I know you’ve been there. You’re running out the door to yet another child’s birthday party, and you realize that you forgot to buy a greeting card. How will Johnny know that this re-gifted set of play-doh is from you without a card? You zip over to CVS, grab the first kid-looking birthday card you see and take it to the cashier.
Cashier: “That will be $5.89.”
You don’t want to give in to this highway robbery, but what choice do you have now? You leave CVS $6 poorer for a lame t-rex card card that says, “Hope your birthday is dino-mite!” Never again, you vow. Next time will be different!
The first step in gaining your greeting card independence is finding reasonably priced cards. They do exist! TJMaxx and Marshalls have the best selection of high-quality, unique cards for cheap. Most cards are $1.99 (but sometimes as low as $.99), and I have never seen one above $3. You will find everything from birthday to sympathy to wedding to baby shower, and they stock the current holiday cards as well.
The cards are typically found on that wall of temptation in the checkout line. Anyone who has shopped at TJMaxx or Marshalls has been sucked in by that wall. You’re suddenly convinced that, hey you know what, I actually do need a 1lb bag of gourmet gummy bears and a bedazzled pill box! Resist those temptations and instead focus your time in line on that card display area. You’ll be amazed by the quality and variety they offer, and even more delighted when you turn each one around and check the price tag.
Make sure you stock up. Cards don’t have an expiration date or quantity limit. There’s no need to ration here. The whole idea is to eliminate this from your future to-do list, and that can only be achieved with a stockpile. Think about what you most often need greeting cards for and buy the most in that category–Birthday? Thank you? Hopefully not sympathy. If you think one particular card is really adorable or hilarious, get multiple of that card! Your aunt won’t know you also gave that one to your best friend. She probably won’t realize if you give it to her two years in a row either. I personally stock up the most on kid birthday cards, followed by adult birthday cards. I then have about one or two cards in each of the other categories.
Of course, if you don’t have a TJMaxx or Marshalls near you, then there are plenty of other options for low-priced cards. The dollar store and Amazon also have some decent options, and most stores that carry greeting cards have a .99¢ section as well. Those often tend to be a “you get what you pay for” quality, though.
The final step in becoming a greeting card independent woman (?All the ladies who truly feel me, throw your hands up at me?), is to properly organize and store your greeting cards. Sure, you could just throw them all in a drawer or shoebox haphazardly, but that will not be helpful when you are racing to leave for Johnny’s party. I personally own and recommend this box (affiliate link), which is both functional and cute. It comes with 12 pre-printed dividers, and a little “dates to remember” notebook. The dividers are double-sided, depending on how you plan to organize your card box. One side of the cards has the months of the year, and the other side has various categories such as “birthday”, “get well”, and “wedding”. I use the category side of the dividers.
I hope this post inspires you to say “no more” to falling victim of the overpriced greeting card scam, and take back those wasted dollars and time. If so, feel free to send me a thank you from your new stockpile. Happing card hunting!
Kristy