Sending Christmas cards was popularized in Victorian Britain in the mid-1800′s and this were an instant hit due to the introduction a few years earlier of a little something called a stamp. Fast forward 150 years and the sending Christmas cards is as popular as ever and even with the option of sending Christmas e-Cards for free, Hallmark estimate that there are still 20 real Christmas cards sent for every e-Card sent.

The biggest problem about sending Christmas cards, is knowing who to send a card to. If we take my Nan for example, if she talks to you for more than 5 minutes you’ll almost certainly end up on her Christmas card list. But not all of us have time to write out 100+ cards every year, so what do you do if you want to reduce the size of your list?

The first thing you should do is to digitalize your list and put it in to a document like Excel – or if you want something more advanced you could try out some specific Christmas card address management software. This will make it easier to manage and it may surprise you just how many contacts you actually have, it will also help keep the records up to date much easier. Putting the addresses in to the computer is a laborious task, but you could pay your kids a few bucks to do the job for you.

Once you have you digital list you can go through and work out whom you haven’t seen in the last 10 years or so and if there is any chance of meeting them ever again. Do you really need to send a card to the couple you met 20 years ago on your vacation to Hawaii but haven’t met since and will they be utterly distraught if they don’t get a card from you?

You might find that you can trim down your Christmas card list just from this one act alone, but there is also a better long term solution. Print out the names of everyone on your Christmas card list and keep a note of everyone who sends you a card on Christmas. Chances are that you have been regularly sending a card to people who haven’t sent you one back in years! They can safely be removed from your list along with anyone else who hasn’t sent you one and the next year your Christmas card list should be smaller. Keep following this technique every year to ensure you’re not writing more cards than you actually need to.

Another practice which is becoming popular is including a newsletter of what everyone’s up to. It’s usually a standard letter that is printed out and sent to everyone, but before you sit at the computer have a think about whether the couple you met 8 years ago at Disney are really interested that Tiny Tim won first prize at the scouts annual award show. A particularly disturbing trend is the family newsletter that goes on for pages and pages and talks about how amazingly talented and well the kids are doing – remember, kids of other families might not be doing as well so try not to make it sound like you are boasting!

If you have to write a newsletter, try and keep it to a single side of paper and don’t boast too much. Obviously on the flip side don’t talk too much about any negative things like Little Jonny didn’t get his parole this year but we are hopeful he might be released by next year!

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