With the holiday season upon us, we might wonder what would make a great gift. Giving gifts is an art for some and a stressful task for others. As an aspiring minimalist, I’m always looking to make things easier.
The best minimalist gifts ideas are the ones that can either be consumed or experienced, either in person or online. Virtual gifts such as subscription services for digital music, books, audiobooks, movies, online courses, meditation apps, and gaming are fantastic options! The topic ideas are endless.
So, what are the best gift ideas for a minimalist friend or family member? Whether you want clutter-free gifts or just the most thoughtful gift, I have ideas for you! Keep reading to find out!
From a minimalist perspective, my first priority is to de-stress my life. And that means making the holidays simple. American culture has us on an endless holiday treadmill focused on candy and gift-giving. But, it doesn’t have to be that way. It’s empowering to make your own rules!
Ask yourself, “Do I really want to buy many gifts in one month?” If the answer is “NO,” then change the rules. Everyone in your life will come along eventually. You’d be surprised to find out that only a tiny percentage of people will give you a gift once you stop giving them one.
For the rest of you who feel compelled to give or love giving gifts, I have listed below some of the best gifts for minimalists and non-minimalists.
GREAT MINIMALIST GIFT IDEAS
EXPERIENCE GIFTS
- Wine Tasting – Wine lovers can try new wines, expand their palate, and get purchasing advice.
- Rock Climbing from REI – For adventure lovers, rock climbing at a gym or indoor center is an excellent way to try out your skills before you take on outdoor rock climbing.
- Spa Treatment / Spa Day – A spa day is a great gift for anyone who needs to take some time out of their busy life and get some pampering!
- Cooking Classes – Cooking classes are a great gift for anyone who wants to learn how to cook. They are also a wonderful gift for someone who already knows how to cook but wants to learn new recipes. Try YesChef to find classes taught by the world’s greatest chefs.
- Hot Air Balloon Rides – Hot air balloons are a great gift for anyone who is looking to experience something new and exciting.
- Museum Memberships – A museum membership will provide hours of entertainment and discoveries.
- Children’s Museum Memberships – Local children’s museums are great because they offer educational play as well as physical and imaginary play options. I’ve never been to a children’s museum that a child didn’t love. I relied on these annual memberships as a source of entertainment for my kids for many years.
- Zoo Annual Pass – If you live near a zoo, an annual pass is a wonderful gift. It’s so nice to be able to stop by the zoo on the regular without having to pay a lot of money. It will pay for itself after just a few visits.As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Virtual Gifts
- Gift certificates – Pick up gift certificates from your favorite stores and local restaurants in person and online.
- Gift Cards – Amazon Gift Card, Sephora, Starbucks, Target, Best Buy, Apple, and most retail stores.
- The gift of time – A promise or coupon to babysit or a future lunch or dinner date.
Consumable gifts
- Specialty coffees and teas
- Fruit and nut basket
- Homemade cookies
- Chocolates
- Wine
- Liquor
Fascinating Gifts
Give the gift of a Genetic Test kit that can only come from your DNA sample (usually saliva). This fascinating business model empowers you with the knowledge of your own personal scientific DNA data, health, ancestry, and more.
From your DNA, you can discover your ancestors’ geographic origins and glean scientific data about your own genetic code.
These exciting scientific Genotyping services are relatively new (within the last 20 years) and have become increasingly popular among the general population.
Giving a DNA test kit to be one of the most exciting gifts available. Look for special holiday pricing.
23andMe DNA kit – Ancestry + plus Traits Service
The best DNA kit with the most comprehensive ancestry breakdown and 30+ trait reports.
AncestryDNA®– Ancestry.com offers historical insights and geographic details. Offers origins in over 1,800 regions. Offer communities powered by data from Ancestry, you can follow how and why your family moved from place to place.
They offer three different plans: AncestryDNA®, AncestryDNA®+ 3-month World Explorer Membership, and AncestryDNA® Traits + 3-month All Access Membership
DIGITAL GIFTS
Monthly or Annual Subscriptions
- Music, Movies, & Books (See Below)
- Online Courses – Every subject imaginable (see below for ideas)
Digital gifts are a great way to share some of your favorite things with your friends and loved ones, minimalist or not. The choices seem endless, with many different music, movie, and book streaming options. This is a perfect gift because it will last multiple months or even a whole year.
Look for discounts on annual purchases. Some subscription services, like Disney Plus, offer a yearly price. Other subscriptions, like Audible, require a monthly subscription.
Many of these services offer discount pricing and gifting opportunities, especially during the holiday season.
