To think it's Bah Humbug to not send cards and say you're giving card money to charity

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How much does a box of cards cost - £5? I suggest sacrificing a bottle of wine and giving wine money to charity then ..

YABU and judgemental.

Its better for the environment not to send cards and I'd rather a charity has the money than receive a card.

Ok well thanks for the suggestion but frankly you can take a running jump :)

£5 for a box of cards?! how would that not be a waste of money? I do send cards but I buy them cheap (no more than £1 for all of them when I buy in the sale)

Why would I sacrifice my wine when I don't have to? and why would you care?

Sending paper cards is wasteful.

Yabu...christmas cards, beyond those sent to people you never see, are a waste of time. Their only purpose is to fill up the recycling bin.

I gave up doing cards years ago, after spending two entire evenings writing them out and addressing the envelopes. And it's not just the cards either that cost - it's the stamps as well.

I cba with them at all.

I agree with the OP. You can always send charity cards if you want to donate to charity.

I agree with the OP. You can always send charity cards if you want to donate to charity.

No not at all.. If I want to donate £1 I donate £1.. I don't spend £1 on cards with something like as low as 10% going to charity.

I spend less than £5 on my cards. After Christmas sales.

Just for the record.

Yabu

I haven't sent cards for years. It's a waste of time, effort, money and paper.

I send one to my MIL and other elderly relatives but that numbers less than 5.

I write cards for close family (siblings, inlaws, my mum, plus nieces and nephews plus close friends).

I don't bother with cousins, aunts etc as it just gets too tedious.

And whilst I do enjoy receiving the occasional card, I wouldn't notice if someone didn't send me one.

I don't mind what people do but I wish they wouldn't be all sanctimonious all over FB about it. Statuses like: 'to all my friends - not sending cards this year and giving the money to charity instead' give me the rage. Just donate the money quietly - stop making such a 'look at how magnanimous I am' performance about it. Some of us manage to do both, quietly!

Cards are a waste of money. I only send a few if at all to people that I like but don't see much.

I'm with you, OP! I would hate Christmas without cards. They are one of our oldest traditions and brighten up the house - I consider them part of the Christmas decorations!

You don't have to send loads if you feel it's unwise environmentally, but to nearest and dearest , definitely!

Yabu..

Do most people still do cards then? Even my elderly relatives switched to sending emails years back.

Cards are a terrible waste of paper these days when you can just send a text or an email or phone someone to say Merry Christmas.

It doesn't bother me whether people send cards or not but I agree with other posters who hate the holier than thou status' on Facebook.

I donate to charity and send cards to people who I won't be able to see. I don't announce every good deed on Facebook.

YABU. Why do you need a written copy of somebody's good wishes?

Fair enough, send a card to family and friends you don't see our speak to from one year to the next, but not your close family, friends, colleagues and neighbours.

....do people under the age of 60 still send Christmas cards? Excluding those who live far away from family?

Even then...is your email down?

My DM stopped sending cards years ago, and said that she was going to make an annual charity donation instead. All great in theory. But I'd be amazed if any charity has received a penny from her.

It's not the cards that are expensive, it's the sodding postage. YABU.

Christmas cards seem like a generational thing. My mum sends and receives hundreds. I send about 4 and receive about the same. Just send an email with the same sentiment and donate/save the money, nobody will die.

I wish people would stop sending them (I am sure they will one day). I just put them in a pile in a drawer and then throw them out.

It's not really a tradition as such. Iirc the idea was created by the Royal Mail in order to get people to buy stamps.

YANBU. I personally like receiving Christmas cards and they become part of our Christmas decorations, but I don't mind if people don't send them to me. The thing that gets me is (as people have said above) when people don't send them and then make a public announcement that they're giving the card money to charity. Just give the darn money to charity and don't tell me about it. Or, better still, if you are a person who likes to send cards, send the cards AND donate money to charity. But I still don't need to know about your altruistic gesture.

I like sending and receiving cards! It isn't wasteful as I buy them directly from charities which I like and write thoughtful messages in them. I also keep my cards and use the pictures for displays or craft at school (the other bit can be recycled too). Cards can be recycled easily and there are many collection points after Christmas for them.

Someone who is central to my 2 main friendship groups is forcing everyone to not send cards and donate money to buy goats/cows. I don't want to donate to religious charities and as a vegetarian I don't want to pay for blinking goats. (I don't expect anyone to understand that though!).
Rant over!

I didn't send Christmas cards from me and DH last year as my mum had died a few months earlier. It actually caused mayhem in his family because it's the done thing. I think a lot of older people see it as still a tradition - especially those who are not sending greetings on Facebook or Twitter. It caused so much bother last year, I decided to jsut send them this year and be done with it!

But I have donated to a local charity - Lights in my parents' names - I did that before the cards.

Yes, puffinmuffin, I use last year's Christmas cards as gift tags for presents the next year.