ECARD – Page 26 – This blog is about free ecards and holidays

Turn a depressing, lonely Christmas into a cheerful celebration

Christmas is considered one of the most joyful times of the year. But did you know that it could also be one of the most depressing for some? Surprised?

Consider the fact that it marks the end of the current year – there’s less than a week to go – and many of us may not have accomplished our goals for the year. Then, there’s the not-so-light problem of the holiday pounds. Most of us tuck into rich food, sweets and snacks the last three months and by Christmas, we find that we are no closer to keeping our current resolution of losing weight! Throw in snow, Christmas traffic, crowded shopping malls, job cuts, expensive gifts and thinning wallets and what do you get? Not a very joyful holiday season. If your family lives far away, your friends are out of town and you end up spending Christmas alone or at work, it’s even worse. But wait! This post is not meant to make those of you who may already be dreading the holidays feel even more miserable. In fact, there is actually a way for you to feel good about this season even if you are not up to it.

And that is by sending free Christmas ecards from gotfreecards.com. Sending your friends, family and coworkers free ecards not only shows them that you care but also lightens up your mood. You will feel good that even though you may not be there with them, you did think about each other on Christmas. Besides, for every ecard you send, chances are you will receive ‘Thank you’ ecards which will also cheer you up. On top of it all, as you browse the ecards, you are sure to come across some funny ones that will crack you up or some heartfelt wishes that will move you and remind you of the true spirit of Christmas – that it is not about what you have or get but about what you give.

So cheer up and start picking out the perfect Christmas ecard for all the people you care about.

Money Saving Tips for the Holidays

Let’s face it. The economy stinks, and we’ve all seen our wallets and bank balances shrink over the past few months. This year, it’s important for us to focus on the essentials during the holidays, and to refrain from the excess that has become the norm for most Americans. Whether it’s Christmas or Chanukah, Kwaanza or New Year’s, here is a list of ideas to stay on budget and keep the season simple:

* Skip expensive store-bought cards! Gotfreecards.com has a card for every occasion, and they don’t charge a cent to send good wishes to friends and family. You will find an excellent selection of cards, ranging from humorous to sincere. Whatever your requirements for the perfect holiday card, you will be satisfied with our free christmas e-cards!

* Buy small, thoughtful gifts that send a caring message. While extravagant gift displays are nice, the best gifts are truly the ones that come from the heart. Purchase an inexpensive item and have it monogrammed for a personal touch. The purpose behind a gift is to show love and sincere appreciation toward the recipient. This can be achieved without spending large amounts of money.

* Make a budget and stick to it. Treat the holiday budget just as you would your household. Make a list of recipients, plan a gift for each person, set a ceiling on the amount you can spend and stay with it. Saving receipts will also keep you from overspending.

* Use your knack for baking or crafts to create a homemade gift. A plate of warm, home-baked chocolate chip cookies is often more appreciated than a gift card!

* Plan ahead. Often we spend more money when we wait too long to buy a present. Knowing in advance what you have in mind for each person on your gift list will keep you on your budget.

My final bit of advice is to appreciate your loved ones during the holidays. Remember that this season is about friendship and family, togetherness and love. Avoid thinking that an expensive present will replace your presence at holiday celebrations. Time is extremely valuable, and each moment you spend with your loved ones is more precious than anything else. Happy Holidays!

Christmas Over Budget

As the years go by, it seems our families and circles of friends only get larger. While this is great most of the time, when holidays roll around, and it’s time to start thinking about buying gifts, the headaches can be unbearable. One year, a couple of Christmases ago, I decided to buy gifts for every member of my family, and every friend I had. To save money, I bought everyone tacky little trinkets. Of course, when they opened their gifts on Christmas Day, everyone smiled and said how much they loved their gifts, but I could tell: they were thinking, Why the heck did he get me this? The end result? I wasted—yes, wasted—a lot of money.

The next year, I decided to just focus on my closest family members and friends. That meant I could afford to buy my brother the DVD set he wanted, and my parents absolutely loved the personally-engraved ‘family tree’ gift: a ceramic tree, fitted with photographs of each of their three children. And as for everyone I didn’t guy gifts for? I called them on the phone, each and every one of them, and told them how much they meant to me. They loved the gesture, and, in many ways, it was better than receiving gifts.

