This year we added a little boy to our family, so I convinced my husband it was finally time to send out cards. But once I sat down and made a list of people to send them to, calculated in the cost of cards (which ranged from $0.30-1.50 per card), envelopes, and postage (on top of all the other Christmas expenses), it was suddenly getting a little pricey.
So, of course, I went looking for a deal.
After a quick search, I discovered that Winkflash.com was giving away 50 free 4x6 prints (with $0.99 shipping) when you sign up. Then while purchasing ink cartridges at Office Max, I found 50 envelopes for 4x6 cards on sale for $5. I asked my friend if she would take a few family shots of us (which she did for free!), and then I put a little holiday pattern and note on the photo in Photoshop. And for a whopping $5.99 (plus postage), I have holiday cards!
This is not the one we're sending out -- I just whipped this one up as an example. Adding a festive border and some verbiage does not matter when ordering your free 50 prints as long as it's 4x6 and saved as one file, able to be uploaded to Winkflash's site just like a normal photo.
So even if you're cutting back this year, you can still send out holiday cards and not have to worry that it's a big expense.
6 comments:
We did Christmas cards last year, but after having sent out baby announcements just a few months ago, we're skipping them this year.
It's also harder to justify the cost and effort for me when nearly everyone we would send a card to knows what is going on in our lives via email or facebook or blogs. I still think it's a nice tradition, but it certainly doesn't serve the same "keeping in touch" function that I think it used to.
I bought cheap Christmas cards a couple years ago at a post-Christmas sale, but I haven't even used them because I've always been able to find sites that offer 50 free photo cards around the holidays (actual cards!). However, this year we bought a camera from Costco for Christmas and it came with a coupon for 100 free prints, so I think I'll use that to print family photos and I'll finally tuck them into those cards that have been sitting around.
When I got married two years ago, I calculated the costs of sending Christmas cards/letters and didn't want to set myself up for a huge expense every year thereafter. So...I developed an email newsletter pdf file that includes a summary of our year along with several photos, all sewn together with holiday graphics. Since most of our family frequently reads email, it was a nice "green" way to go for the holidays. The few people who do not stay in touch electronically receive a printed and mailed version. While it's not quite the same as hanging a real photo on the fridge, we manage to save money, help the environment, and stay in touch with one click. Our family members have responded very positively and we plan to do it for many years to come!
Thank you thank you!!!
We usually order our photo cards through Costco. They are $14.99 for 50 which includes the envelopes. Right now they have a coupon (get in mail or at your costco store) for $5 off and it includes 4 calendars. So, 50 cards, envelopes and 4 calendars for $9.99.
It's strange and concerning to me your husband felt weird about the two of you sending out Christmas Cards, when it was "just the two of you". Yikes. Super cute picture though and thanks for the info.
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