It can be so fun to give gifts, especially when you find just the right thing. But sometimes, another thing isn’t the right fit. That’s what we’re talking about today — I’m sharing ideas for gifts that aren’t things!
Whether it’s for your sister who is trying to simplify and declutter, your cousin who swears she doesn’t need anything, or for your friend who is like my husband and just doesn’t want more stuff, this is where non-thing gifts come in.
These gift ideas include thoughtful experiences, digital products, and helpful services that can be just as special as a physical gift, if not more! Some save the recipient time, some make their lives easier, some give them a meaningful experience, and some teach them something that makes their life better. As a bonus, they help keep the clutter down, too!
Gifts That Aren’t Things (But Are Totally Awesome)
Professional Virtual Color Analysis (use code PMT10 for 10% off)
Do you know someone who wants to feel more confident in what they wear or who struggles with knowing what looks good on them? A professional personal color analysis is a great gift! It helps you quickly know which colors make you look vibrant and your complexion pop.
You’ll end up with a simple-to-use palette that makes shopping and getting dressed so much easier!
I had a professional virtual color analysis done about a year and a half ago with Color Guru and wrote all about my experiences in these two blog posts:
1️⃣ My Color Analysis + 10% Off for PMT Readers!
2️⃣ My Personal Color Palette: 5 Ways It Has Simplified My Life
I use my color card ALL the time, and it helps me not overthink which colors to buy! Lots of PMTers have gotten a color analysis done, some by Color Guru and others elsewhere. I can speak to Color Guru’s services — it’s SO simple and SO fast to get results. Recently, PMTers said they got their results back in just a couple of days! You can read all about the process HERE.
A virtual color analysis makes a fantastic gift for your sister, best friend, or mom… or yourself! It reduces decision fatigue and helps you feel better in your clothes because you look more vibrant in them.
🎁 Buy a gift card HERE and use code PMT10 for 10% off any Color Guru package.
Kindle Unlimited Subscription
Both my husband and oldest daughter are voracious readers, so thank goodness for Kindles and Kindle subscriptions! With a Kindle subscription, the reader gains unlimited access to digital titles, so they can read to their heart’s content — without lugging around a bunch of books everywhere. You can gift 6 months, 12 months, or 24 months at a time.
Premium Plus Audible Membership
Do you know someone who loves audiobooks and podcasts? Give them the gift of a Premium Plus Audible membership!
This membership provides access to a huge library of audiobooks with unlimited listening access from the Audible and Audible Plus catalogs.
Now, while you don’t own any of the titles, along with the Premium Plus membership, you get 1 credit per month for any title, which you get to keep in the app, even if you cancel your membership! You also get access to Audible sales, when audiobooks are on super sale.
There are adult and kid audiobooks available, so this would be a fantastic option for family members, too!
You can choose a 1 month, 3 month, 6 month, or 12 month subscription to gift, so you can select the one that works best for your budget and whoever you’re giving it to. Learn all about it HERE.
4-Week Meal Plan Subscription
Take the mental load of meal planning off of someone’s plate! My friend Corinne from Wondermom Wannabe recently launched a meal planning subscription so that you don’t have to figure out what’s for dinner anymore.
With her 4-Week Meal Plan subscription, you’ll get a new 4-week meal plan each month. But it doesn’t stop at just that! Corinne has done all the thinking for you, so she’s strategically incorporated instructions for batch-prepping ingredients each week so you can cook less and save time, smart leftover strategies to repurpose ingredients to save time and money, AND tips for small adjustments to accommodate picky eaters.
This service is SUPER affordable — You can choose a $7/month plan or an annual plan for $70/year. This is such a small cost to TOTALLY help out the person who has a lot going on. You’d relieve them of so much stress!
You can see all the details of what’s inside AND a peek at what the meal plans look like, HERE. If you’re still unsure, you can also download Corinne’s FREE Dinner Ideas Guide before jumping into the subscription.
Happy Creators Collective — Draw Kawaii Cuties
Do you know someone who loves to draw Kawaii style art — or who wishes they could? This membership is run by my friend Tatyana, who teaches you to draw the CUTEST pieces of art in the super popular Kawaii style. (My kids LOVEEEEEEEE Kawaii.)
This membership helps someone indulge in a fun hobby that brings joy to their life AND is even suited for artists who desire to sell their art, like on tote bags, stickers, etc.
