Holiday cards can be a big expense, especially if you have a large address book or a lot of business contacts. With the price of postage going up and up every single year, this tradition of Christmas cheer is getting pricier and pricier. So what are some ways you can save your pennies while still making sure your family and friends know they’re thought of this Christmas season? Since you can’t really get a discount on letter-rate postage, it’s best to try to reduce costs of the cards themselves.
The cheapest method to consider is sending an electronic card instead of a printed card. If you have e-mail addresses for everyone on your Christmas card list, you can eliminate sending out the regular cards entirely. But you’ll want to make sure that your card is sent from a reputable web site, such as Hallmark.com, especially with all of the viruses out there parading around as greeting cards in your inbox. (A good rule of thumb to remember is that an e-card should never come as an attachment.) E-cards are also a much “greener” way to spread your Christmas cheer.
If you still have some family and friends lagging behind the technological wave of the future, you can mix sending e-cards to those who will appreciate them and traditional cards to those who prefer “snail mail” correspondence.
Or, if you’re a stickler for tradition and don’t want to give up your physical Christmas cards, there are still some good ways to save. The best tip I can give is to buy your Christmas cards at the end of the season the year before. I usually buy a few boxes of card at 75-80% off during the weeks after Christmas. (I actually found some very nice ones with glitter and embossing for just $1 a box at Carlton Cards back in January.) If you don’t have any cards stockpiled from last winter, you can get a good deal by purchasing boxed Christmas cards at discount stores. Chances are, no one is going to care whether your box of cards cost $3 at Wal-mart or $10 at Hallmark. Party supply stores are another excellent source for cheap, boxed Christmas cards.
What are your Christmas card plans this year? Will you be sending as many cards as you did last year? Sending electronic cards instead?