You Don't Need Another Holiday Gift Guide 🎁

Consider this instead

It’s that time of year again - the time of year when everyone on the Internet wants to tell you exactly what you NEED to buy your loved ones for the holidays.

(If you’d rather listen to today’s post, click here. Otherwise, keep scrolling).

I’m guilty of it too. I’ve written a gift guide (or something gifting related) every year since I started Tiny Ambitions, albeit with a minimalist slant.

But when I sat down to write this year’s version, I kept getting frustrated and here’s why.

You Don’t Need Another Gift Guide

You just don’t. You know your friends and family better than some random person or brand on the Internet. You just have to trust yourself a little bit more.

The allure of a gift guide is hard to resist. It’s full of bright and sparkly things that a clever writer has convinced you will make for the absolute perfect gift. And maybe it will. But maybe it won’t.

What gift guides really are are thinly veiled attempts to make affiliate income by selling you something that your loved one probably doesn’t actually need or want.

If you genuinely don’t know what to get someone in your life, I would encourage you to ask them. I know that seems like it spoils the fun of gift-giving, and while it does ruin the mystery/surprise element, I would much rather get a gift that I’ve specifically said I would like than one that I didn’t - regardless of the intention behind it.

Can We Skip Gift-Giving Already?

I know I sound like a holiday Scrooge, but I am really struggling to see the point of gift-giving anymore.

My partner and I don’t do gifts. For anything. Ever. And it’s glorious.

At this point, I limit my gifts to one gift for my mom that I know she’ll love (or make her cry, I’m not too picky which). And that’s it.

Last year, because of the pandemic, my sister-in-law recommended we skip gifts and it was a hallelujah moment.

No one in my family needs a gift. So what’s the point?

I personally find gift-giving incredibly stressful. I also don’t enjoy receiving gifts. It all comes down to the pressure. The pressure to find the ‘perfect gift’ and the pressure to like what someone has bought me (which lets be honest, is rare).

If you’re not into gift-giving this year, you have my 100% percent support to let your family know (gently) that you’d like to take a pass this year (read this post if you need some help with this).

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How are you dealing with gifts this year? I’d love to know!

Until next time, keep living that tiny life.

-Britt

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Image Credit: Photo by freestocks on Unsplash