Hasta La Ideas

In our second installment of Unclutterer’s 2009 Holiday Gift Giving Guide we’re discussing gifts that reflect your personal priorities and desires. Initially, this may appear to be a little self-serving (and, well, it is a little bit), but keep reading before you dismiss the idea entirely.

This year, we’re getting my brother a Netbook for Christmas. We found a Compaq Netbook with Windows XP for $179.00 through BestBuy’s Black Friday Deals, and decided it was the right gift for the right price.

How does a gift like this reflect what matters most to me? My family is my largest priority and being in solid communication with them comes ahead of most everything in my life. Part of this includes my son growing up talking at least once a week with his uncle, and this Netbook will make that possible across the miles (my brother lives more than 1,000 miles away). The Netbook has a webcam built into the monitor and works wonderfully with Skype, and also accesses the internet so that he can see family pictures and videos we upload to Flickr. My brother doesn’t currently have a home computer or a webcam, and so this little Netbook will make it possible for my son and brother to develop a more meaningful relationship.

(As a quick note, we considered getting him a Skype Video Phone, but the price was so similar to the Netbook that we decided to go with the device that has multiple functions. For someone like my 100-year-old grandmother, though, a single-use device may have made more sense.)

If spending time with your family is also a priority, gifts like airline tickets are nice so that the recipient can come to visit you. Create a “redeemable for one free trip to see me” coupon and then buy the ticket in the person’s name when you and the recipient figure out the best travel date. If the family member lives within driving distance, give a gasoline gift card in an amount to cover the expense of fuel for the trip. The recipient gets a vacation and you both get to spend time with someone you love.

What is on your list of what matters most? Can you find gifts for other people this season that reflect these priorities? The reasons that you use for living a clutter-free life can also help you find inspired, caring, uncluttered gifts for the people you love. Here are a couple more ideas that may work for you:

• Monthly reservations. Do you have a friend you would like to see more often? Choose 12 restaurants you’ve been wanting to try and make reservations for once-a-month dining in advance. Give your friend a calendar with the plans already marked on the dates. Offer to pay for one or more of the dinners (Your birthday month is on me!). You can always reschedule the reservations if something pops up or you decide you want to try a different place, but if there isn’t a conflict you’re set for the entire year.
• New adventures. For my sister-in-law’s birthday last year, we bought her a robot kit and a bottle of wine. We also bought two robot kits for ourselves. We then set a date for when we could all get together and spend the afternoon building our little creatures. A few weeks later we pretended to be engineers (sober engineers, I might add — we discovered wine did not go well with hundreds of itty bitty pieces in our kits). She had never built a robot and loved the idea of building one, and we hadn’t ever built them and loved the idea, too. Plus, we laughed our way through the entire adventure. We got to spend the day with someone we love doing something we’ve always wanted to try, and the same was true for my sister-in-law. Are there new adventures you could share with someone you love?

As we continue to post more ideas for the Guide, check out the Unclutterer’s 2009 Holiday Gift Giving Guide Index Page for a listing of all the posts.

Thanks to Asha at Parent Hacks, I have stumbled upon a simple living suggestion that I will use this Thanksgiving.

Until yesterday, I had no idea that chalk wrote easily on matte-finish oilcloth. The concept is so basic, yet its implications have my head spinning. I’m no longer trying to think of ways to decorate my Thanksgiving table, entertain the kids during mealtime, or am worried about a centerpiece — I have my solution:

Simply buy enough solid-color, matte-finish oilcloth to use as a tablecloth for your dining table. With either regular chalk pens, write guest names next to their plates. This replaces any need for place setting holders.

Additionally, you can write menu ingredients next to platters, draw seasonal designs down the center of the table, and give young guests chalk pens to play tic-tac-toe and draw pictures with during the meal.

Matte-finish oilcloth is extremely inexpensive (less than $10 a yard most places) and wipes clean with a damp cloth. And, you can redecorate and reuse it again and again. A piece of solid white oilcloth with colored chalk can make it perfect for everyday use — especially in homes with young kids. Just be sure to cure the oilcloth first.

I love simple solutions.

(Anyone know if this works on just regular, glossy-finish oilcloth? If so, the price per yard is significantly less expensive. Image from Yum Sugar.)

I currently have wanderlust.

It happens every November, and I know it has something to do with the weather. The skies turn gray, the chilly rains fall on D.C., and I wish I were somewhere with snow instead of puddles. I dream of heading to Canada or the Alps and strapping on a pair of skis and taking to the slopes. I’ve never been a big fan of the wet, Mid-Atlantic falls and winters. I’m of the opinion that if it’s going to be cold and blistery, I should at least have snow and skiing to enjoy.

Of course, a week of vacation to someplace truly cold reminds me that my desire to live on a snow-covered mountain is simply wanderlust. It’s nice to visit, but I don’t think I’m ready to experience it six months out of every year.

