Christmas Cards- Making Your List and Checking it Twice (Day 5)

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I have a habitual, ridiculous problem when it comes to cards. My husband and I will talk about who we plan to send them to. Without counting, we guess on the number we need, and round it up to be safe... and always end up having stacks leftover.

I've done this with my wedding invitations, Christmas cards from years past, and thank you cards. More times than I care to admit. In my crafting and cards closet, I have old stacks of extra family photos, wedding thank yous, and Save the Dates. How embarrassing!

I admit that half of my problem is not following through and sending things to people I planned on. The other half is a failure to count and plan properly. 

Obviously I need to figure out a better solution here. I'm going to take a lead from Santa on this one, and make my list and check it twice ;).

First, I will write down the names of everyone I plan on sending it to. No fudge room, no "let's do it later..."- before I order my cards, I will have a numbered list.

After I've written it out, and checked it with my husband, mom, phone contacts, and social media lists, I think that I can safely relax and assume I haven't missed anyone. But just in case, I will order 5 extra. That's right, only 5. Just enough that I have some in case of emergency, but not enough to leave a stack cluttering my desk come New Years.

And I will follow through and send the card to everyone on my list. Before Thanksgiving I plan to have them stamped and addressed, ready to throw into the mail come December 1st.

Today's Assignment: Make your list! Think through friends and family members, check facebook and phone contacts to jog your memory, call and ask your mom if you need assistance ;). Also be sure to run it by your spouse. You can be as thorough or as simple in the amount of cards you send as you please. Don't forget about the cost while you're adding names- postage and cards can be expensive if you aren't careful!

What difficulties have you encountered when it comes to cards? If you have any tips for us in compiling our lists, please leave them in the comments!

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Other Posts in this series:
Happy Holidays- Your No Stress, Ready to Bless, Guide to Getting Christmas Done Early! Intro
Gifting- Your Plan of Attack
Gifting- Think Outside the Box
Gifting- To Make or Purchase?
Christmas Cards- Your Plan of Attack