Should You Send an E-Card or a Paper Card This Holiday Season?

This is the time of year when people are thinking about all of those holiday cards that need to be sent out or that they will start receiving very soon. I, personally, love mailing out holiday cards. It's one of my favorite holiday past times. In this age of technology and hurried schedules are people more likely to send an e-card instead of taking the time to actually send a real traditional paper card for the holidays? What are the advantages and disadvantages to either type of holiday card?

An e-card is a virtual card that is emailed to your recipient or recipients of choice. There are numerous e-cards for any and all occassions just like if you were to go to a store like Hallmark and browse threw their selection of paper cards. With so many e-card websites out there offering free e-cards it can be very easy to find something just right for the occassion that you are looking for. Be it Christmas, a birthday, Easter, New Year's or any other occassion you can think of, there will always be an e-card right at your fingertips.

Some people like e-cards for how easy that they are to give. All you have to do is click through a website filled with a variety of e-cards for any and all occassions until you find just the right one. Then you fill in information like the recipients name, email address and a personal message of your choice and then click the send button. Sure this seems like a super easy way to send someone a nice little card. But should you send that e-card or opt for the more traditional paper cards?

Some people think that an e-card is just for someone who takes the impersonal and easy route. But that's not always true if the sender includes a well thought out and meaningful message with the e-card that they choose to send. You wouldn't want to send you sixty year old Aunt an e-card about male escorts. Well, not unless she's into that kind of humor. Always make sure those e-cards are appropriate for the person you intend to send them too, not just funny to you. If you are an e-card recipient and you feel that you must have an actual paper card then you always have access to your computer's PRINT feature. Sure it's not the same but it's the thought that counts, right?

Many enviromentalists actually love e-cards. E-cards reduce the amount of wasted paper used every year. Therefore, e-cards help keep your environment cleaner for everyone and everything on the planet.

Paper cards.... Well, I adore sending the traditional paper cards. There's just something about sending a beloved friend or family member a personally handwritten holiday card. Plus for the older family members who don't have internet or just don't get a lot of mail, a paper card is definitely the right thing for them.

Sending paper cards gives the holiday season a sort of charm and reminiscent feeling for me. It reminds me of simpler times when everyone mailed letters and cards instead of always sending emails and e-cards. Paper cards feel more personal since the person sending it has to physically touch, hold, write in, address and put it into the mail themselves. It's like they care enough to do some sort of physical labor. Of course it's not really labor, it's just a card, but it feels like that sometimes.

Right at this moment I have almost fifty paper cards, ready to be mailed out, sitting on my desk. I have, personally, written little notes in each and every card, addressed them all and am just waiting on my family holiday pictures to arrive so that I can add them to the cards and mail them out. I know that each and every person that will receive a card from me will enjoy the thought I have put into my cards just as I will greatly appreciate all of the cards that I have and will be receiving during this holiday season.

Some people may be saying, "But paper cards are so expensive. Especially if I have a lot of people to send to.". Well, yes that is a major advantage for the e-cards. You can find free e-cards all over the vast internet and if your money is stretched as far as it can possibly be than an e-card is your perfect choice to share the holidays with family and friends. If you would prefer to send paper cards then why not just go to your local dollar store or Walmart and get a cheap box of holiday cards for around $2 a box. You do not have to spend a fortune on cards at the more expensive stores just to find nice holiday cards. You could even print out your own cards if you wanted to. I like to stock up on those cheaper boxes of holiday cards every year at the after Christmas sales. It definitely helps when you can get boxes of 30 cards for around $0.50 a box.

In closing, when trying to decide if you should send an e-card or a traditional paper card consider the person that you are sending it to, the cost involved, whether or not you want your card to have your personal touch to it and how many cards you actually have to send. It's easy to get carried away during the holidays and want to send a card to every single person you know, have known and would like to know better. But that can add up quickly if you are going for the paper cards.

Have a happy holidays and I hope you find exactly the right type fo holiday card for your needs.