Community Chat

[151949]

When my grandmother died my Mom went to clean out her house and found she had kept every card she had ever received in a huge box in her closet. Many of them had cash in them and when my Mom went through them the cash totalled up to over $16,000. Can you imagine?

I throw away cards about a week after we get them.The Christmas cards are displayed on the mirror of our buffet while the Christmas decor is up then tossed out when I take the Christmas tree etc down. I always think I should save them to use for some decoration the next year but I never have as yet. Some of the ones that are family pictures I save.

[hckynut]

All this is an individual thing. Some like keeping things saying they are important to them. Others like to think everything is important to them, and by this point in your life I would think you know yourself well enough to make this decision.

Everyone is different and one only need watch a few minutes of a "hoarding show" to see how different people can be when it comes to keeping things.

[NYC Susan]

I keep them, and always have. Not every single card I've received, but those that are meaningful to me. I have every card from my engagement, wedding, and the births of my children along with lots of other cards from various other occasions.

My grandmother always wrote beautiful long notes on cards in her gorgeous, flowery handwriting, and ever since I was young, I didn't want to throw those away. Most people who send me cards write something inside. If they were just printed cards with signatures, I would probably be less inclined to keep them. After an occasion is over, I look at what I have, pull out a few that I want to keep, and recycle the rest in various ways.

I've sadly lost a lot of people in my life, and having cards & notes that they sent brings me a lot of comfort. My children (grown up now) have always been interested in those kinds of links to the past too.

[OnlyShopsOnline]

I had one whole drawer in my secretary desk filled to the brim with cards from my daughter and husband over the years. I finally just tossed them because I needed the drawer space. And, I made them promise to not spend any more money on cards.

[circles]

On 7/28/2014 happy housewife said:

When my grandmother died my Mom went to clean out her house and found she had kept every card she had ever received in a huge box in her closet. Many of them had cash in them and when my Mom went through them the cash totalled up to over $16,000. Can you imagine?

I throw away cards about a week after we get them.The Christmas cards are displayed on the mirror of our buffet while the Christmas decor is up then tossed out when I take the Christmas tree etc down. I always think I should save them to use for some decoration the next year but I never have as yet. Some of the ones that are family pictures I save.

wow.....what a nice surprise...but think of all the people who may have never been thanked and never knew if she received the cards and money....

[goodstuff]

I usually keep cards for a while and then toss all but the very special "keepers". It's nice to receive cards, but for me they don't need to pile up forever.

[happygolfcartrider]

A perfect way to keep cards and not take up room is to take a large round coffee container, cut the bottom out. Wrap yarn around and around and around top to bottom. Put lots of yarn.

When you are done you can put one card on each round of yarn. Holds many many cards and takes hardly any room to store.

[ROMARY]

If one just can't toss those cards, (such as me/myself), then a good idea would be to just store them in one plastic container, in the attic/storage room/garage/basement. That way, if someone 'down the line' is very sentimental, they won't have to go to vintage shops to buy them. Also, I've heard that learning cursor/handwriting isn't an option now-a-days for some kids; and perhaps, one day, any card with actual handwriting will be a treasure from the past.

[ROMARY]

p.s. Some cards are very expensive now-a-days, and most likely in 20 (and many more) years from now they could be worth hundreds of dollars each, especially with beautiful handwritten notes. I love to view vintage Valentine's Day cards. They are beautiful.

[ROMARY]

Oh, p.s.: I just thought of this........As far as scanning cards and storing in a computer/whatever, in twenty, thirty, or more years, the gadgets of today will be obsolete; and I doubt our heirs will have the time or interest to bother to transfer what we are using now into their gadgets of the future. But, just maybe, if they run across the actual cards, they will appreciate and save them for their children/heirs. Just thought of that, right or wrong............