Sending Christmas cards or not ?

My heart sank this morning, I received two cards from very recent acquaintances. I have been to one's house in a group of friends, chatted to the other at a social event and see them both about the village now and then, but that's it. I try to lose a couple every year, but it's one step forwards, two back. At least I don't need stamps for them, I suppose.

Thank you too, Pittycity. I wasn't aware of it happening so it was quite a surprise when I got to the postbox with one that needed to get there quickly. I did find the only one in town that collected in the evening.

Thank you Stansgran, I have just sent one (I hope!)

Other cards posted today and lots to deliver by hand.

I posted mine today. After posting a gift to my friend who lives in the South of England, four cards to the Republic of Ireland and buying 20 second class stamps, I had just over two pounds change from a £20 note !!!

I whittled my list down to people that we would see before Christmas for hand delivery and others that we were in regular touch with to post.
Lo and behold the first cards to plop onto the mat were from two couples who we haven't seen or heard from for years - I am sure I haven't sent them a Christmas card for years either. It must be an automatic thing that people do and don't think about!

As for post box collection times rosequartz boxes that are less well used do not now have a fixed time for being emptied and it may now be emptied in the early morning. So allow more time for delivery from these boxes or post at a Post Office or Town Centre box if first class next day delivery is important. This is all part of privatisation streamlining. I know this because DD1 is in Royal Mail management. BTW they get a sheet of Christmas stamps as their seasonal bonus.

Well we gave in- as cards starting to arrive, with expensive 97p stamps- we felt just too guilty- OH found a few nice photos of the house with plenty of snow, stylised them a bit and printed them. We cut the list down from about 80 to 45- and have some ready for 'emergencies' eg to respond to cards received from people not on the list. It is actually lovely to receive them, isn't it- so there. Sent yesterday- the cost from Switzerland to UK is about the same as a UK to UK- so a bargain ;)

My sister-in-law (87) struggles over a few days to get her cards written and posted, but I think she actually enjoys doing it. When I remarked to her the other day that she won't have seen so many of the recipients for many years, she answered that receiving one back from them made her feel so happy that they were still going strong - and that was one of her reasons for sending hers to them! It gives her pleasure. She buys a few stamps at a time when she goes to the Post Office for her pension - and considers that her Government-paid Christmas Bonus is a wee 'buckshee' few quid that pays for the them.

I have sent cards out to family and friends some who I have had contact with for awhile.
Mick

That's true. I spent far too much on stamps today at the Post Office; because we have moved around a bit we like to keep in touch with people occasionally and Christmas seems as good a time as any.

Someone's got to keep the Post Office going, I suppose.

What a shame that the Royal Mail won't offer a special price discount stamp just for Christmas

All these companies seem to be the same.

'Oh dear, our profits are going down because not as many people are using our services! What to do? Oh, I know, we'll put the prices up - that'll fix it!

Precisely.

I`m sending nearly 50 cards, quite a few will be hand delivered, but for the 20 that need posting, I bought 2nd class stamps today. Now, the cards cost me less than £3, stamps for less than half of them cost me £10.60, and that`s 2nd class! The post office don`t seem to realise that if they reduced postage, people would probably use their service more, like all the empty trains that go over the level crossings in town, if fares were lower, there`d be more folk travelling by train.

I've made a collage of a few photos from the past year - with a greeting on it. (easy to make with picasa) I've sent this as an email attachment to most of my friends and family - (saved money is sent to a charity). I have done it for a couple of years now and it seems to be OK. I haven't lost any friends over it yet. I still give cards to closer friends and family and post a few if they are not online. It still takes a while as I write each email with appropriate content. I don't mind receiving fewer cards - so long as we still manage to keep in touch.

No, I'm not guilt-tripped either - I just prefer to buy them and choose packs from about 4 or 5 charities that mean something to me and my family.

And you would need to print them on good quality paper.

Stansgran, printing out e mail cards would be more expensive than the postage, the price of printer ink is another scandal.

I refuse to be guilt-tripped into buying any charity cards - I just buy ones I like!( I'm not saying that you are, nellimoser) I have a couple of charities that I support regularly, but at one point the amount of school gate acquaintances who would come up to me saying conspiratorially that such-and-such a place was selling charity cards for some obscure new charity, what a good idea, was quite bizarre and I found myself looking at them in amazement.

Thinking of starting up a new line, do you think it will catch on? M&S might like it.

School shirts with a large stamp on the backside, saying '99p from every sale will go towards stamping out dyslexia/childhood obesity/pick ailment of choice' .

Do you think people would rush to buy my shirts rather than bog standard Tesco Value ones?

Now you tell us...!

I will get around to sending some I hope. I do support a particular Charity by buying their own cards which are attractive and have a generally have a good %tage ratio of the charitable profits to the manufacture costs.
Never trust supermarkets charity cards .

It makes me feel so guilty though, not to send them. But with the postage as high as it is, it's getting to be almost a present that everyone is receiving, once the cost of the card is added in as well.

A friend in Lincolnshire had a poultry farm, so our 'card' was a dozen eggs. Now of course I don't get those! But I still send her a card, I know that in the run up to Christmas she barely has time to breathe, let alone write cards.

They are all written so I may as well post them or deliver by hand.

When I think I will prune someone from the list I then receive one from them on about 22nd December!
I buy charity cards, sold in our local library, as I hope it will do some good and make a contribution.

I went to post an early one yesterday and found that the majority of postboxes only take one collection first thing in the morning. When did that change?

Yes, it's the cost of postage isn't it, rather than the actual cards.

And Royal Mail has the nerve to claim it's having to put charges up because it's losing business to rival companies...!

I shan't be sending any unless DBH remembers to buy some tomorrow. After a knee and foot injury I can walk but not drive yet. Mine have started to trickle in, much to my horror, this morning two arrived. I went to a Christmassy tea and cake and champagne afternoon today at a friend's house (where I received yet more cards), which was lovely, and someone there made some beautiful cards and was selling them for charity. They were expensive so I only bought ten for extra special people, but I need 60 more and DBH needs 30 for school children and staff. I try to cut down on a few cards each year, and actually my card list used to be 120 every year, but that is because we have moved around so often that I have made good friends in most places and managed to hang on to most of them. (DBH has been rather careless with his, most of them have died!)

The postage is a huge deterrent. I feel bad about not sending cards abroad, but the price is ridiculous so daft pictures on facebook have to suffice, to show that I am thinking of them. I shall only send one abroad, to an older and rather lonely friend in France.

I have done a donation to the Salvation Army instead of sending cards and I have now decided not to send any at all this year. I will try and phone, or see, all the people I care about. The rest, who normally get a card, are people I have not seen or heard from, for years (many years in some cases). We no longer have anything in common, other than past acquaintance so why do we keep up the charade of Christmas cards in those cases?