To be pissed off with people saying 'I am not sending any Christmas card this year, I am donating the money to charity.'

[chrisinthesun]

Just admit you can't be arsed to send any.

And is the charity you are supposedly donating to, going to go wild about the 1.99p it would have cost for a box/pack of 50 Christmas cards? 🙄

I suppose some people will come on here and say they send at least 2 dozen cards out by post/abroad etc, and that costs them £50-60 in postage, but most people don't do this. Most people just send them to neighbours, close family, acquaintances, and work colleagues.

As I said, just admit you can't be arsed, and bore off with the sanctimonious 'I am not giving out any Christmas cards this year, I am giving the money to charity' line. (I bet most people who say this, don't even give anything to charity 'instead of sending out Christmas cards.')

And we actually still sent cards to people to whom we knew they would be special.

I make my announcement on Facebook every year "i will not be sending Xmas cards this year as I can't be arsed writing them "

it's pure virtue signalling.

Clearly you're too wealthy to understand that for some people, the money spent on buying and sending Christmas cards is a specific bit of money that they cannot just double. They give it to a charity or they spend it on cards. They can't do both.

You're a bit spoilt, aren't you.

Personally I love receiving cards and I would be really sad if everyone did this and I got none! Most of my friends are definitely able financially to do both, so that's not a true excuse for them, and I find it disappointing - it basically says they can't be arsed to make you feel happy/appreciated/remembered.

@tccat

I make my announcement on Facebook every year "i will not be sending Xmas cards this year as I can't be arsed writing them "

LOL. THAT'S more like it.

Is there a reason you're uncomfortable with others saying they're doing something good, OP?

Has it occurred to you that the more people who acknowledge they give to charity, the more people will think it's a normal, unremarkable part of everyday life?

Do you give to charity?

Has it occurred to you that some people don't inhabit this world of deceit you assume everyone else lives in (so I can only assume you do too)? Like, some people might actually be giving to charity because they thought it would be a great way to spend the Christmas part of their budget? In my experience, people who do this tend to be the people who also spend significant periods of time volunteering (so being too lazy to write a few cards seems unlikely to be the no brainer you think it is).

You're just so sure. I want to say the world is nicer than you think but you actually want people to be like you, don't you.

@annikin

Personally I love receiving cards and I would be really sad if everyone did this and I got none! Most of my friends are definitely able financially to do both, so that's not a true excuse for them, and I find it disappointing - it basically says they can't be arsed to make you feel happy/appreciated/remembered.

Yeah exactly this.

Funny thing is, the ones who say 'we are not sending them, we are giving to charity instead' are the ones who are loaded. They are just too tight and lazy to send any cards to anyone, so come up with the 'we are giving to charity' line. As I said, who cares? Why tell everyone? What are you trying to prove?

I hate cards. They just sit in the way for a couple of weeks and straight in the bin. Think of the planet people.

@youlethergo

Is there a reason you're uncomfortable with others saying they're doing something good, OP?

For a start, it's debatable whether chucking your money at charities - (some of which are corrupt anyway,) is 'doing something good,' and secondly, I only have their word for it that they are giving anyway.

If they want 'do something good' why don't they volunteer to help vulnerable and lonely people in their neighbourhood, instead of posting smugly 'we are giving to charity' on facebook?

@chrisinthesun intelligent people can do research on which charities donate the most of their funds.

Not everyone is as privileged as you to have spare time to volunteer.

Must be nice up in that castle.

Do you give to charity?

Yes, because even though I'm agnostic these days, I'm still just 'churchy' enough to be strongly committed to 'tything' i.e. I donate 10% of my annual income to charity (theoretically it should be your church, but I don't have a church, so I do this instead).

I have multiple DDs set up, profiting multiple charities, all year round, and yet I still manage to send Christmas cards.

Do you give to charity?

The recycling bin, surely ?

@chrisinthesun

If they want 'do something good' why don't they volunteer to help vulnerable and lonely people in their neighbourhood, instead of posting smugly 'we are giving to charity' on facebook?

This.

I send cards to relatives and those I don't see regularly. I do make a charity donation instead of sending cards to work colleagues I see every day.

I certainly can't be arsed. I hate xmas and all the shit that surrounds it, I don't want to send or receive cards and all I want is to be left alone at home on my own.
Birthdays are different worth celebrating and making an effort.

