Getting Carded: #HolidayCards - I'm Going Digital This Year & #Donating Money Saved. Tis The Season

To card or not to card, that is the question. 

Here are some other questions I have been asking myself over the last five years:

1. Is there still a place for Holiday Cards in this age of digital and social media sharing? 
2. Can we justify the cost and paper use and still be environmentally conscious? 
3. Is it possible to be personal via email or text message? 
4. What ways can I use the money I'd spend on postage to better reflect what the holidays are about?

For years my Christmas cards were written, stamped and ready to be mailed by December 1st. I had a long list of family and friends I hand wrote messages to before adding a picture of the kids taken specifically to be included with each card. 

I love getting Christmas cards and over the years came up with creative ways to display the cards I received. It's exciting to receive updates on friends and family, especially if pictures of the kids are included It allows me to be part of their lives even if I didn't see them often. 

Over the past five years the number of cards I send (and receive) has gradually decreased. No doubt due in part to my friends and family's increased use of technology to stay connected and share year round, making the annual Christmas picture and update less relevant.

I was thinking this year I would try something new and send personalized notes, holiday wishes and pictures of my offspring by email or text message. I will only be mailing cards to the few who do not have email or a cell phone, AND that I won't be seeing over the holidays. 

I will then take the money I save on stamps and postage and donate it or use it to give back in some way. 

In my Holiday emails and text messages I plan on sharing my reasons for opting out of mailing cards, including my decision to donate the postage money. I want others to know it was a conscious choice rather than lack of planning and a last minute attempt to send Season's Greetings. Hopefully all will understand my decision and in the spirit of the holidays be happy that those funds will go to good use. 

Do you still mail out cards, or do you find other ways to send Season's Greetings? 

As always I will find ways to reuse the cards I receive by using them to make
 gift tags, notebooks, and tree ornaments.

Season's Greetings and Happy Holidays! 

Yep, just me Cathy thinking out loud about Holiday Cards.