Christmas Countdown Day 6: Start A Christmas Card List!

Sending holiday greetings this year?

A haphazard approach to season’s greetings is a recipe for Christmas-card chaos. Lovely as the tradition can be, it takes time to select, address and send holiday cards or Christmas letters.

Between poor planning and procrastination, too many of us find ourselves scrawling signatures late into the night, in a frantic dash to beat the postman to the mailbox.

Next day, our eyes blur as we sort the incoming mail: did we remember to send a card to Aunt Kaye?

to do today ... make a Christmas card list

The shortest route to stress-free seasonal greetings? Make a Christmas card list. Use lined blank paper, or print a free Christmas card list from the Organized Christmas printables library.

Placed behind the “Christmas cards” tab in your Christmas planner notebook, the Christmas card list holds address data, and tracks cards sent and received over several years. It’s the place to start to assess and address Christmas greetings each year.

… and prune it!

Marking down names for Christmas cards, it’s easy to feel giddy. Stop! Make your list, check it twice, then prune it properly for seasonal simplicity.

Sending traditional Christmas cards can be a pricey proposition, in time and money. To bring the effort back to a reasonable level, scrutinize your card list with an eye to cutting back.

Do you need to send separate cards to family members who will receive a gift, too? Have card exchanges with folks from the old neighborhood dwindled to a perfunctory annual exchange? Is it truly necessary to send cards to neighbors?

Chances are, if you feel the time has come to drop the custom, the recipient feels the same way. Clarify the goals behind season’s greetings, then trim your list accordingly.

to print today ...

to read today ...

Does penning the year's Christmas letter give you a Santa-sized case of "writer's block"? Check our best tips for writing holiday letters:

Seven Tips for Sparkling Christmas Letters

Interested in using computers to speed Christmas card chores?

Simpler Seasons Greetings: Using Computers to Send Christmas Cards

today's recipe ...

Preparing freezer meals ahead of time is a proven stress-buster for the holiday season. By tucking away a few pre-frozen entrees, you'll make time during the height of the season.. Come December, you'll be thankful for the bounty of freezer meals on busy nights.

New to freezer cooking? Check out this complete guide from sister site OrganizedHome.Com:

Freezer Cooking Guide