The Annual Christmas card list

Primrose

Ours is massive due to a multitude of connections over the years. However, more recently we,ve stopped hearing from some people and honestly don’t know if they’ve moved, died or just don’t send cards any more, which if you only keep in touch at Christmas, effectively breaks the bond.

We need to rationalise our list because of mounting postage costs but I feel we should give some once good friends one last chance before striking them off the list. Is there any tactful wording one can use which effectively says “if we don’t hear news of you this year , we sadly have to let you go”.

One friend keeps a list of non recipients against her list and after two years of no news strikes them off.
What do others do ?

Nick_C

I've not sent Christmas cards for years.

If your only contact with someone is an annual exchange of cards, then what's the point?

spadoosh

I dont send Christmas cards. Every Christmas card ive received says

To Spadoosh

Merry Christmas

Love Sender.

Sometimes they spice it up with Merry Xmas instead.

I skip out the to bit and love bit as well. I just say merry Christmas to people if/when i see them. If i know im not going to see someone i care about around Christmas time i will facetime or call them.

System

Family cards only here.:)

Torry_Quine

Primrose wrote: »

Ours is massive due to a multitude of connections over the years. However, more recently we,ve stopped hearing from some people and honestly don’t know if they’ve moved, died or just don’t send cards any more, which if you only keep in touch at Christmas, effectively breaks the bond.

We need to rationalise our list because of mounting postage costs but I feel we should give some once good friends one last chance before striking them off the list. Is there any tactful wording one can use which effectively says “if we don’t hear news of you this year , we sadly have to let you go”.

One friend keeps a list of non recipients against her list and after two years of no news strikes them off.
What do others do ?

I always put my address on the back and get one returned occasionally. Otherwise if I've heard nothing for a couple of years then I do remove them from my list.

Gers

Haven’t sent Christmas cards for years and years, only one to my DM. It was always a joyless chore which I resented doing.

VJsmum

We stopped sending cards last year. We put a 'Happy christmas, we aren't sending cards' message on Facebook, sent a couple to elderly relatives who are not on facebook and made a donation (yes, including the cost of the postage, as someone asked us last year) to a charity.

The relief at not having to write and address those cards is immense.

LameWolf

I have my Yule list on an OpenOffice spreadsheet, and add a new column each year. I colour-code the entries so that I know who we had cards from; each year I copy'n'paste the previous year's list and delete any who have died or we haven't heard from for the previous two years.

The list grows shorter by the year; this year it is down to 22, and that includes the neighbours in the close, whose cards Mr LW delivers by hand.

As a separate exercise - I am a Carer with a dog-sitting company, and we are encouraged to create a good relationship with owners of regular guests; these will get an email greeting - I shall scan the image I used for my cards (I make my own) and put this on the email with a suitable greeting.

Judi if we only did family, it would only be two cards, to Mr LW's sister and his cousin.:D

To be honest, I'd happily drop the practise completely, but Mr LW likes to send them.

Pollycat

Primrose wrote: »

One friend keeps a list of non recipients against her list and after two years of no news strikes them off.
What do others do ?

This ^^^^

Nick_C wrote: »

If your only contact with someone is an annual exchange of cards, then what's the point?

I disagree.

I send cards to people that I worked with who don't live near me.
It's not just a card though, I write a letter and comment on what they told me the previous year in their card.

rach_k

I don't send cards to receive them back, although it's lovely when that happens. If you want to shorten your list, why not go through and think about who you actually want to send one to, regardless of whether they return them or not?

Elliesmum

My Mum has a tick out, tick in system. Nothing the year before and they're struck off!

Me - I only send 10 to relatives and they are written and ready to be sent.

EM x