How to Save Money on Greeting Cards

Sticker shock can occur simply by turning over a greeting card you’re contemplating purchasing. The price of a birthday card today is more than you might have spent on buying a gift a few years ago. There are a variety of ways to get around this expense and still send your friends and family an appropriate holiday and birthday greeting.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

How to Save Money on Greeting Cards

1. Take advantage of special offers in card stores. Sometimes offers include buy three greeting cards and get one free. Other offers for free or half-price cards will involve buying merchandise which are often items you may want to consider giving as gifts.

2. Shop discount stores such as railway salvage, “dollar” stores, and other places where ordinary greeting cards are sold for less than their regular prices. You might find cards you can buy in bulk; for example, they might have 10 identical greeting cards bunched together for $3. Let’s say that you can only think of three people who would be appropriate recipients for that particular card but you’re still only paying $1 apiece for each card that you’ll actually use.

3. Haunt thrift shops and garage sales for bags of miscellaneous greeting cards being sold for one price. Again, you might pay a couple of bucks for a large bag stuffed with cards and end up with only three or four you can actually use—but your cost will end up being less than $1 each.

4. Buy attractive note cards to use as greeting cards. For example, a set of cards--blank on the inside--from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, make beautiful greeting cards when a personal message is written inside. Note cards picturing beautiful scenery, cute animals, cartoons, or a myriad of other subjects will work as well.

5. Put your children to work. Everyone enjoys seeing children’s artwork. Buy some plain white note cards and envelopes and let the kids get creative.

6. Send photos as greeting cards---and not just on holidays. For example, make a sign that says "Happy Birthday, Grandma." Let the kids hold the sign and snap their photo. Cut a plain square of card stock a little larger than your photo (and the right size to fit inside your envelope). Glue the photo onto the cardstock. No kids? Use your imagination. For example, have someone snap your picture outside the recipient's favorite restaurant; you'll be holding a sign that says "Let's do lunch." On the back write your birthday greeting.

7. Make cards yourself. Take a walk around a hobby or craft store and you’ll see dozens, if not hundreds, of items for decorating cards. Buy plain cards and matching envelopes. You don’t need to be crafty at all to “decorate” the cards because you simply glue the decorations onto the cards. Invest in a few thin line colored markers for writing your greetings.

8. Don’t underestimate the impact of e-cards, especially among young people. With the wide variety of sites and cards available today, there is truly something for everyone—everyone who has computer access, of course. See some easy-to-use sites below.

Resources

[yesican557]

on 1/10/2009 Wonderful, creative options! Thank you.