makes sense. might as well go all the way and ask them to donate to charity instead though.

At this point, author says that people like parents and grandparents have a joy of buying an actual gift and he doesn't want to take this away from them. I agree with that, if they buy you something from the wishlist then you can pay the same amount to the charity yourself, as well.

It seems a bit contradictory that buying a gift for someone is okay but buying one for yourself is a sin. Both can be joyous experiences. If experiences and relationships are more important than possessions, we should ask for experiences with a person as a gift, and actively discourage all possession gifts. (How boring is an essential gift? Thanks for the cheese-grater dad!).