Birthdays and Other Important Dates

My sister is the queen of having this under control. She goes out and buys stockpiles of cards - especially those on sale. She picks them up when she sees one that reminds her of someone ,e tc.
Then she comes home and puts them in a card box seperated by month and dates, stamps them for the next year. She does this two times a year and even includes key family member's anniversaries and easter/halloween for the kids.
She mails them all at the begining of the month and even if you get early, you get em on time:)

I use google calendar online. I put in important dates and then get an email a few days before as a reminder. Cards go out on the day I get the reminder.

When you add the events you can edit the event to remind you yearly, so you don't have to put the dates in every year.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Send Out Cards. Its a system that you can add a mailing list and have ALL the people on your list get a card (like for xmas). You can either pick cards that they have that are predone or you can make your own by adding pics of your family and sayings, etc. I use it for all my family for xmas as well as both my husband and I are biz owners so we use it for our company mailings.

I also have it set up for our family bdays (you can also do it for anniv, whatever). I get a reminder the week before the date that its going out so I can make any changes I want or it will just go out automatically. AWESOME!!!

Theres no remembering stamps or anything, it goes out automatically. Message me if you want more info and I'll send it to you. I DO NOT SELL IT!!! I'm just a client and I love it!

Here is the website if you or anyone else needs it: http://www.GreetingsGalore.com

I assume you use a calendar or planner to keep track of all your other important dates, appointments, school events, parties, etc? Just put the birthdays you want to remember on the calendar (or whatever it is you use) so you will see it every day.

Thank god for Facebook birthday reminders ;)

Every year, I make a calendar and hand write in important dates... then stick the whole thing in the drawer (I HAVE to use my dry erase calendar!)... every month, I'll take it out, see who's dates are coming up, and add them to my calendar. It hasn't failed me once :)

There's no secret. You make time for what's important to you.

Just like I buy food b/c its important to eat, and I turn on the tv b/c I want to catch my fav show, I buy/send cards and letter to those important to me. I know I get frustrated when I don't have stamps, so I make sure to buy a book whenever I'm out shopping (I can buy stamps in the checkout line at my local grocery store).

if you have Microsoft Outlook or any other program that lets you put appointments on your calendar, just do that. Set an "appointment" with an actual time - when your computer places it on the calendar it will ask you when you want to be "reminded" - automatically going to 15 minutes before the appointment. (You can change it to hours, day, week, before the appointment - but you don't need to.) I'll put the birthday down as say an 8:30 a.m. appointment. It will come up on my computer as a reminder - the trick is not to clear the reminder until you have either sent the card or email. If I were you, I would set the appointment on their actual birthday, and just send a "Happy Birthday" email when it comes up. After you've sent the email, THEN "dismiss" the reminder. I wouldn't even bother with a card for. If you do a nice personal note, it is actually nicer than a card.
I'm like you, I stink at buying cards and getting them in the mail. It gets expensive too. Just send an email on the day of their birthday and they'll know you haven't forgotten them!

Every year when I get a new calendar I sit down and write all of the birthdays, anniversaries, etc on them. It hangs by the door where I see it each day.

C A L E N D A R :)

If you are on Mamapedia, you have kids, so you must keep track of their doctor & dentist appointments, school functions, sports schedule, music lessons, etc., correct? Do you use a calendar for this? Plan some time to go through your calendar & write down every single birthday & anniversary that you know of - call people if you must (there is someone you know who keeps track of all of that).

Use a bright color to write, so it stands out from everything else you are looking at on a daily basis.

One of your errands (like grocery shopping, gas station, dry cleaning) can be card shopping - monthly, quarterly, even just annually. It might take 20 minutes or an hour.

You can get a box with dividers for the months - buy your cards a stack at a time (bring your list of birthdays to the store & spend time looking), fill them out, stamp & address them, then put them in the box in the appropriate months - now you just have to remember to pull them out at the right time & get them in the mail! Kind of like paying your bills - those go out on time, right? You can send them every week, or twice a month - people don't mind getting their cards early. But like you said, people "love to get cards" - it feels special that someone took the time to actually look for a card, use an actual pen to handwrite something, address it, buy a stamp, & get it in the mail on time. That takes a lot of thought, & it is very much appreciated.

Get a handful of "belated" cards too, just in case. :)

When you buy next year's calendar, sit down with the ending year's calendar & the new one, & copy over (again in a noticeable color) all of those birthdays & anniversaries. I do this every single year, and even started doing it for other family members (people call me all the time to ask whose birthday is coming up) - I would buy 5 calendars & fill them all in for different branches of the family, depending on whom it was for.

When I was a teen, I knew which aunts took the time to write to me, & I decided then that no matter what, I would be the aunt who took the time to send a card because receiving one was so nice. I now have 19 nieces & nephews, & let me tell you, that's a LOT of cards! :)

I used my cellphone...I can even put a birthdate in there for people who I don't have cell numbers for. I guess it's the address book? Anyway, once there is an entry of a name - it allows me to put in almost anything. My cellphone has a birthdate field. It even asks me when I want to be reminded (I do 5 days). It will alarm me like any appointment and will stay on my TO DO list until I clear it...Hope this helps!

I love e-mail and all, but I am like you. What I do instead is keep a physical paper calendar on the wall, and write the dates of all my friends, relatives, etc. on their day. Sometimes I'm still late sending, but I walk right by the calendar every day (it's in the kitchen), so I'm far better at remembering. I nearly always call, at the very least.

My aunt, who keeps about 100 relatives' birthdays in mind, does something similar, but at the beginning of the month she sends out all the cards at once. To my knowledge, nobody's complained about getting the card early.

I wish I had something better to offer, but that's how I do it.

You are not the only one.
I also have half addressed, stamped Chirstmas cards in the Chrstmas box. Is that pathetic or what?
I try to buy the cards early, then get them addressed then put on the counter until send out time. It usually doesn't happen and I end up losing it anyway.

You have to make it a conscience decision to do the cards. (so do I)
Soemtimes I write on my calendar Buy Card for MIL today. Like today I will go out and buy her a card, her bday is friday, see, I'm already late.
But Thank you for the reminder

i honestly am horrid at this too. I'm good at remembering the dates, but horrible about actually sending out the cards.
I will go and BUY cards, then forget to sent them ....
I have all the important b-days and such in my phone calender so that it shows up every year. Helps to remember them all.

Haha I actually found a stack of xmas cards I bought 3 years ago and never actually sent out....

I have family and friends birthdates on a calendar taped to the refrigerator. I write them in different colors so they stand out. I also have one on the bulletin board next to the computer. As soon as I get the next year's calendar, I transfer them. Facebook and some e-card sites also send reminders. But, I'll give you a tip...Reminders don't work if you ignore them!

Christy J. has a really good response. Since you don't like email, how about reminders on your phone maybe a week in advance, then you can mail the card(s) when you receive your reminder...