Christmas cards...the lack thereof

custardy

Mr_Singleton wrote: »

Now that sounds like a good money saving tip..... how do I avail myself of scout post? Have a letter here going from Central London to the outer Hebrides. If I send it tomorrow will the little blighter have it there by Saturday?

Scout post is local and dependant on the local Scout groups.
So find you local scout group and see if they do it.
Used to be big in Edinburgh (though often scout post 'accidently' ended up in RMs system) but havent heard much of it in recent years.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8412831.stm


https://members.scouts.org.uk/factsheets/FS190002.pdf

KxMx

Katiehound wrote: »

I suspect that Cats Protection actually get very little from the sale of the cards and a direct donation would benefit them much more.
(Yes, I used to buy charity cards but now I make the few I send /give and then make a donation to who-ever)

I agree a direct donation would benefit them more; however buying CP branded cards from a CP shop nets them more than so called charity cards sold on the high street, where the charities involved receive as little as 10p a pack.

silverwhistle

Mr_Singleton wrote: »

I've sent many letters & postcards from Europe back to the UK and always noted how much more expensive it was than sending them to Europe from the UK. I will never forget being told that it was more than £10 to send 3 postcards from Copenhagen to the UK. Canada is another expensive place for international postage.

Well, before I left for Italy earlier in this century I could always highlight the cheapness of our postal service compared to them. Ten plus years later I no longer can, the price differences have narrowed considerably, and as a consequence I don't send many cards either. Plenty of phone calls and emails though. Our service is still far better though, you don't really want to rely on the Italian postal service..


But as I'm reasonably organised when I do send cards I use second class.

in_my_wellies

My mum likes to send cards to all her relatives and friends, last year that was 54, about half were posted. I wrote and addressed most of them as she could only write her name, it took days as she could only manage a few at a time. I added my name to a few but she was quite cross saying surly I could write my own as it made us look mean. Her sister is blind and I wrote hers too. Many are to the same people.

This year as both are incapable without help I suggested I write one card with three names. My aunt was happy with this but my mother was very upset. I'm thinking would I be such a bad person to just write and send them, job done, and say no more about it. Mum won't remember anyway but I still feel guilty. Of course she can still write special ones herself though this will take almost an hour for each card (anyone who cares for a person with dementia will know this is not an exaggeration)

I write some to my late husbands relatives just to keep in touch but I doubt if my children send 10 between them

Spriggan

I’ve recently started sending cards (birthdays and Christmas) to friends, even though we never really bothered when we were younger. Now that we are all much more spread out it has begun to seem like a nice way to let people know you’re still thinking of them, even though our lives may have diverged. Same with the odd bunch of flowers.

And yes, some older relatives get incredibly offended if you don’t!

oystercatcher

My list is gradually getting shorter , thank goodness, I mostly send to the elderly relatives who , as others have said, would be offended if I didn't. Each year I prune off distant cousins etc that I don't have contact with, I don't see the point really. There are a few friends who have moved away and I miss them, so I send a card and a letter if we don't have online contact.

As for receiving cards, sometimes I don't even put them up, there never seems to be space and it's just extra hassle. I'm not a great fan of Christmas anyway though ! Bah Humbug!

As for those annual updates we get all about angelic, intelligent children and wonderful expensive holidays, everyone is doing so well and so happy ......:mad::mad::mad::mad:

firebubble

in_my_wellies wrote: »

This year as both are incapable without help I suggested I write one card with three names. My aunt was happy with this but my mother was very upset. I

That's a tough one, and writing three cards for one person is a huge task for you! What about doing one card from your Aunt and you, and then putting the card from your Mum in the same envelope where possible? At least that will save some postage. You could also get organised with printing the addresses on labels (time consuming to set up, but after that, very quick to at least do the envelopes each year)?

Katiehound

oystercatcher wrote: »

As for those annual updates we get all about angelic, intelligent children and wonderful expensive holidays, everyone is doing so well and so happy ......:mad::mad::mad::mad:

:T I love it!! Didn't they call it a 'round robin?' Yes, saved from that too (Though if I am to understand correctly that's how Facebook can be interpreted??)

Katiehound

in_my_wellies wrote: »

I'm thinking would I be such a bad person to just write and send them, job done, and say no more about it.

I think that would be a sensible way forward, just write one card for each person, not 3 for goodness sake. All that work for- pieces of card!

If your mother really really needs her own card then I would put 2 in a larger envelope, opened flat- that way you may get away without extra postage as it's both weight and thickness that determines the cost

eamon

I stopped sending cards last year. Granted there wasn't many but at 58p for 2nd class it quickly adds up.