Christmas is closing in faster than you can say “ho ho ho!” By now, the gifts you’ve purchased should already be wrapped and lining the underside of your Christmas tree. But if by some reason, the gifts you’ve ordered online haven’t arrived, you’re passing on physical Christmas shopping, or if you just haven’t done your holiday hauls yet (no judgment, I promise), it’s not really a problem.
The digital age has arrived, and Christmas gifts are getting with the times. Instead of the usual socks and mugs, these gifts aren’t necessarily things, but they’re still able to make life much much easier.
Here are a few gifts that you won’t have to go out and buy or wrap this Christmas.
Website subscriptions
If you don’t think website subscriptions can make anyone’s lives easier, you’re most certainly wrong. If I could count the times I’ve been met with a paywall right before accessing a recipe or an interesting article, my day job would have been a thing of the past.
Subscriptions from websites like The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, and so many more could save a lot of time, and teach you a thing or two. If you’re not an avid reader of these sites, someone you know is. And it would be a gift they won’t soon forget.
Grab credits
Being stuck in traffic or unable to find a ride is par for the course during the holidays. With fewer quarantine restrictions—fingers crossed things stay this way—finding a ride has become a cash black hole for the vehicle-less.
For the people in your life that need to be mobile (be it work, meeting up with friends, or running errands), the gift of ride credits can be a lifesaver. And even better, the credits don’t just have to be used for rides. They can use it to buy food, other services, and even pay for bills.
Bills
If you haven’t gotten anything for your family yet—or if you have but you want to get them something else—bills are the way to go. It’s been an awful and difficult few years. Money has been difficult to come by for most of us and the bills have either piled up or stayed the same.
Paying for a month’s worth of bills, be it phone, grocery, utility, or whatever else, will be a much-appreciated gift for anyone who’s on the receiving end.
Money
As tragic as it is, money does indeed make the world go round. If you’re not sure what to gift others, money via bank transfer, online wallets, or even gift certificates is the best option. It empowers them to buy what they actually want and it requires minimal effort on your end.
Potable water
While it is the holiday season, there will be no Christmas for some of us. Typhoon Odette has ravaged parts of the Visayas and Mindanao, leaving people homeless, hungry, and without potable water. Most modes of communication and transport are still down, but what everyone who bore the brunt of the typhoon really needs is drinking water.
Cebu City is my hometown, but other places like Leyte, Negros, Surigao, Bohol, and so many more need access to clean, potable water. If you are able to, please donate physical resources to the affected areas or volunteer your time and effort to help people recover.