{"id":35630,"date":"2025-11-03T07:19:48","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T07:19:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/35630\/"},"modified":"2025-11-03T07:19:48","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T07:19:48","slug":"clever-ways-to-show-you-care-without-buying-presents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/35630\/","title":{"rendered":"Clever ways to show you care without buying presents"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If time is the most precious of resources, then consider every item on this list a luxury gift.<\/p>\n

No need to spend any money on holiday presents this year when you can, instead, get creative. Gift your loved ones with a thoughtful gesture tailored just for them. For your busy single mom friend? Offer to grocery shop for them. Your dog-obsessed brother? Walk Fido for a week. Your aspiring monologist friend from art school? Offer to attend all of their one-person shows this year \u2014 with a plus one, of course, to help fill seats.<\/p>\n

Make the presentation extra cute with a hand-drawn, redeemable coupon or use a digital template to create a fill-in-the-blank voucher. Then wrap it in an oversize box for fun or slip it into a pretty card. <\/p>\n

They\u2019ll appreciate the novelty and the effort that went into planning. And for the non-planners out there who may have missed the holiday gift-giving festivities, save these ideas for upcoming birthdays and anniversaries. They\u2019re evergreen. In the end, it\u2019s much more fun to open your heart than your wallet. <\/p>\n

Drive them to LAX \"collage <\/p>\n

Navigating Los Angeles International Airport \u2014 whether departing or arriving \u2014 tops the list of frustrating L.A. experiences. Treat your friend or relative to one, hassle-free round trip to and from the airport. Insider tip: During peak departure times, use the arrivals level when dropping them off. Feeling especially generous? Show up with a hot coffee for them in the car on the way to the airport. Or tack on an Italian dinner at Jame Enoteca<\/a> in nearby El Segundo after picking them up. Even a bare-bones trip to LAX \u2014 just braving the infamously jammed, U-shaped route past the terminals \u2014 is a worthy gift unto itself. Bonus points for getting them to especially early flights in time.<\/p>\n

Cook them a meal \"collage <\/p>\n

Cooking a meal for a loved one \u2014 yes, feeding them \u2014 is the ultimate caring act. Have them to your home for a holiday or post-holiday dinner and spoil them with their favorite dishes. Or bring them a pre-cooked meal or two they can enjoy at their leisure, later. Or maybe the gift is an event. Years ago, when I was considering catering as a career, I gifted friends, a married couple, with a personal chef experience: a dinner party of up to six people. We came up with the menu together. Then I shopped for the food, cooked the meal in their kitchen and served the group at their dining table. But I joined them for each course, of course.<\/p>\n

Listen to their breakup sob story \u2014 no time limits \"collage <\/p>\n

Listening is a skill. Listening to that long, repetitive breakup story is a skill that also requires honed patience. If those are skills in your toolbox \u2014 and you\u2019ve got one of those friends who has a tale to unload \u2014 gift them with an open ear for as long as they need it in one sitting. (But maybe just once!) That could be over a quiet dinner or a long walk; or by phone, into the wee hours of the night, if they live in another city. Try not to inject too much advice \u2014 just listening and being empathetic is beneficial. Feeling heard and understood is a first step toward healing.<\/p>\n

Workout with them \u2014 their exercise of choice \"collage <\/p>\n

You hate cardio. We get it. So it\u2019s all the more precious a gift, then, to accompany your best buddy to that high-octane trampoline fitness class. Or whatever they want to do for exercise. Maybe 5 a.m. boot camp? You\u2019re there. Circus workout? You\u2019re game. A trip to the gym is always more fun with a partner and your \u201cworkout buddy\u201d offering may encourage your recipient to try new things, as there\u2019s safety in numbers. Bonus: You\u2019ll torch calories in the process.<\/p>\n

Babysit for them \"collage <\/p>\n

This one\u2019s a classic in the annals of loving gestures. Date nights are expensive. All the more so when factoring in $25 an hour for childcare. Offer your favorite couple an evening of free babysitting. It\u2019s likely been a while since you earned extra cash watching the neighbor\u2019s kids. So remember: Come prepared with games or other activities planned. If appropriate, bring snacks or treats. Just avoid grand \u201cAdventures in Babysitting\u201d (if you\u2019ve seen the movie, consider yourself forewarned).<\/p>\n

Accompany them to the doctor \"collage <\/p>\n

I once drove a friend to a surgery at 4 a.m., waited for her at the hospital and then drove her home. She still thanks me for it years later. Driving a close friend or family member to the doctor, and, if needed, sitting in on the appointment with them to help ask questions or process information is a generous and intimate gift that won\u2019t soon be forgotten.<\/p>\n

Read their manuscript \"collage <\/p>\n

This is a gift that, depending on the manuscript, could require a lot of time and effort. Gift judiciously. But for the right friend \u2014 and it\u2019s likely that, in Los Angeles, you have a friend with an unpublished novel or screenplay \u2014 this gift could be a game-changer. Offer to read their manuscript and give feedback. Remember to be specific with your comments, offering a mix of positive notes along with your suggestions for improvement. And hey, as a result, you may score a seat at a future awards ceremony.<\/p>\n

Go with them to that horse sound bath they\u2019ve been secretly wanting to try \"collage <\/p>\n

There\u2019s no shortage of strange events to explore in L.A. But it\u2019s admittedly easier \u2014 and more fun \u2014 with a plus one. Which may be difficult if adventurous friends are few and far between in your social circle. If you\u2019re up for it, offer your company on your best buddy\u2019s next \u201cGriffith Park alien abduction outing\u201d \u2014 just return home afterward.<\/p>\n

Pet sit for a week \"collage <\/p>\n

A reliable pet sitter, especially at the last minute, is as hard to come by as a free street parking spot in Koreatown on a Friday night. Offer to feed your giftee\u2019s dog or cat for a week when they suddenly have to leave town. Or during a vacation, long-ago-planned. Just knowing your offer stands \u2014 even before they\u2019ve planned that trip \u2014 will bring peace of mind that makes the gift worthwhile.<\/p>\n

Make them a custom uplifting playlist \"collage <\/p>\n

This one may feel somewhat retro (if cheesy), but it\u2019s also timely. At a point when the world feels more chaotic and uncertain than ever, take the time to make your gift recipient a carefully curated playlist of feel-good music tailored to their tastes. Mix up the genres and decades. Introduce some songs that are new to them. And don\u2019t underestimate the power of good music to improve their state of mind \u2014 the best gift of all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If time is the most precious of resources, then consider every item on this list a luxury gift.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35631,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[25211,9757,6946,25212,1576,25210,423,24714,48,52,51,47,50,49,14210,1869,7755,5968,22025,315,72],"class_list":["post-35630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-bare-bones-trip","tag-bonus","tag-course","tag-free-babysitting","tag-friend","tag-fun","tag-game","tag-gift","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-meal","tag-night","tag-one","tag-process","tag-skill","tag-time","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}