Saving Money on Holiday Cards

We've just gotten our first couple of holiday cards in the mail and I really look forward to getting them each year. It's a special treat to go through the mail and see the cards with cute kid pictures and warm holiday greetings from friends and family. Every year, it's a project to find the right card and picture to go along with it. Some years, the pressure to take the perfect holiday photo has resulted in at least one of us in tears. This year, I decided to forgo the drama and use a candid photo of Alex from this summer that I felt captured his personality.

After finding the photo, the next step is to find the card to go with it. The good news is that the number of places available to order printed cards makes it easy to get them for a good price. I usually go to Vistaprint first to look at what they have to offer for cards. I first heard about Vistaprint back in 2004 when I was planning my wedding. The women on the wedding planning message board that I frequented raved about Vistaprint for their must have Save the Date cards. Vistaprint frequently offers free business cards that would also work for the Save the Dates. Back then, their design choices were limited. Today, they offer a lot of great designs. Right now, they are offering six free holiday gifts which include ten free holiday cards and a free photo calendar.

This year, I looked at Vistaprint and saw a few possibilities. The price for the card that I liked was $15 for 50 cards. Pretty good deal. Then, I got an email from Shutterfly offering a $20 credit on holiday cards. I was able to combine that with a 20% off coupon code making the card that I liked also $15 for 50 cards. When I logged into my account at Shutterfly, I saw that I have a $15 credit that interestingly does not expire until 2109. Since this credit was less than the $20 credit I was emailed and the expiration date will outlive me, I used the emailed $20 offer. Even thought the price was the same, I went with the Shutterfly cards because they had one design that I liked slightly more.

Another printed card site to check out is Snapfish. When you find a card design at one of these sites that you like, Google the site's name and "coupon code" to get the best possible discount on your cards. If you are creative and have photo editing software, you can also save money buy adding your holiday message to a 4x6 photo and ordering low cost prints from CVS, Walgreens, or Target. There are so many possibilities for your holiday cards. Enjoy those holiday cards and cute pictures as they start filling up your mailbox.