When wanderlust sets in, though, it’s difficult to ignore. I have to act on it, even if I don’t actually take a vacation. If I don’t, the wanderlust consumes my thoughts and I’m not able to think of much else. Here is how I handle wanderlust in an organized way so that if I do decide to take the vacation, all of my daydreaming was actually profitable:

• Schedule time to plan the vacation. Instead of letting thoughts of wanderlust occupy a constant stream in my mind, I schedule time to plan the vacation on my schedule. If I find myself thinking about the trip when I should be doing something else, I remind myself I have set aside time to deal with it later and get back to focusing on the issue. Then, I only work on the trip during the scheduled time.
• Create a wanderlust scrapbook. When I was younger, this was an actual scrapbook I could glue things into and carry with me. Now, I simply use Evernote and drop in digital files I can access from my phone or laptop.
• Research travel details. When is the best time to travel to the location? What are the ideal places to stay? Where and when can deals be found? How much will the trip cost? What will the place look and feel liek? All of this information goes into the scrapbook or Evernote.
• Save up money for the trip. Even if I don’t end up taking the trip, I still put aside money for it. If I don’t budget the money, taking the trip won’t ever be possible. If I eventually decide to use the money for something else, I at least know exactly what I’m giving up or delaying.

How do you organize things that fill your mind and distract you from other things you should be doing? Do you plan all of your vacations, regardless of if you take them? Do you plan for other things you dream about and want to do? Do you do the same things with worries? How do you keep your mind from wandering when it should be focused?

In the original “Saying farewell to a hobby” post, I talked about how to decide if you’re not really into your hobby. Letting go of a no-longer-active hobby can be difficult, especially if part of your identity is wrapped up in that activity. (I know I still think of myself as a tennis player even though I haven’t touched a tennis racket in more than 10 years because of a rotator cuff injury.) But, if you make the hard decision to break up with the stuff for a hobby you’re no longer doing, getting rid of the supplies can be emotionally difficult.

The following are five ways to let go of hobby supplies to make the purging process less traumatic:

1. Call up local enthusiasts whom you know are still into the hobby and let them take what they want from your house. They are more likely to use the materials than you are, and they will truly appreciate your generosity. Plus, as you pass along your supplies you can tell them stories and talk about how and when you acquired or used the items. You’ll get another happy moment sharing the history with your friends.
2. Sell the supplies on a website whose community is dedicated to the hobby. For instance, if you’re a knitter or crocheter looking to destash your yarn, the website Ravelry has a marketplace forum that is perfect for you. Be sure to include shipping costs in the price of your goods, though, so that you don’t go broke getting rid of your items.
3. Have a yard sale, but be very specific in your advertising to point out what types of things you are selling. “Woodworking Supplies Yard Sale” “Sailing Supplies Yard Sale” If you place an advertisement for your sale, use similar language and target publications people interested in these hobbies would read.
4. Often stores that sell new supplies for a hobby also will sell “gently used” items on consignment. Call your local stores and ask about their policies. If they won’t sell them, usually they know who will or clubs related to the activity that could use the supplies.
5. Programs and/or schools that teach the hobby — rock climbing schools, your local YMCA or community center, the high school down the street, a Michaels or Hobby Lobby — typically need supplies to help teach others about the activity. Make a few phone calls and you’ll probably find a program that is elated to take the discount or free supplies off your hands.

Sites like eBay, Craigslist, and Freecycle are great for getting rid of items, but I’ve found that it’s harder for me to use these sites for hobby supplies that I have some sort of bizarre sentimental attachment to. Even though I’m no longer using the stuff, I still want to know that it’s going to someone who is enthusiastically going to use it. This is probably true for whomever buys or picks up the item from one of these three websites, but my mind doesn’t process it that way. Weird, right?

Good luck with the final step in purging your no-longer-active hobby supplies. And, most of all, enjoy the space for whatever new will take — or not take — its place.

Reader Christy submitted the following to Ask Unclutterer:

I use iTunes and have burned all my CDs to iTunes. I also have a huge box in my basement of all the hardcopy CDs.

Is there any reason I would need to keep them (computer crash or something), or am I safe to start giving them away?

Christy, the idealist in me says that if you have burned all of your CDs in a lossless format and you have your computer backed up to a secure online location, you should be fine getting rid of your physical CDs. However, the pragmatist in me has to admit that there is a box of CDs in my basement and I wouldn’t even do what I just suggested.

Also, from a legal standpoint, you aren’t supposed to have a digital copy of a CD without also having the physical copy.

I guess when it comes down to it, my official advice would be to simply get rid of the jewel cases (they can be recycled in most communities) and store all of your hardcopy CDs in a CD Notebook. If you do this, you won’t have to pay the fees to store all of your lossless music data online and you’ll cover your arse if the RIAA ever comes knocking at your door.

Thank you, Christy, for submitting your question for our Ask Unclutterer column.

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