The problem with Christmas gifts is that most of us NEED next to nothing. And with technology, everything purchased these days leads to something bigger, better, and more complicated. For example, when colored television came out in the mid-1900s, each TV had two knobs: one for the channels and one for the volume, which was also the on and off tuner. Sadly, now no such knobs exist, and truthfully, I don't watch TV. The modern channel changer eludes me, so I go into the other room and read. But we were talking about Christmas gifts. Thus, when you think of simpler souls such as your grandparents, parents, aunts, or uncles, if they have a cell phone (and most do), give them something less complex: Give them a METAL MUSIC MUG!!!
THE METAL MUSIC MUG HISTORY
The music mug first originated in 2017 when my husband and I renovated our tiny rental flat in Washington DC. We didn't want to buy much of anything (2 chairs, a blow-up mattress, a table lamp), so we watched GOD provide everything else for free (table, cooking, and eating ware including a music mug). It was a hodge-podge of possessions, but the music mug occurred because I needed a speaker for my iPhone. After trying out a ceramic cup versus a metal one, the metal mug proved to be the better amplifier.
AND It was the iPhone speaker I'd always wanted:
1. Technology-free.
2. Frugal and wouldn't break.
3. It WORKED!!
4. All I had to do was put my iPhone in it,
5. And turn up the volume.
WHAT ELSE CAN A METAL MUSIC MUG DO?
As I said at the beginning of this blog, most of us need about zero, but it is good when our possessions can perform multiple functions. Take the metal music mug, for example, now that you are planning on giving it to your Aunt Matilda. Instead of ONE metal music mug, give her two. You can point out that she can perform various tasks with both. She can drink her wine from it, toast to her husband, Uncle Louie, who likewise has one in his hand; and after they have finished toasting, they can rinse both out, add a lighted votive candle inside of one, and their musical cell phone inside of the other as they sit and gaze at the fire.
YOWZER!! This sounds like romance in a mug!
So go ahead and shop your local thrift store for one or two metal mugs for your relatives. The cost will be nominal—the joy of the gift: Priceless.
Sirach 40:20 (NRSVCE) "Wine and music gladden the heart, but the love of friends is better than either."
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Martha Wild King, M. Ed., Author
The Frugal Catholic: Learn to live on less to give and save more.