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Christmas cards are a waste of money
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Victoria Bischoff (Citywire)
Posted: 23 November 2010 15:20:35(UTC)
#1

Joined: 08/03/2010(UTC)
Posts: 96
Britons will post around 750 million Christmas cards to family and friends this year, according to Royal Mail.

With first class stamps costing 41p and second class 32p, plus the cost of the card in the first place, this is going to cost a huge amount of money.

Don’t get me wrong I love Christmas, my decorations are itching to come down from the loft, but when it comes to Christmas cards I’m torn.

I quite like receiving them and I enjoy seeing them decoratively strung up around the family home, but I can’t help but think they are a bit of waste of money.

I know lots of people who send hundreds of cards at Christmas – literally to everyone they know. To me, this is ridiculous. Not only is it expensive, it’s really not that great for the environment.

Now I’m not saying we shouldn’t send any Christmas cards, but shouldn’t we at least cut down? Why not just send maybe half a dozen to close family and friends?

On the other hand you could make a deal with your friends to not to send any cards this year and save the money instead – or if you’re feeling particularly generous during the season of goodwill and whatnot you could even donate the money you would have spent on cards to charity.

Or in this day and age why not ditch cards altogether and opt for sending a Christmas text or personalised e-card instead?

What do you think?
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John Gardiner
Posted: 24 November 2010 10:16:59(UTC)
#2

Joined: 20/07/2010(UTC)
Posts: 8
Every year we argue the toss over whether to send out Christmas cards or not. Then they start to trickle in throught the letterbox and we feel obliged to return the compliment. It is such a rediculous waste of time and money which no one seems to be the first to stop.
I can understand sending cards to friends we have not had such regular contact with, but when many friends drive over and hand deliver their written greetings tosave postage this I find really silly.
However the most annoying thing is when friends post or deliver cards which are just signed by themselves and not in any way personalised. In other words when they write their cards they just inscribe their own names so that each card is identical in content. Any card than therefore be put into any envelope without any thought process whatsoever. This I find extremely lazy and absolutely maddening.
If we have to confirm and no one break the chain, then at least put some effort into it !!!!
Grrrrrrr....... I have got this off my chest.
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Ian Grumpy
Posted: 24 November 2010 10:20:24(UTC)
#3

Joined: 14/01/2009(UTC)
Posts: 63
Cards received only serve to remind you that you haven't seen someone that you barely remember for 12 months or more. The only beneficiary of cards sent is Royal Mail, so post a message on Facebook and send double the money saved to Help for Heroes instead. I did that last year and will do so again.
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Ian W
Posted: 24 November 2010 10:39:01(UTC)
#4

Joined: 05/01/2007(UTC)
Posts: 6
The whole of Christmas is a waste of time and money.

Barh, humbug!!
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JT
Posted: 24 November 2010 10:49:50(UTC)
#5

Joined: 16/11/2009(UTC)
Posts: 16
Ba...Humbug!

I agree that too many cards are a waste of money, especially if you see the personal regularly and the cards are impersonal (one family member of mine sends cards signed with a ink-stamp of their name...)

Are too many decorations on the tree a waste of money? lights outside the house? over-indulging with food and drink? there are money savings to be had.... but that's not the point at all! I'd hate to see everyone logging on to facebook on christmas morning to see their christmas greetings instead of looking around the room and seeing all the cards stacked up!
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Anonymous Post
Posted: 24 November 2010 10:51:17(UTC)
#6
Anonymous 1 needed this 'Off the Record'

Scrooges!
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Calm down and think it through
Posted: 24 November 2010 10:55:01(UTC)
#7

Joined: 15/06/2010(UTC)
Posts: 3
How about this for a business idea. Set up a website called the ChristmasCard.com and invite people to submit their Christmas card list before December 1st and pay 15p for every address on the list. ChristmasCard.com then sends a card with your name inside. ChristmasCard.com will find duplicated addresses on different lists and send one package containing several cards. ChristmasCard.com would agree a low delivery charge with a carrier on the basis that they can send the packages at any time up until December 24th.
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danny doogan
Posted: 24 November 2010 11:04:35(UTC)
#8

Joined: 04/03/2010(UTC)
Posts: 1
What utter rubbish!
Why is tradition being frowned upon? Should we do away with Christmas decorations as well ...... or even Christmas itself, for that matter?

Cards have a personal value and serve as a keepsake.
They are a sincere way of communicating emotions;
............ a fine art that provides decorative and ornamental appeal;
............ a revenue stream for charities;
............ an industry for manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers, as well as photographers, designers and the (already struggling) print sector, and
............ cards (and envelopes) are made from a naturally renewable and recyclable resource – they are not bad for the environment (more people should take time to read the Two Sides campaign).


It’s only a shame I had to respond by email and not by card.
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Ela Czuruk (Citywire)
Posted: 24 November 2010 12:21:02(UTC)
#9

Joined: 16/12/2009(UTC)
Posts: 1
Danny Doogan - I totally agree with you. You can buy Christmas charity cards and send the personalised messages to the loved ones. It doesn't take a lot of time and money to make it special. A bit of imagination and effort would do.
Perhaps it's easier to hang out on facebookfor hours than post a card to a grandma. But, actually, how many grandparents use facebook nowadays? Well, unfortunately my grandma doesn't. Fortunately I'll see her this Christmas!
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Tom Bourne
Posted: 24 November 2010 16:44:25(UTC)
#10

Joined: 14/05/2010(UTC)
Posts: 7
I like the idea of charity cards but just how much of the price paid goes to the charity?
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