# Are Christmas Cards a Waste?



## debodun (Dec 12, 2020)

My cousin says that Christmas cards are one of the biggest wastes of the holiday. You have to buy overpriced cards, then pay excessive postage for something that someone else is going to glance at for 3 milliseconds, then put in the recycle bin.


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## bowmore (Dec 12, 2020)

We gave up sending out cards some years ago. I agree that the cards have gotten expensive and with postage for something looks at, says ,"that's nice" and tosses.
I would rather give the money to a food bank.


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## Aunt Marg (Dec 12, 2020)

Christmas cards, along with other seasonal/holiday/occasion cards are indeed overpriced, expensive to mail, and are often discarded when all is said and done, but for many (myself included), being able to select a special card for someone just has a way of helping to brighten my day, and I know those who I exchange cards with, it helps brighten their day, too, and because I have a short and distinguished list as to who I buy cards for, I don't allow the expense to get in the way.


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## debodun (Dec 12, 2020)

I send cards as an email attachment to many prople I know. I have a huge collection of clip art I can use to design my own.


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## Lee (Dec 12, 2020)

No personal cards in my mailbox have showed up yet.....unless you count the ones from all the charities requesting money, I doubt many respond to those mailings and the charity spends loot mailing them out, money that could have been better spent.

I did send out a few cards to special people who I know send out themselves.


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## Gaer (Dec 12, 2020)

I always design my own Christmas cards but this is the first year I didn't send out any.


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## Aunt Marg (Dec 12, 2020)

Gaer said:


> I always design my own Christmas cards but this is the first year I didn't send out any.


What happened, Gaer, where you decided not to send any out this year?


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## Knight (Dec 12, 2020)

For us exchanging  cards with the only couple still alive is .
Kind of a test to see who will live the longest.


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## Gaer (Dec 12, 2020)

Aunt Marg said:


> What happened, Gaer, where you decided not to send any out this year?


Hahahaha!  I honestly don't know!  I'm involved in several art projects right now, writing magazine articles, poetry, children's books, and am studying literature, philosophy, physics and really involved in my bronze sculpting.  I might call some of my relatives at Christmas to let them know I'm still alive and kicking!  I'm kind of the weird duck of the family anyway! hahahahaha!


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## Aunt Marg (Dec 12, 2020)

Gaer said:


> Hahahaha!  I honestly don't know!  I'm involved in several art projects right now, writing magazine articles, poetry, children's books, and am studying literature, philosophy, physics and really involved in my bronze sculpting.  I might call some of my relatives at Christmas to let them know I'm still alive and kicking!  I'm kind of the weird duck of the family anyway! hahahahaha!


Well, Gaer, you're staying occupied, and that's all that matters.

Kudos to you on all the projects you're working on!


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## Lee (Dec 12, 2020)

With cheap long distance nowadays it's cheaper to make a call than buying a card and postage.


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## Aunt Marg (Dec 12, 2020)

Lee said:


> *With cheap long distance nowadays it's cheaper to make a call* than buying a card and postage.


Indeed, it is, but there's something so warm about seeing a card in the mailbox addressed to you, then opening the envelope and holding the car in your hands and reading it. The words inside hand-written by someone and with meaning, and then setting that same card out for days, sometimes weeks to reflect upon again and again.


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## Gary O' (Dec 12, 2020)

Are Christmas Cards a Waste?​
I always thought they were
My lady would string 'em all up over the hearth
Years later, the incoming cards kinda dissipated, so she'd string up the old ones
(yeah, she kept 'em)
Now?
I made four cards, for my four long time buds
Kinda fun
My lady bought a few at the dollar store to tuck money into for the grands
(we have seventeen grands, so that adds up)

Otherwise, online cards/wishes seem best these days


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## Marie5656 (Dec 12, 2020)

*I get maybe one a year...from Rick's step daughter, who encloses her son's most recent school pictures.  He graduates next year, so not sure if they will continue after. I stopped sending them years ago, usually preferring to call or send an email greeting.*


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## debodun (Dec 12, 2020)

I told my cousin that I don't throw them away. He asked what I did with them. I said I bundled the ones I receive and put the year on the bundle and put them on a closet shelf. Then he said "Yeah, but THEN what do you do with them?" I had no answer.


