

I have to agree that this is a challenge. How do you buy gifts for people who already have everything they need?

Here's 2 ideas we're saving for next year:

1. Low carb diets are very popular now (Atkins, Keto). It's amazing how many spice blends contain sugar (turn your bottles over and read the ingredients listed on the label). Since my wife is trying to avoid sugar, we did some searching on Amazon for sugar-free spices. The choices were surprisingly limited. But on Amazon, we did come across a company called FreshJax (we have no relation to this company). They sell a 5-pack spice sampler on their own website and allow you to select which 5 small spice bottles you would like to include. They ran a Black Friday sale this year (and hopefully will do the same next year), so we ordered a 5-pack sampler of sugar-free spices for ourselves. It's fun to try new spice blends, and my wife is happy because we picked 5 sugar-free blends. So now I can barbecue without guilt. We've put this on our "maybe" list for next year as a gift for others.

2. At Amazon, you can order custom return address stampers. We recently needed one for ourselves and ordered this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09B186VW9/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
There's a wide variety of styles (and a range of prices) if you search. So a customized return address stamp is also on the list as a possible gift for family members next year.

We live in California. I remember that, a couple of years ago, we gave people a "California survival kit." There were a bunch of items in the kit, and it was intended as a gag. The ones that I remember were:
1. a telescoping reusable metal straw - this was around the time that California was making it harder to get reusable plastic items in restaurants, such as straws
2. hotel mini-toiletries - we had lots of these from past hotel and timeshare stays, and this was around the time when there were complaints about plastic waste from disposable hotel toiletries. Hotels were switching to large shared bottles of shampoo in showers, for example, rather than providing individual toiletries. So my wife packaged a mini-shampoo, mini-conditioner, and those small soap bars in some fancy packaging.
3. reusable shopping bags - this was also the time when supermarkets were banned from providing those thin plastic shopping bags. Now you either BYOB (bring your own bag) or pay 10 cents per bag.
4. a bottle of wine - to help deal with Southern California traffic (after you finally reached your destination, of course)
These days, with a little creativity, you could create your own "Covid survival kit" as a gift.

 

[mdurette]

Here is what we decided to do for my MIL. She doesn't "need" anything, but I know her biggest desire is to see us more. As odd as it sounds, our gift will be committing to future time together. This of course should be something that should be natural, but both her and DH are the same, neither one of them will pick up the phone and say lets go for dinner tonight and then the days turn into weeks without contact.

So, we are going to purchase gift certs for some local restaurants and pick dates over the next few months for her to put into her calendar for us all to enjoy a meal together.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Here is what we decided to do for my MIL. She doesn't "need" anything, but I know her biggest desire is to see us more. As odd as it sounds, our gift will be committing to future time together. This of course should be something that should be natural, but both her and DH are the same, neither one of them will pick up the phone and say lets go for dinner tonight and then the days turn into weeks without contact.

I've done this kind of thing to. I rack up a lot of frequent flyer miles, and periodically I gift them out. I have a friend from Guatemala who is on the US on a green card; she married a naturalized US citizen from Guatemala. They are eking out a living in the US. For their wedding I gifted them enough frequent flyer miles for the two of them to fly back to Guatemala to visit their families.

Other times I have gifted my youngest son weekend trips together to places that he would like to visit. He takes a Friday and Monday off from work, and we pick someplace to go.

 

[Icc5]

We have gone to the White Elephant thing for adults (the kids want in on it too). We still give our kids 32,40 gifts if they know what they want or money. Grandaughter gets gifts and relative kids get gifts. We also fill the stockings with goodies. Started a few years ago when everyone became harder to buy for and this way everyone opens something and is surprised by whatever it might be. Luckily for me I've traded with others for different bird houses or feeders they aren't interested in. Everyone here seems happy with the arrangement and there is usually about 17 of us.

 

[elaine]

For coffee drinkers-Milk frother! Kids had one when they stayed with us. Makes every cup of coffee a cappuccino. I don’t ever spend extra $ for Starbucks special drinks-brewed coffee only. But I use mine at home every day! No need for the $$$ one. I have the $25 version.

 

[rickandcindy23]

One of the best gifts for those of us in cooler/ cold climates is an Aero Garden. Amazon has a few really nice ones for sale: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TDVGNC...U&ref_=sbx_be_s_sparkle_lsi4d_asin_0_img&th=1