Unexpected Benefits

A few years ago I was shopping in a dollar store about a week before Thanksgiving. I noticed that all the fall Decor was on clearance. This struck me as unusual -- and unacceptable because Thanksgiving wasn't even there yet and already they were disregarding the decorations used to celebrate it.

Trigger 1 hissy fit!

After a little thought, it was obvious one of the main reasons for this is the comparative lack of spending associated with Thanksgiving as opposed to Christmas and even Halloween. So I decided to divert some of the little amount of money that I do spend on Christmas to a Thanksgiving time frame. That is when I decided to stop doing Christmas cards and I began doing Thanksgiving cards instead.

That first year I explained it to all the people I sent the cards to and I've been doing it this way ever since. One drawback is that Christmas cards are usually quite a bit cheaper. I can find them in bulk and at off-brand stores, but few stores have Thanksgiving cards.

But I have found some benefits as well. One is that it is done so much earlier --actually before the Christmas season begins and it's one less thing on my list of things I want to do to get done during the Christmas season. I found I've been able to relax a little more knowing that it's finished. Also I find I get more Christmas cards than I used to and more of the Christmas cards have notes or letters with them. Sending mine early gives people a chance to reciprocate and an encouragement to do something that maybe they already wanted to.