Nice to know, there are people like me who keep track of everything by writing, I also keep track of everything in note books…
I also keep a separate book , writing what I sent in swaps, since I don’t want to send same thing to the same person…
I keep two spreadsheets in Excel: the first for direct swaps (date/login/name/country/dates of sending, receiving cards, etc.), the second for the series of cards I collect. This is very useful for me, although I am not expert in it and it could probably be simplified
Now I think I should have done that too keeping a track of the postcards sent to the same people
because in PC forum the same people mostly are the same groups as mine
hi from the neighbouring cave!
I created a Google form recently to keep and store data of my pals and friends, i created two different ones, one for indian pals and one for foreign ones, and got birthdays address and their likings, so i can surprise them with birthday mail
How smart, never thought to adapt to forms.
I use google sheets for my regular correspondence.
And google photos, paired with links in sheets for postcards to trade
Fellow rock child and notebook user - and fellow Virginian here!
I use a notebook to keep track of my official PC Cards I send out. Like you, I write the ID#, the country, and date sent, but I also write down where I mailed it from, meaning which specific post office location. Then I add date received after it’s registered, in a different color ink.
I started doing this after moving to a new city, I could tell the outgoing mail was slower here, and then some of my cards were not arriving/getting registered at all. I had a bunch go missing, and this helped me learn which post office location(s) to avoid, and which ones were fastest.
Using an excel spreadsheet feels too much like being at work to me, lol, although I can definitely understand how some members would prefer it. I enjoy my cute notebook and it’s pretty easy to just make a note as I’m doing my cards.
Exactly it’s really easy to put it in the notebook while just writing the postcards as I do the same. I actually hardly ever change the PO I use. Before joining Postcrossing i actually did a lot of research (something that I am guilty of doing before committing myself to anything for I want to do that the long term🫣), sent postcards across the country and some abroad to see which post office works properly and after I started recieving ordinary untracked mails properly, I joined PC and similar.
I keep track of all the current swaps (it’s a lot) visually: separate folders for FB, Forum Swaps and Tags.
Screenshots/pictures of every card I’m expecting are in one of those folders with a nickname of the sender in the file name. Once received I delete the pic. Easy
@abujoist @Bakersmom nice to meet people who still keep track through books .
I have been penpalling since 2011 and joined postcrossing since 2014…
And till today I have completed 15+ notebooks for keeping track of sending and receiving mails and it’s really a mess, but once in a while I open and look those books I really feel very happy …
Along with you iam also a rockcave dweller
Better late than never, I always do something when a new thing comes in my mind . I guess you can try for the few upcoming mails sent …
If you like you can continue otherwise you can stop…
It’s always better to try and stop…
Honestly i spend all day in spreadsheets so i prefer to avoid them but know how useful tbeycan be. I however started a list in notes (app) to keep track of who i owe cards to. Anything further is too much like work
This is a part of my Excel used for tags. I have similar sheets for RR and other swaps. At the same time I scan all cards I sent and received and name them in some order. Honestly it helps me so much!
I love it! Thank you so much for sharing with us!
I think I need that one to write what i wrote in a postcard. Usually i write about my thought, what im going through the day, my holiday, etc. But when i send the postcard i cant remember what i wrote in the spesific postcard.
I have one for sent and one for received, where I record the ID and username, and descriptions of image, message and stamp. For the received ones I also have a column to say if the card fits a challenge I’ve set.
@munaid you are so right. Today I got a comment on a registered card I had sent about what I wrote on the card and I was like what is he talking about, did I say that?