The Boring Newsletter, 11/19/2023🎁

Hi Friendos,

Happy almost Thanksgiving! The last two weeks I’ve been getting some holiday catalogs in the mail and I am eager to get my year-end gift buying handled. If you are looking for some ideas of boring, secretly awesome, and pretty affordable items to purchase, read on. I personally use and love every single one of these boring things.

Safety and Security

Express your love by keeping someone safe!

For the hiker or jogger, consider a Road ID ($20). If you don’t want someone to end up like the sad Naomi Watts character in Infinite Storm, whose kids died from carbon monoxide poisoning, get them a carbon monoxide detector ($20-$50, depending on model). Sorry for the not-really-a-spoiler, I saw that movie on an airplane; other than vividly illustrating the importance of CO detectors, it wasn’t the best movie.

Wellness: FSA-style

The first of these items are FSA-eligible, which is helpful if you overfunded your FSA account – use it, don’t lose it, and save your receipts!

I swear by Zicam ($11-$15) to help with colds ever since one of my favorite podcasters was singing its praises. When I was in my early 20s, I had a gruff dentist who kind of yelled at me about flossing, exactly what I needed to hear in that moment. Ever since, I’ve followed her instruction to the letter, including only using an extra-soft or soft-bristled toothbrush and changing it every 3 months. For less than $13 you could give a year’s supply. You could group a few medicine cabinet items and present them nicely as a “care package.”

Wellness: On the Road

For someone who travels, help with their on-the-road wellness with some screw-top containers perfect for pills (less than $1 each). You could pair that with the world’s greatest eyeglass cleaner cloths ($1.50 for a pack of 14), maybe some travel-sized toiletries, and put it all together in a zippered pouch (which could be something marketed as a travel toiletry bag, or could just be a cute pencil container) for a nice presentation.

Wellness: At Home

For wellness at home, there is absolutely nothing cozier than a hot water bottle ($15-$30, I am ride or die for those made by Fashy, a German company). My feet tend to get cold at night, so I put it at the bottom of my bed, under all the sheets, before I fall asleep, and it will usually still be a little warm when I wake up in the morning! Much better than blasting the heat in the bedroom. Ok…now that I’ve gone public with my love of hot water bottles, I guess no shame to say how much I love a jigsaw puzzle. Last year I received this Christmas stamp puzzle ($20, from USPS) as a gift and loved it, and earlier this year I treated myself to a Smokey the Bear puzzle ($30). To truly get into the puzzling vibe, you can put on a fabulous pair of Zkano socks ($15-$20 –pricey for a pair of socks but they are quality) and make a nice cup of tea. Republic of Tea has many items that make very nice gifts, like this set of stackable tins ($16.50 for 36 tea bags), and massive sampler pack ($25.50 for 50 tea bags).

Energy Efficiency

Here we have rechargeable batteries ($25) and a battery charger. I use this universal battery charger ($40) because it works for multiple sizes of batteries and lets me charge more than one at a time. Rechargeable batteries cost more than disposable but absolutely save over the long run. I’ve had some of mine for nearly 20 years.

Our most fabulously boring gift idea today is the “winterizing gift pack” consisting of a window insulation kit ($8.50), weatherstripping ($12), outlet sealers ($3), and light switch sealers ($3). I once lived in a rental apartment with a sliding door to a useless teeny balcony and that door leaked cold air like crazy during the winter. I got a big window insulation kit (I measured for size before ordering) and it make things so much comfortable and I know saved a bundle on our electric heating bill.

Household

In the household category we have the OXO kitchen sink drain cover ($10). Of course there are cheaper drain covers but this one is really nice. In the kitchen, my favorite tool is a mini spoonula ($3, that’s a portmanteau of spoon and spatula). I have a bunch of these little ones and use them constantly – they scrape a jar or bowl completely clean and are easy to handle.

TCB (taking care of business)

Here I’ll start with the cheeriest pineapple notecards you’ve ever seen ($6 for 12 notecards) from the US Postal Service. Really you can’t go wrong with anything from USPS, especially stamps. I know people don’t need stamps as often as in earlier decades, but when you need one, you just need one. Stamps are miniature works of art! Three of my current faves are these Lady of Guápulo stamps ($13.20 for 20 forever stamps), women’s rowing, and snow globes. If you really want someone to be fully equipped to take care of business, get them some business-style envelopes ($2.23 for 40 envelopes) and, if you are feeling very flush, a printer/scanner ($75-$200 depending on model – definitely shop the sales for this item if you’re buying new, and consider sources like Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace if you’re open to used). More than a dozen years ago my husband got me one that was perfectly sized for our little cabinet and it’s still going strong.

There you go, the Boring Newsletter 2023 Boring Gift Guide. I hope you got a couple good ideas and will have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.

-Stephanie

p.s. This Nerdwallet survey says Americans plan to spend an average of $831 on holiday gifts. Wow that is a lot! And it also says that about one third of Americans still have credit card debt from buying 2022 holiday gifts. Oh no! If that sounds like you, I would like to say that people who love you will love you just as much if you stay within your budget, whatever that may be.