ONLINE COURSES / ONLINE CLASSES
Nowadays, there are so many options for online courses or classes. You can find a course on nearly any subject. Many online platforms offer monthly subscriptions where you can choose from virtually thousands of classes to enjoy at your leisure. Some of these are:
Skillshare – I love Skillshare! I’ve subscribed to Skillshare for two years now. I love the variety of courses offered. I usually take a lot of classes related to watercolor painting, digital art, blogging, and tons more!
Skillshare is a learning community for creators with thousands of classes in design, business, technology, and more. Anyone can take an online class, watch video lessons, create projects, and even teach a class themselves. Monthly or Annual payment options.
Coursera Plus – I’ve used Coursera in the past. Coursera was one of the first free online learning platforms dedicated to free education. But now, they offer a subscription plan. Unlimited access to 7,000+ world-class courses, hands-on projects, and job-ready certificate programs, for one all-inclusive subscription price.
Udemy – Get unlimited access to 19,000+ of Udemy’s top courses for your team. Learn and improve skills across business, tech, design, and more.
Masterclass – Super fun gift choice! Choose from a wide variety of subjects taught by celebrities and well-known people in their industries. Trending classes now are from Bill Clinton, Naomi Campbell, and Michael Pollan. A 2-for-1 special is being offered now on an annual subscription.
Meditation Apps
Meditation is getting more and more popular every day and is becoming mainstream. People are looking for ways to stay calm and gain peace in this hectic world that we are living in today.
Below are a few meditation apps that I have personally tried. Most apps offer a monthly and an annual fee option.
- Headspace – Headspace offers a variety of subjects that focus on sleep, meditation, stress, and mindfulness including working on habits and self-care practices. Headspace seems to be one of the lowest monthly and annual pricing plans.
- Ten Percent Happier – Created by Dan Harris, a retired American journalist, Dan created ten percent happier after experiencing panic attacks on air. The Ten Percent Happier app features Dan’s favorite teachers and covers subjects such as mindfulness, Stress Better, Meditation for Skeptics, Focus, Relationships, and Compassion. This app has a podcast as well.
- Calm – The Calm App offers self-help in different areas including reducing stress, and anxiety, and improving focus, among other subjects. They offer an incredible family plan where you can get up to six accounts with full access to Soothing Sleep Stories, Gratitude and mood check-ins, Hundreds of guided meditations, Exclusive music for focus, relaxation, and sleep, Calming nature sounds, Masterclasses on peak performance, Lullabies and Sleep Stories for kids. Plus new content every week.
- Waking Up – The Waking Up App was created by Sam Harris, a neuroscientist, and is based on a neuroscience perspective. But, you can also listen to lessons and conversations on Stoicism, effective altruism, sleep, psychedelics research, and more. Sam spent time in India studying meditation. Very heady and intellectual.
Music Lessons Online
Fender Play – Have fun learning with song-based lessons and thousands of hits by your favorite artists – from rising stars to music legends.
Whether you want to learn your favorite songs or compose your own original tunes, you’ll find what you need among Fender Play’s catalog of chords, scales, songs, and skill-based lessons.
Book Lovers
Audible Plus
I personally, love my Audible Subscription, where I own over 200 digital books. Listening to digital audiobooks is a very special way to feel a connection with the author, if they are the narrator.
Audible is priced monthly depending on how many credits you purchase per month. When you subscribe, you will have access to the full Audible Plus Catalog where you can download thousands of free book titles.
Audible also lets you exchange book credits if you don’t like your purchase.
Kindle Unlimited
The Kindle is an e-reading device, but with Kindle Unlimited, you can use any device. This plan offers unlimited reading and unlimited listening. Also includes access to magazines.
Kindle Unlimited is different from Audible because, with Kindle, you can still physically read books digitally. Audible mainly consists of Audiobooks, read by a narrator.
Both platforms are owned by Amazon.
STREAMING SERVICES
Who doesn’t love a good movie streaming service? But which one should you choose? There’s always an acclaimed special on a specialty network so, to stay in the know, you can’t have too many streaming services!
- Netflix
- Hulu
- Disney Plus
- HBO Max
- Apple TV Plus
- Prime Video
YouTube Lovers
YouTube Premium
I LOVE YouTube! There’s something for everyone on YouTube — and there are also enough ads to make watching it pretty painful. Giving the gift of ad-free YouTube sounds like my idea of heaven! A $12/month subscription removes the ads, but there are a number of other benefits as well. If you’re watching on a phone or tablet, you can download any video and save it for offline playback.
YouTube Premium comes with a subscription to YouTube Music. YouTube’s music video content lives alongside its standard streaming catalog, which means users can build playlists.
Gaming
- Sony PlayStation Plus
- Xbox Game Pass
- Nintendo Switch Online
- Amazon Luna
- GeForce Now
Well, hope that was helpful info! Happy Holidays and happy shopping!