@glagdy

Must be nice up in that castle

It's a bit chilly actually. And the roof is leaking.

But I can't afford to repair it, as I have to spend £1.99 on a box of Christmas cards in a month or so.

Thanks @ThistleAmore

@madcatladyforever

I certainly can't be arsed. I hate xmas and all the shit that surrounds it, I don't want to send or receive cards and all I want is to be left alone at home on my own.
Birthdays are different worth celebrating and making an effort.

Fair enough to not send cards.

But why do people have to blather on about giving to charity instead?

Just do it - if you MUST - but why mention it?

I agree with you that some charities have recently been exposed as corrupt and share any revulsion you're feeling about that. Hopefully those revelations are going to mark the start of a higher standard of transparency and efficiency.

You can still find worthwhile charities if you want to do something good in the world. Yes, many charities are effective in supporting those in pain and in oppression. I cannot believe you don't care about children without food, caught up in sexual slavery or animals who are horrifically treated. For some of those groups, charities are all they have. Despite the elements of corruption, there are many decent committed people working tirelessly to help them on very, very low wages with not nearly enough food to give out. I've been there. And no, that's not me virtue signalling. Sometimes there are other reasons why it might come up.

I don't quite understand why people should hide the fact that they want to help others. Unless it's an alien concept to you and you never do it, why wouldn't you want to know someone is doing something meaningful? I like reading that friends are helping others. It doesn't change my opinion of them and I certainly didn't expect anyone to think better of me for anything I've done. I'm saying this as a stranger on the internet: I have given sums that were a significant percentage of our income directly to small charities that literally went out and bought rice and baby supplies with the money. We never go out for meals etc. I'm not going to pretend I've ever gone hungry so someone can eat. I'm no martyr. But we have done that and it has never occurred to me to brag about it. It didn't occur to me that anyone would think I was bragging if I gave Christmas card money to charity. These are my friends. They know we love them! If someone is giving to a charity instead of giving cards, my hunch (now I sit down and think about it) is that they probably aren't giving out of the blue. You probably don't know what other donations are made.

Are you right about some of these people lying and pretending they're giving to charity while pocketing the extra cash and sitting back? Perhaps you are. But it saddens me that you assume everyone you know is like this. Maybe you need better friends.

Card receiving has become a popularity contest amongst some friends of mine, the smug 'I have a hundred cards how many do you have?', when clearly they have sent cards to everyone they,ve ever met in their life is definitly not in the spirit of the season.

Always recycling bin haireverywhere. Unless they have glitter. Can't recycle glitter.

It''s not the cost of the cards. It's the time spent making them personal and the stamps.

I open mine which mainly say 'from x' the. They sit somewhere for a few weeks then they get recycled.

I think a few years ago before the days of social media, it was a lovely way to keep in touch. Letters and photos were included

When it's just a piece of paper and a name I really struggle to see the point. How does that make anyone happy.

I do it because I don't want to be the one to stop doing it but the only people I don't begrudge are elderly people who still keep in touch that way. The rest I just think if we cares about each other we'd keep in touch throughout the year

No-one I know brags about how many cards they have Katie...

I don't quite understand why people should hide the fact that they want to help others. Unless it's an alien concept to you and you never do it, why wouldn't you want to know someone is doing something meaningful? I like reading that friends are helping others. It doesn't change my opinion of them and I certainly didn't expect anyone to think better of me for anything I've done.

I'm saying this as a stranger on the internet: I have given sums that were a significant percentage of our income directly to small charities that literally went out and bought rice and baby supplies with the money. We never go out for meals etc. I'm not going to pretend I've ever gone hungry so someone can eat. I'm no martyr. But we have done that and it has never occurred to me to brag about it.

It didn't occur to me that anyone would think I was bragging if I gave Christmas card money to charity. These are my friends. They know we love them! If someone is giving to a charity instead of giving cards, my hunch (now I sit down and think about it) is that they probably aren't giving out of the blue. You probably don't know what other donations are made.

@youlethergo is the perfect example of what I was on about in my OP.

Anyone remember Mike Smash from the Harry Enfield show?!

"I do LOADS of work for CHARIDEEEE, but I don't like to talk about it!'

PMSL