2nd Day of Christmas - Prepare Your Card List

Time to prepare for your Christmas cards! Wait, don't panic...I didn't say, "DO your Christmas cards," I said, "...prepare for." Now is the time to start gathering addresses and taking note of who has moved or whose address you need to make current. 411.com is a great site for looking up lost loved ones, but it's really early enough that you can drop them a quick email and update your address list.

Once you've gathered the addresses, count them. Don't guess how many cards you need when you get to the store or put your order in online...know how many cards you want to send and order the right number. That way, you won't have too many leftover and you won't come up short.

If you like the "photo greeting card" idea, spend a little time researching the online photo printing sites to see who has the best deals and whose formats you like best.

Some sites off the top of my head are...

• Costco Photo Center (the nice thing is that you can pick these up at your local store and avoid shipping charges)
• Shutterfly
• Snapfish (they give you the option to pick up your prints at Walgreens and Target, but you have to pay their prices, even if Snapfish is cheaper)
• Winkflash
• York Photo
• Kodak

I'm sure I'm missing some. If you like to do your own Christmas cards and include a picture, read this post to see which companies offer free printing when you sign up with their site.

Another option is to include a wallet-sized family photo, if you're sending a lot of cards and want to save some money. I did this last year because I figured out that at Costco, their 4x6 prints were $.17, but their set of 4 wallets were $.39, so I could send four times as many pictures for only double the cost. And believe me...it added up. I sent over 120 Christmas cards last year! (every cent - or 17 cents - counted!)

If mailing Christmas cards isn't your thing, consider writing a Christmas letter and sending it through email. Or send an online Christmas greeting using Hallmark.com, 123Greetings, Blue Mountain, egreetings, free e-cards or any of the various sites out there.

Whatever you decide, just do something. Let your friends and family know that you love them and are thinking of them this Christmas. I have a few friends who get so overwhelmed with Christmas and the busy-ness of the season, that they send out a New Year's letter instead of a Christmas letter and I have one friend who even does an annual Valentine letter! Even if they're mailed late, your loved ones will appreciate hearing from you.

One last thought: If you want to do something to have your Christmas cards carry a more "authentic" postmark, address them, stamp them, then put them all in a manila envelope and send it in care of the Postmaster in one of these towns: North Pole, Alaska 99705, Santa Claus, Indiana 47579 or Christmas, Florida 32709. They will postmark your cards with the name of their town and send them out from there. Remember to mail these early - add a week to your shipping time to make sure they get to your friends by Christmas.

UPDATE: According to The Good Deal Gal: "Snapfish is offering 20 4x8 photo cards for only 1-cent each. You can choose from over 100 different holiday designs. When checking out, enter the coupon code CARD08 to receive the discount. Offer expires 11/23/08."