I usually go to the card store just a couple of times a year with a list of cards to purchase. I have a Longaberger greeting card basket with monthly dividers. The dividers have lines on the front by day of the month to list birthdays, anniversarys, etc. I place the appropriate cards behind the month divider and keep the current month (with cards) in the front. When that month is over the divider goes to the back of the basket.

I keep "miscellaneous" cards in the very back of the basket (congratulations, get well, general birthday & anniversary, etc.). If I find several "perfect" cards for a person I just buy them and then I'm already set for the next year too.

I just have a box (I think it is supposed to be a storage box for CD's?) that I put all of my cards in. Could you make some type of symbol next to the birthday in your planner which would tell you that you already have a card? Then if you have a place to put your cards, you could just go to that "box" when it is time to mail and find the card you purchased...

Just one quick thought!
nay nay

because, I rarely buy them ahead of time.
-----------------------------------
"I think the surest sign that there is intelligent life out there in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us." (Calvin and Hobbes/Bill Waterson)

I keep a list, by month, of special days in my planner. But I actually organize the cards in a greeting card organizer box I got as a free premium from Hallmark a couple of years ago. It has monthly dividers and dividers by occasion.

I buy cards 2-3 times per year when I have enough Hallmark rebates accumulated (it pays to sign up with them!). I put the new stash behind the appropriate occasion tabs.

As part of my monthly review, I look through my card organizer and pick out all the cards I'll need for that month's birthdays/anniversaries. I make them out all at once for the month, then make a note when to mail each in my planner.

My card organiser is just an old rectangular biscuit tin (or cookie tin as you'd call it in the US).

I like to give quirky art cards and silly cards with fun pictures as I like to write the messages myself. So I buy the cards whenever I see them.

The cards get dropped into the tin and live there until I give them to the person I bought them for or I find someone perfect for the card. ;)

I also keep three or four cards at work in case a birthday or celebration sneaks up on me.

I have a concertina file with 12 sections labeled with the months of the year. When i buy a card for someone i put it into the section for the month of their birthday. Currently i rely on remembering i have already bought the card hence i frequently end up with 2 cards for people! So i love the idea of placing a symbol or suchlike by their birthday in my diary so i know i've already bought it. would also work fab with presents already bought i have a box full of gifts which i forgot i've bought or who i've bought them for!

I use a small accordian file and categorize my greeting cards by topic (birthday, sympathy, get well, etc.).

I stock up on greeting cards a couple times a year when I visit the Paper Plus outlet store in Vacaville, CA. It's the outlet for Papyrus shops. Depending on the sale, the cards are either 4 for $1 or $1 each. Either way, it's a bargain compared to what they cost in the regular stores.

Current catalog has a card keeper box that comes with dividers. You can also order the refill packages of the dividers without having to order the box itself. You can order it online or by calling them. I love mine and keep it well stocked with all sorts of cards and thank you notes that I find on sale. I also ordered the refill dividers and used them to make a place for bills, receipts and stamps in a box I had lying around the house.

Maybe you can tell how disorganized I am becuase I don't buy anything ahead of time, I've wanted to, but somedays all I can do is

1. not forget to pick someone up and/or
2. one square hot meal on the table

that said, I'm not a basket person (texture), but I like those silky feeling zipped bottom containers cheap from ikea. keep pre purchased cards by category - buy ones you love, and keep a supply on hand maybe, and love the symbol or sticker on your planner, maybe one week ahead of time? see, I can plan conceptually, but not pull it off LOL.

I've been running manila folders through my printer lately, cutting the flap off to make it fit, or use heavy cardstock doing the same, you could make indexes then, or use those

scrappacks at JoAnns to make decorative cateogries, I used those to make recipie dividers, color coding each divider by food group - salad was on greenish paper, breads on brown, etc.

the biggest thing I'd suggest is to understand which you'd buy ahead of time, probably happy ones like birthday etc...

had to buy a sympathy card this weekend, and I couldn't have planned it --- they are so personal, this was an unexpected death, so I just found a good one at the grocery store.

just as important is having addys and stamps available also I think.