Christmas Cards--I Need a Better System

I'm sitting here trying to tackle my Christmas cards and have come to the conclusion that my paper based address book is for the birds. I've had this address book for years and realize that my record keeping is a bit, dare I say, antiquated.

Yes, my beloved green and pink flowered address book has seen better days. It is a bit weather beaten and outdated. And when I say outdated, I mean the information inside is OUTDATED. More than half of the addresses are old.

You see, as much as I'd like to think I'm organized, I'm not. When I receive change of address cards or "We've Moved" notices, I file them away (where, I'm not sure) rather than update my book. And now, when I need current information I'm SOL.

Not only would most of the mail be returned should I send it to the addresses in my book, I have so many marks where I tried to keep track of who I wrote out cards to in years past that I can't keep it all straight.

I have a method where I put a star, circle, or check mark next to names in my book once I've written their Christmas card. This little process worked fine for the first 5 years but now I'm trying to use the "star method" and can't keep them straight (evidently I was not consistently using black stars to mark names off back in 2008).

So I've decided that after the holiday rush, when I have a few extra minutes to spare, I'm going to enter all this important information (from all of the Christmas card envelopes we receive this year to ensure I've got everyone's CURRENT addresses) in one place that can be easily updated--my Macbook. I'm going to utilize my technological tools and get with the times.

So keep your eye out for next years card, because my cards will be arriving on time with a fancy label.