That said, even my kids learned so much from Tatyana’s classes. My 11 year old has been using Procreate and drawing Kawaii on her own here and there since she was around 5 years old. But, she was AMAZED at what she created — and how much she learned about Procreate and drawing — during one of Tatyana’s bootcamps.
Tatyana is a FANTASTIC teacher and enables you to grow your skills as an artist and have a happy place to create with like-minded artists!
Procreate
Along those lines, this is a great app for both adults and kids. It’s been especially fun for our kids to create digital art. The picture of my daughter’s drawing above was made with Procreate — she’s been using it since she was 5 years old! It’s only $12.99, and if my kid is on a screen, I would rather have them be lost for hours making art. ☺️
StitchFix
This is so good for the person who wants to look stylish but doesn’t want to think AT ALL about what to buy.
Also, remember StitchFix serves men! I know a lot of you have men in your life who want style help, but you don’t know what resources to go to. A StitchFix subscription would be great!
You can get $20 off + get your first styling fee waived, HERE.
PMT Style Club Membership – use code GIFT to get $30 off the Annual membership
If someone wants to know how to shop for themself instead of for someone else, get them an annual PMT Style Club membership! They’ll learn all about their own style and the most important elements of style so they can shop smartly, build a functional and versatile wardrobe, and feel effortlessly pulled together every day. And have fun with style!
Right now, you can get a special deal on our annual membership! Usually you get 2 months free when you sign up annually, saving $60. But right now you can get an EXTRA month free, getting a total of 3 months FREE off your first year — saving $90!!!
You can cancel anytime, and you’ll continue to have access all the way until your billing cycle ends. So, if you JUST want to sign up for the year, you can sign up today, cancel immediately, and you’ll have access the whole year.
Learn all about the Style Club and sign up HERE. Remember to use code GIFT at checkout to get the extra $30 off!
Hulu Subscription
For many years in a row, I asked for a Hulu subscription for Christmas. One of my most used presents! Hulu has soooooo many shows that I absolutely love. You can get a 30-day free trial HERE.
FASTer Way to Fat Loss Program
This is a fitness program that I did a while back that helped me lose stubborn baby weight after my second kid. It combines intermittent fasting (hence the term FASTer — it’s about fasting), carb cycling, and intentionality with macros to jolt your metabolism into a fat-burning machine.
This program has been top of mind for me again lately because a friend asked about it, hoping to get rid of stubborn baby weight after her third kid. She’s had such great results, and I’m really happy for her!
About 4 weeks into the program (out of the 6-week long program), she texted me, “Omg I just weighed myself and I am at pre-baby weight. This is wild.” She continued, “This is wild because in the past 2 weeks I’ve gotten complements that I look fit for having 3 babies. And some from people who have no idea I’m doing any program or working out.”
You can read all about my experience: FASTer Way to Fat Loss: My Before & After Pics. I detail the entire program and give tons of Q&A from when I did it.
Anyway, if you know someone who has been interested in the program or in getting into shape, buying access to one round would be a great gift! You could even do it with them as a bonding experience!
Check out FASTer Way to Fat Loss here!
Costco Membership
Similar to the Hulu subscription, this makes an awesome holiday gift! Who doesn’t want one of these?!?
Manicure/Pedicure Gift Card
Always a welcome gift! Get them a gift card to a nearby nail salon.
Tocaworld Money
Anyone else’s kids play Tocaworld? All three of mine are obsessed — and they LOVE when we let them buy packs to add cute things to their world. We don’t allow them to add as often as they’d like, so having gift money to buy packs more freely is an ABSOLUTE DELIGHT for them!
A Trip
Of course, a popular gift that isn’t a thing is a family trip! Whether it’s to somewhere big, like to Disneyland or Hawaii, or somewhere cozy, like your favorite nearby costal city or lodge, this can be a special way to make memories and avoid stuff.
Photography Session
We booked a family photography session for my mom’s birthday, and it was awesome. We don’t have many great family pictures, especially not with all of her grandkids, so it’s special to have these forever!
Tickets to a Show
A play, a musical, an acrobatic show, or a comedy — whatever your loved one is into — get them tickets to a show for a super memorable gift!
Tickets to a Sports Game
I’m a HUGE Golden State Warriors fan, and while I go to games from time to time, for one of my birthdays, I want to get really good (i.e. expensive) seats. This is a fun one for any sports lover!
Looking for more gift ideas? Find all my gift guides and cross everyone off your list at the Gift Guides station!