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## debodun (Dec 12, 2020)

My mom used to put cards received in small sleighs. I still have them.


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## funsearcher! (Dec 12, 2020)

Aunt Marg said:


> Indeed, it is, but there's something so warm about seeing a card in the mailbox addressed to you, then opening the envelope and holding the car in your hands and reading it. The words inside hand-written by someone and with meaning, and then setting that same card out for days, sometimes weeks to reflect upon again and again.


Especially if the person takes the time to write a personal note or short letter--always better then just a signature--a few words mean a lot to many lonely people these days.


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## Aunt Marg (Dec 12, 2020)

funsearcher! said:


> Especially if the person takes the time to write a personal note or short letter--always better then just a signature--a few words mean a lot to many lonely people these days.


I agree, so warm and comforting to receive such.


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## DaveA (Dec 12, 2020)

Before the days of easy electronic communication, cards for the Holidays were something special and families looked forward to them.  When I was a kid, (30's-40's) my folks would rarely even make a long distance call as , to them, it was too costly.  Christmas cards were an annual "catch up on the news"  note, sometimes accompanied by a separate letter in the envelope.

Toady we have a very small list. Mostly old acquaintances who we don't communicate with, except for the Holiday greeting and note.  If people still enjoy the sending and receiving, so-be-it.


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## debodun (Dec 12, 2020)

To my maternal grandmother, it seemed cards were even more important that gifts. She kept a notebook of who she sent to and who she received. If she sent one and didn't receive one back from that person, they were eliminated from her book, She tacked them around her archways and hung them on strings he put across the room near the ceiling. Since she owned waterfront property, she ran a guest house in the summer and she sent cards to the people that had stayed there. Some reciprocated, some didn't.


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## Tommy (Dec 13, 2020)

To us, a card and/or a thoughtful note received in the mail is a gift.  We love receiving them.  The confirmation that another was thinking of us and cared enough to make the effort to reach out is always heartwarming.  A simple note on plain paper is just as good as a $7 card.

We, particularly my wife, send out many at Christmas time and throughout the year.  We do send far more than we receive, but "giving to get" has never been our way.


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## katlupe (Dec 13, 2020)

I do not buy expensive or fancy ones any longer. I bought two boxes of cards at Walmart for about $6.and they are nice. I write special messages to the ones I send out. I do not send that many out, mostly to my cousins and my aunt. It is a way of connecting to them at Christmas. In my apartment building we exchange cards. I open my door and my basket that hangs outside the door is full of cards.When I open a card, I smile. If I can make someone else smile by what I spent a few minutes on, then it is worth it.


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## Autumn (Dec 13, 2020)

I have this software, Hallmark Card Studio, which lets me choose from a large variety of stock cards or design my own.  I used to send a lot of cards, but now it's down to a select few people.  These are people I feel close to, so our cards are personal and meaningful.


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## Kathleen’s Place (Dec 13, 2020)

Well, I have to say that I do feel special when I receive one now. In the past EVERYONE that you ever met sent a card. In today’s world not so much so when I DO get one, it feels special to me. We only send out a few. Special ones for some of our immediate family and maybe a dozen or so to elderly friends who are alone and so look forward to personal mail.


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## MarciKS (Dec 13, 2020)

Since I get maybe 2 cards in the mail for me it is a waste.


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## Meanderer (Dec 13, 2020)

Are Christmas cards a waste? .....absolutely not.  There is no substitute for a handwritten card, in a hand addressed envelope, with a Christmas stamp attached.  Sending Christmas cards is not about us, it is about those who receive them.  If we want to save money, all of a sudden, let's cut back on what we spend on ourselves.

