I don’t drink wine and I would love for people to stop giving me live plants. I mentioned in the thread about my upcoming kittens that I have 2 Christmas cactuses, and, with the exception of a spider plant I had in high school, they are the only indoor plants I have ever kept alive over a year.
Getting plants, like the air plant I’m slowly killing, makes me sad.
Unasked for clothes. First, they never fit right. Second, the style or type never seems to be one I like. Now, if I say I want a certain winter coat for Christmas, and I give you the size and where to get it, OK. Just something you think will fit me, will look good, and I’ll like to wear? You’re probably wrong on all three points according to my life’s experience.
This. I am a 53 year old man who at this point is desperately trying to get rid of everything wasteful. Outside of a new car - mine is fine and paid for thanks for asking - I really need to get rid of stuff as it is getting to be an impairment.
Come to think of it I believe that the one gift I would like would be one of those services that help grown kids clean up their parent’s possessions after they die by explaining and helping them sort it and get rid of it.
I would need that service 1 x per year after the initial go thru.
And I don’t have kids! Where did all of this stuff come from?
If I lived in a larger house, I am confident that it would just be full of more stuff.
Three years after my spouse died and 2 after I was forced to move and I am STILL going through stuff from the old place (which hasn’t been all bad… I have made several thousand selling stuff I no longer wanted that still had value). What do I NOT want to get? STUFF. Please, don’t give me STUFF.
Given me an experience. Given me a good meal at a restaurant … er… in the future (damn pandemic!). Given me a gift card so I can buy something for myself later on.
But please - less stuff. I am still struggling to downsize.
My kids know that I really, really don’t want anything for Mothers Day and would prefer they spend the money on themselves, but it’s hard for them to hold back because they’re appreciative types and really quite fond of me, so sometimes I get a gift or two. Then I try to focus on the fact I’ve got such nice kids and to heck with whether it’s something I can use or not.
I see a lot of us are in the downsizing phase of life. My mom has gone so far as to say we should only gift her with consumables. Wine-of-the-month-club was a winner!
For our first Christmas, my husband gave me a watch that I absolutely loved - it was pretty and unique, tho sadly not durable enough for me. I think I had to replace the crystal twice. A few years back, he got me another watch if a similar style. Unfortunately in the ensuing years, my eyes have turned to crap and it was virtually impossible for me to read the face. I hated to do it, but I told him I had to return it because for all intents and purposes, it was worthless to me. I know he was hurt, but when I asked for a digital camera instead, he was happier. And I’m still using the camera, while wearing a cheap watch with a BIG, high-contrast face. 
Do you ladies like gift certificates for spa treatments?
Not just $20 but a whole treatment (hair, massage, nails, lunch) costing $150 or more?
My sister-in-law would like that. I wouldn’t use it.
I would love a massage! Or a lunch!
But the hair and nails things not so much.
It really does vary with the woman so I wouldn’t suggest it as a default gift for the women in your life. You really should be trying to match the gift to the personal preferences of the person you plan to gift.
OK, for all the people not wanting wine: would you ship it to me when you got one of that awful bottles? I’d be willing to, ahem, recycle them. Please PM me for my address- :D.
Thankfully, my wife likes flowers. Simplifies things for me so very, very, VERY much.
I was just thinking this myself :p. Wine is pretty much the only ‘junk food’ I allow myself anymore.
I can add my vote to ‘no more stuff.’ I am grateful that I don’t need anything.
Okay, any booze I get I’ll ship to you. 
Well, I’ve done it here at work and most people have been genuinely pleased. My biggest hits were the David statue keychains - I brought back a bunch of different things from Italy and let them pick and my one co-worker grabbed a David keychain while saying “I want the little naked man!” and little teddy bear in hanboks cell phone charms from South Korea.
This =)
I was gifted a Reiki course, and did take it and was certified … it would be rude to refuse - it was a gift, and he wasn’t well off, and it was from his heart [I suppose you could say] I personally don’t believe in energy work, but the principal seems to work at least at the placebo level because of the personal attention being paid. Many people improve just knowing that someone out there is thinking positively about them.
Books. I still have over 7,000 in the house and am trying to cut down, but I love to read and re-read etc. But if you see a book and think I might like it, I likely already have it. I have (rarely) even done that myself, buying something that looks interesting and as I am reading it I seem to think “Gee, this seems familiar” and sure enough, I already have it. At one point I had three copies of some book or other.
So no, don’t buy me books. And no, I do not have or want anything E-book or Kindle or whatever. It’s not the same.
Scented things.
Most kinds of foods, as I’m on a limited diet.
A car.
Jewelry.
In Aus, the traditional Dad gifts on Father’s Day, Christmas etc is ‘Sox, Jox and Chox’. (Jox are Jockey shorts - ie underwear).
Not a fan, myself.
I had an ex-girlfriend who was constantly buying me tickets to places that had very short redemption times, solo scuba diving class that expires in 3 months? Free admission to a museum but I can only use it for weekdays? Learn to Speak French but it’s literally 10 full classes one class a week starting next week?
Pretty obvious she was getting deep discount items because it was so narrow a window.
Not Mother’s Day (and not me), but every year for Valentine’s Day my brother gives each of the adult women in the family a very large box of assorted chocolates. Seriously, it is the size of a small suitcase.
I always bring ours to work and set it out; it’s gone by the end of the day.
mmm
This period of confinement has me clearing out stuff for the thrift store, when it finally reopens. One item that was added to the pile without hesitation was the most recent Christmas present from my bro and his SO (I’m pretty sure she picked it out.) It’s a sack of sachets. Even unopened, the scent is overwhelming. As soon as I got it home, it went into the garage.
Gifts like that is why I keep asking my sibs that we not exchange gifts, but a couple of them keep buying. One sister gives us ornaments every year, even tho we don’t decorate, and she knows we don’t decorate because 10 years ago, we gave her all of our decorations.
Fortunately, we no longer see one BIL at holiday time - they moved halfway across the country. They’re fundies and their gifts tend to reflect their beliefs. Sorry, dude, but I’m not going to wear a Jesus t-shirt.