How to Purchase Holiday Cards

It pays to get a jump on buying and sending out holiday cards. Make them yourself, have photo cards made or buy them new.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Buy cards cheap right after this year's holidays are over.

2. Buy charity cards to contribute some of the money to a deserving cause. If you donate to your favorite charities throughout the year, you'll likely receive several unsolicited batches of greeting cards from them.

3. Get tailor-made greeting cards for couples of different faiths. Check out sites such as the Interfaith Wedding Mall (interfaithweddingmall. com). A box of 10 costs around $15.

4. Buy cards online at sites such as Sparks.com that mail either to you or directly to your recipients with personalized messages.

5. Create custom photo cards at various online sites like iPads.com. Mail-order them or print them out on your own computer. Or take your negative to Costco or Kinko's and get a gazillion cards blazingly fast and made for dirt cheap.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep a permanent mailing list with names and addresses. Either tuck it inside your box of greeting cards or store it on your computer. Update it each year, and you'll have no excuse not to address and mail cards out early the following year.