Photo "cards" and e-cards are just not the same.  We should remember those we love and care about at Christmas-time with a card, showing them that they are worth the effort and expense.

The card sending is dying slowly, we shouldn't speed it up by pulling the plug on our watch!

NOEL

We should not send Christmas cards for the wrong reason......


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## debodun (Dec 13, 2020)

I have a red felt holder similar to yours, Meanderer, only 4 pockets, though. I am not even getting it out this year. No family party exchange and I am not mailing any, so do not expect any.


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## Meanderer (Dec 13, 2020)

debodun said:


> I have a red felt holder similar to yours, Meanderer, only 4 pockets, though. I am not even getting it out this year. No yoursfamily party exchange and I am not mailing any, so do not expect any.


My Wife's Grandma made that, and we have used it every Christmas for 40 years.  Why not hang yours up, you never know!


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## debodun (Dec 13, 2020)

Mine isn't handmade, but it's been around for decades.


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## Rockybird (Dec 13, 2020)

debodun said:


> My cousin says that Christmas cards are one of the biggest wastes of the holiday. You have to buy overpriced cards, then pay excessive postage for something that someone else is going to glance at for 3 milliseconds, then put in the recycle bin.


I'm in agreement with your cousin text or phone.


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## Ruth n Jersey (Dec 13, 2020)

I send out just a few. Many that I used to send to are now gone. I love receiving cards though. The very special ones I save and any with notes in them.  I do go through them, maybe not every year but once in awhile I pull the box out reminisce.
The ones I receive that are box cards I make tags out of them or use them as a backing in my recipe box.


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## debodun (Dec 13, 2020)

Years ago one of my female cousins used to make handmade cards. Some were 3-D works of art. The last few years they've just been store-bought cards. I don't know why she stopped doing it. I often praised her efforts, so it wasn't thankless. People just don't seem to want to be troubled with effort anymore.


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## Meanderer (Dec 13, 2020)




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## Meanderer (Dec 13, 2020)




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## Meanderer (Dec 13, 2020)




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## debodun (Dec 13, 2020)

Meanderer said:


>


My mother's side of the family are Crandalls!


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## Wren (Dec 13, 2020)

I like to send and receive Christmas cards, buying them in the January Sales and hand delivering most of them

Cards I receive are given to a school, nursery or care home, to make their own cards, collages and calendars the following year


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## Nathan (Dec 13, 2020)

Greeting cards are just outdated, thankfully going the route of the dinosaur.    Everyone I know sends their well wishes via Facebook, works for me.


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## Nathan (Dec 13, 2020)

debodun said:


> My mother's side of the family are Crandalls!


I hope you're kidding.   Would anyone actually brag about their finances in a greeting card?


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## debodun (Dec 13, 2020)

I guess they wouldn't - that's the joke - but I'm not kidding about my relative's name.


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## Remy (Dec 14, 2020)

Some of them are so pretty, I've bought them in thrift stores just for the design and pictures. Didn't get to go through any this year. Again, hopefully next year.


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## debodun (Dec 15, 2020)

My problem is that my mother bought new cards every year even if there were ones left over from the previous year. They build up a quantity after a while. After she passed, I went through them and culled out the ones I particularly didn't care for the design and put them on the give away table at the senior center. I must still have at least a hundred - mostly country winter landscapes and various animals. I used to give them away to my meal clients, too. This year I didn't make much headway because of cancelled events and the suspended meal service. There's a whole unopened box of cards somewhere underneath these.


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## Pinky (Dec 15, 2020)

I subscribe to Jacquie Lawson animated e-cards, which I send out for Valentine's, Easter, Thanksgiving. At $10 per annum, or $20 per 2 years, it's a bargain.

Birthdays, I send out paper cards. This year, we've sent paper cards to family for Christmas. All told, a dozen - the exact amount in the box.


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