40-Day Christmas Challenge | Day 12: Choose How You'll Keep in Touch • Everyday Cheapskate

Christmas cards are funny things.

Some people love sending them. Some love receiving them but haven’t mailed one themselves since stamps were considerably cheaper. And some have a box of beautiful cards purchased with the very best intentions several Christmases ago.

The cards aren’t really the point anyway. The people are.

So today we’re not deciding whether you’re officially a Christmas-card person. We’re deciding who you don’t want to let another Christmas pass without connecting with.

Then we’ll figure out the easiest way to make that happen.

Today’s Challenge

Make a short list of people you genuinely want to connect with this Christmas, then decide how you’ll reach each one.

Card. Letter. Call. Text. Photo. Coffee. Visit.

Different people can get different things.

We’re not creating another obligation. We’re making sure the people who matter don’t get lost underneath all the other things Christmas asks us to remember.

Do This Today

1. Make your connection list.

Who would you really like to hear from or talk to this Christmas?

Maybe it’s a faraway relative. An old friend. A former neighbor. Someone who had a difficult year. A teacher or mentor. Someone you’ve been meaning to call since approximately March.

Write down the names that come to mind.

This is not everyone you’ve ever known.

And it is definitely not everyone who sent you a Christmas card last year.

2. Decide how you’ll connect.

Now put something beside each name.

Maybe it’s a traditional Christmas card or handwritten letter. Maybe it’s a phone call, text, email, family photo, voice message or video call. Maybe it’s coffee, lunch or an actual visit.

Choose what fits the person and the relationship.

Someone may treasure the card they can put on the mantel. Someone else may be perfectly delighted with a ridiculous photo and a three-minute voice message.

Know your audience.

3. Do one.

Here’s the part I don’t want us to skip.

Pick one easy name and make the connection now.

Send the text. Write the card. Make the call. Send the photo. Put the coffee date on the calendar.

One name is done.

Because twelve days into this Challenge, I don’t want you accumulating beautifully organized lists of things you’re still supposed to do.

Quick Win

Think of one person you haven’t talked to in too long and send:

“I was thinking about you today and wanted to say hello. How are you?”

No Christmas stationery required. Day 12 counts.

If You Love Christmas Cards, Send Them

This is not an anti-Christmas-card campaign.

I love getting Christmas cards. And those family letters? I genuinely enjoy them.

If sending cards is part of Christmas for you, keep it. Just don’t make it harder than it needs to be.

Check your addresses. See whether you already have cards left from another year. Decide whether you’re writing personal notes, including a family letter or simply signing your names.

If a family letter is part of your tradition but getting started stops you, I’ve got some ideas for writing a Christmas letter people will actually enjoy reading. The short version? Skip the annual report and tell a few good stories instead.

And please don’t turn the Christmas letter into an annual report requiring three rounds of editing and board approval.

People who care about you would mostly just like to hear from you.

If You Don’t Send Christmas Cards

Also fine. You don’t owe Christmas an explanation.

Call a few people. Send personal messages. Email photos to relatives who would enjoy them. Invite someone for coffee. Drop off a note.

Connection is the point. Paper is optional.

Don’t Let Reciprocity Run the List

One more thing.

Someone sending you a Christmas card does not automatically add that person to your Christmas card list.

You can receive a card, enjoy it and be grateful without immediately creating a new obligation for yourself.

Christmas correspondence isn’t a billing system. Reach out because you want to connect, not because you’re keeping score.

Why It Matters

One of the strange things about a busy Christmas is how easy it is to spend hours doing things for people without actually spending much time with people.

We can shop for someone, wrap something for someone and ship something to someone without ever asking how they’re doing.

Today’s challenge turns that around.

You don’t have to contact everyone. You don’t even have to contact everyone on your list today. Just decide who matters enough that you don’t want another Christmas to slip by without reaching out.

Then start with one.

Your Turn

Do you still send Christmas cards, or has the way you keep in touch changed? Tell us in the comments. I’m especially curious about the simple ways you’ve found to stay connected with people who live far away.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow we’re going back to the kitchen to do Future You a favor.

We’re making one dinner do the work of two.

Because sooner or later there will be a night when cooking dinner sounds like entirely too much trouble. Let’s feed that night now.

← Previous: Day 11 | Challenge Home | Next: Day 13 — Cook Once, Help Future You Twice →

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Robyn says:

November 27, 2024 at 9:42 am

Buy Christmas cards when they are heavily discounted after Christmas and save them for the next year.
I make address labels instead of handwriting the envelopes. The addresses are saved every year on an Avery template, and can be updated in about five minutes. I save each years list. We put out a family newsletter that goes in with the cards and we use the “free” address labels that come uninvited in the mail. It doesn’t take long and is limited to one page. We buy paper with Christmas themed borders (also the previous year) . Hubby types up the newsletter and runs them off on his printer. This takes about an hour for him, since he was a writer before retirement. One year he got a kick out of reading previous letters, and decided this would make a great family history. So we called our parents and asked them what they were doing every year before we married. It was fun and informative. Then from 1954 to 1972, we created one page “newsletters.” Every year we add another page to the history. Easy-peasy.

40-Day Christmas Challenge | Day 12: Choose How You’ll Keep in Touch

Today’s Challenge