This year, I’m adding free ecards onto the list, along with thoughtful phone calls. The free christmas e-cards at gotfreecards.com are completely free, and the only time they take is the time I spend choosing just the right card. You should try it, too: it’s a great way to not only save money, but also to let everyone in your life know how much you truly care.

Christmas Tree Shopping

My family has a fake Christmas Tree. I am not a fan. It doesn’t smell good, it is prickly to touch, and each branch has to be fluffed and primped and twisted to make it look like a real tree. And then when it is time to pack it up in January, each branch has to be smoothed down and folded up, and there are like 500 of them. But our fake tree has its pluses too: it cost us barely nothing as we got it at an after Christmas sale 3 years ago, it can be put up whenever we want, it fits into a box that is easy to store, and it doesn’t shed.

Our kids’ pediatrician made us get it because she says it is safer for the little ones, and I appreciate that, but I still miss going out to get our tree.

I remember a season when we went Christmas Tree shopping, and spent hours looking for the perfect tree. The tree we always ended up with was nothing to write home about, but once we adorned it with lights, ornaments, and candy canes, it immediately became a part of our home, a part of our Christmas celebrations. It was perfect because it was the one we chose, even if it was bare on one side and had a family of squirrels living in it.

For now, our fake tree is the perfect tree for our family. Christmas Tree shopping is a tradition I will share with my kids when they are older. But today, I will send my husband the free Christmas ecard “Perfect Tree” as a little reminder of the tradition we used to share. What are your Christmas Tree traditions?

Christmas traditions bring cheer

Although Christmas celebrates the birth of Christ, even people of other faiths enjoy many of the Christmas traditions. Besides having religious significance for Christians, Christmas season also brings cheer and joy to almost all corners of the world irrespective of the faith. The lights, colors, music and festivities associated with Christmas have a way of lifting one’s spirits even if he belongs to a different faith. I, for one, love the Christmassy look that shops, malls and streets take on. I love to walk around my block, observing the lights on each house and taking note of what’s new this year. I like to visit different malls just to see the different ways Christmas trees are decorated. Although I belong to a different faith, I can relate to and appreciate the feelings that abound, around Christmas time. The spirit of giving, sharing, loving. Family members traveling long distances to be home for Christmas. Parents cutting back on expenses and tighten their budgets so they can keep their promises to their children on Christmas. Christmas brings out the generous streak in almost everybody. It’s not only about shopping for one’s family, but also about giving to the less fortunate. Helping just once a year may not be enough, but at least Christmas is one occasion that drives people to think about lending a hand. This is the perfect time to teach children about giving and helping the needy. Instead of asking Santa for gifts for themselves, why not encourage kids to become Santas for a few less fortunate kids? Even giving away their old toys is a good start. There is so much about Christmas that is universal. So, this Christmas, like every year, I will put up a tree, buy gifts for my friends and kids, watch mushy Christmas movies on TV, volunteer at the food bank and cook a special meal for my family. Oh, and I will definitely be sending out free Christmas ecards from gotfreecards.com to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Cost cutting tips for Christmas gifts

The plunging economy and job cuts have taken their toll on many families and parents are worried if they will be able to afford Christmas gifts for their children. Here are some money saving tips to bring you some holiday cheer without lightening your pocket book :

1. Makes gifts. Home made cookies, a scarf from an old silk shirt or bed linen, a bow tie from the sash of a dress, a bracelet from beads leftover from a craft project…can you see the possibilities? Chances are people will love these gifts because you took the time to make them. What’s more, since you are making them, you can personalize it too. Gifts do not have to be expensive. Just creative, thoughtful and useful.

2. Gifts don’t have to be things. They can be activities. When was the last time your family spent time together actually doing something? It could be as simple as a walk around your block, stopping to admire the decorations in each house. Or a picnic in a park. Or volunteering for your community. Or even organizing a Christmas play with the neighborhood kids. In today’s hectic lifestyle, TIME is the biggest gift.

3. Drawing names of family members written on pieces of paper. This way, each member of the family picks out one other member’s name and they only have to get one gift for that person. So everybody still receives a gift, and nobody has to blow his or her budget.

