Gifts

Greeting cards can be a great way to cheer someone up or to acknowledge someone’s special event.  You don’t need to spend a lot of money on them for them to be meaningful.  I have found a lot of great cards at a local dollar store.  When I compared them with the more expensive card shops I found they are just as nice and they only cost $1.00.  The only down side is that some dollar stores have limited selections and seem to order the same ones year after year.  So, it doesn’t hurt to check out different dollar stores once in a while to get more variety.  Larger dollar stores often carry a lot more varieties including ones that look homemade and can be used for any occasion.

Especially around holidays, you can often purchase a whole box of cards rather than paying for them individually.  The best time to buy them is right after the holiday has passed for the following year as you can usually get them for 50% off or possibly even more depending on how quickly stores want to get rid of their inventory.  Although buying boxed cards is often cheaper, that’s not always the case, so be sure to compare prices.

If you’re creative and have some spare time, making homemade greeting cards can also be fun.  Cut pictures and letters from magazines or cards you’ve received in the past to decorate your card.  Stickers also work great for this.

You may think I am being a real tightwad when I am writing about trying to save money on something as small as greeting cards.  But my thought is if I can buy something of the same quality for $4.00 or $1.00 I am going to go for the $1.00 item every time.  Why pay 4 times as much for the same thing?  It just doesn’t make any financial sense.  Another option is to send free e-cards to your friends that you know use email frequently. They can be a lot of fun and they are free.