Mailing Holiday Cards On Time

Here Are Five Options to Help Organize Your Holiday Card Mailings

1. Stock up on a year's worth of cards, and set aside one weekend to address and stamp them. Leave the cards unsealed, so you can add personalized last-minute notes, and stash them in an accordion folder with dividers for each month.

2. On the first of each month, take out all the cards for that month. Add your messages, sign the cards, and seal the envelopes. Then label each envelope with a sticky note indicating the date on which it should be mailed, and put them all in the box where you leave your outgoing mail.

3. If computer-generated labels don’t bother you, go high-tech this holiday season. Type your card list into a database and run a mail merge to create labels — or hire a high school kid to do this for you.

4. If you feel strongly about personally addressing your cards, you’ll just need to find a day to do them. It’s perfectly fine to prepare holiday cards several months in advance — just write a note on your December calendar page reminding yourself where you stashed them.

5. If you can’t get a handle on the card thing, send e-cards. Who doesn’t love getting an animated card that plays music during the middle of a work day? And a phone call to say, “Hi, hope you’re having a great day,” is still a terrific way to remind friends and relatives that you’re thinking about them.