4. Kids could make coupons for services you can offer. They could be ‘Mow Lawn’, ‘Clean Dishes’, ‘Fold Laundry’ that could be redeemed at a later time. What better gift can a child give a parent?

5. Use old magazine covers, newspapers, paper grocery bags for wrapping. Encourage kids to personalize them with art or poems. These make unique, inexpensive and attractive gift wraps.

6. Send free ecards. No matter how far or near your loved ones live, there is one gift that everyone can afford and everyone appreciates – heartfelt wishes. Sending free ecards is a great way to wish your loved ones with a personal message. Adding a picture and voice to the ecard personalizes it further. Select free Christmas ecards from gotfreecards.com.

Christmas Shrink your to-do List

Well, the elections are finally over, and you know what that means: it’s time to get ready for Christmas!

It seems like we’ve gotten to a point in our society where the period of time between holidays is counted in shopping days, rather than calendar days. It’s easy to get lost, and feel weighed down, by all the stresses that preparing for the holidays entails. You have to buy gifts, you have to wrap them, you have spend gas money going back and forth from home to the mall. You have to order that special present online and hope it arrives by Christmas, and you have to hope you don’t go seriously, seriously over budget.

At gotfreecards.com, we’re doing our small part to make the holidays just a little less stressful. Now, instead of adding the buying, addressing and mailing out of holiday cards to your already-overbooked to-do list, you can check out our free e-cards. Our animated free christmas e-cards don’t require that you make a trip to the department store, and all you need to do is give us the e-mail address of whomever you want to send them to. It’s that easy!

Christmas Carols

It’s funny how we change, as we grow up.

I’ve always loved listening to Christmas music, and as a child, my favorites were the funny, slightly-zany Christmas songs, like “Grandma got run over by a Reindeer,” and, “All I want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth.” Then, of course, as I grew older, I started to more deeply appreciate the ‘serious’ Christmas songs, like “Silent Night” and “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.”

Now that I’m an adult, I find myself gravitating back toward those sillier songs of my youth. I think the reason why has a lot to do with the beauty of the Christmas holiday itself. Those funny songs remind me of a simpler youth, of the joy of just being around people I cared about, of how much better I could make my day just by smiling.

Christmas, if you think about it, is about the same things. Christmas is about taking joy in simple pleasures of life. It’s about getting together with those that we love. And it’s about smiling, and making other people smile.

So even though I’ll always count “Silent Night” as one of my favorite Christmas carols, songs like “Grandma got run over by a Reindeer” will also hold a special place in my heart—reminding me what the holiday is truly all about.

Chritmas Ecards

It seems that Christmas is always just around the corner, and you never seem to stop scrambling for gifts. But with each year, it gets harder and harder to be original—and to not be boring!

GotFreeCards.com is a great solution to normal holiday gift giving. With our free Ecards, you’ll be sending a gift that not only will make your friend or loved one smile and laugh, but it won’t cost you a dime! That’s because we only have free christmas ecards at gotfreecards.com Just head over to our website, and browse our extensive collection of Christmas ecards.

Plus, all of our cards are animated Ecards. This means that instead of just opening up a card to read a couple of sentences, your friend or loved one will be treated to a fully-animated card! And remember: it’s absolutely free. Just go to gotfreecards.com, find the card you like, and choose who you wish to send it to. It’s that easy!

Love at Thanksgiving

Each year in November, we begin to assess all the gifts for which we are most thankful. At dinner tables across the country, we extol the wonders of a fabulous feast, of our comfortable homes, our secure investments and savings accounts. We regale family and friends alike with stories of our successes, and we gloss over our failures.

Gotfreecards.com’s free e-card “Thankful for You” reminds us all that we also need to be mindful of and thankful for romantic love during this time of year. This card features a woman who has made a list of each thing in her life for which she is thankful. She slowly begins to cross off food, water, shelter, and savings account. Once each item is slashed, she writes one simple word: You.

“Thankful for You” is thoughtful and romantic in its simplicity. It brings to light the basic human need of connection. Too often we take those we love for granted, when a simple gesture, like an e-card, will easily remind them how much we care. “Thankful for You” finishes with the line that sums up the best sentiments brought on by Thanksgiving: You are the one thing I’m most thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving, my love. Send your love a special card this season, and remind them how precious they are to you!