I have so, so many cute stickers, but I feel most people want to read on cards and stickers take up precious space. I’m torn, with wanting to share cute stickers and wanting to write something interesting. Sometimes I just draw a picture on the card. It’s hard to find new and interesting things to write. I don’t want to send the same story to everyone. They can read that on my profile.
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I have a lot, read a lot, of stickers. I put one or more on every card I send. At least my name stickers with my name on it.
I have sheets with very small stickers that are perfect for postcards.
I usually use stickers and washi tape on the majority of the cards I send off, sometimes I do a bit more and really decorate it according to a theme. But I try to also write as much as possible. I have several different pens that I can use that all have different ink thicknesses which helps when I am trying to cram as much info as possible onto a card 
Maybe check out this topic to get an idea of how you can decorate your cards and still keep them practical 
@Kitxel & everyone else in this thread: Thank you all so much, this conversation was an eye opener!
I joined 4 months ago and now tried to recreate the money I spent in an Excel Sheet and omg… I will now try to use up the stamps and cards I have and NOT buying new ones, because with a wedding ahead of me… I sure need every cent in my bank account…
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Congratulations! I hope all the best to you and your budget!! Happy happy Postcrossing! 
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Great topic! I’m a brand new PC newbie and have been contemplating this fascinating predicament. I’ve been trying hard to resist temptation and not send more cards out while I am very patiently still waiting to receive my first one.
Was thinking how I could pace myself so that I won’t one day end up being overwhelmed or feeling like it is a chore. I want it to stay fun, exciting & enjoyable.
To try pre-pace myself I estimated how much time I could dedicate and how much the cost would be per month & year.
It also helped that I received the invoice for my latest online card purchase with the Australian dollar exchange rate showing - eeeck!! they have turned out to be expensive cards indeed 
(ok, so maybe I actually deliberately didn’t calculate the exchange rate - because I just HAD to have these cards!..heh heh)
I’ve already purchased over 60 cards (don’t know how that happened?! 
) then of course cost of stamps annnd… now I have discovered washi tape - oh noooo!
So maybe shock could be a good strategy? 
Now that I know how much I’ve already spent $, I might chill for a bit….maybe 
I’ve also gotten the impression generally people accept it’s normal to play sport, go to the gym, etc. and that these cost money. You need to pay membership/class fees, buy specific clothes, shoes, replace equipment etc. and yet somehow people seem shocked (including myself - ha ha) at how much I might spend on postcards & postage.
…So, I’ve decided I am giving myself permission to invest in a hobby I thoroughly enjoy, brings joy to others and accept maybe it’s just my destiny to live in this duality of “eeeeck” and " Hurray for postcards!"
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If I may suggest, Australia Post issues various prepaid postcards and maxicards (which have worldwide postage on them already) which you can look into.
Might be cheaper in the long run.
Check out your Aust Post site, or maybe your local post office if it’s convenient
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Thanks @Seracker 
Have seen some of these & will certainly use. They really just need to stop making such pretty & enticing postcards on overseas websites.
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Personally I would love to see some local maxicards issued by the post office. Or even just stamp cards (like the British PHQs)
Or you could consider blocking the sites off 
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Hi everyone, great topic! I only joined in June and despite much enthusiastic posting am still only at 6 cards available to send at a time… But, I love stationary so already had a fair few cards and in the meantine while I have been twiddling my card-writing fingers they’ve accidentally sneaked about and clicked on a fair few cards online. So, I took them out and about but there are gift shops everywhere with lovely views of where I’ve just visited and I somehow leave with them…
I tend to get very involved in my hobbies and I have a lot of sort of empty time as I am a carer for one of my children and so don’t have a mind-consuming job. I rarely go to theatres, cinemas, pubs or eat out, try to limit how many coffees I buy, usually buy books and clothes second-hand, use the library, so I feel to some extent I can indulge my hobby but I am pretty sure that things will calm down after a while. It’s all new at the moment so very exciting. Plus, as I am allowed to send more cards I will be able to carry out that part of the hobby more satisfyingly. I like to receive cards but I enjoy picking them and sending them out even more!
Since the mail prices went up again this year it costs £2.20 to send any postcard to anywhere in the world from the UK, which is quite steep. As I read somewhere in the reportage: “Bad news for Postcrossers.”
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Yes, I think this is a great idea.
I am going to be going away for a couple of weeks next Saturday and I have already set my status to travelling. I’m not due to receive any more cards at the moment and any sending slots that are freed up to send can be held onto so I can send from my holiday destination. This is in the UK so stamps will still be £2.20. 
I have selected the option that I am happy to postcross within the UK as I don’t mind sending and receiving locally and this would also reduce stamp costs but the luck of the draw means I haven’t been given a UK address yet.
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Wow. That really puts it in perspective. 
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I wonder when things will calm down for me? Still excited by this wonderful project nearly 4 years in and more than 1,300 official postcards sent.
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AusPost maxicards are wonderful!
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Most addressses I draw are in Europe, and between sending to Europe and sending to Italy it’s just 5 cent more, so there isn’t much of a difference there. It’s outside of Europe that the cost increases a lot, E1.25 for Italy, E1.30 for Europe, E2.45 Asia and America, E3.25 to Oceania. So I usually send until I finish stamps, and I don’t buy many for Asia and America or Oceania…
Also, even if I send all cards at once, it will be a few weeks before I start having slots free, so anyway, that’s a forced pause by sending times in my country.
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How lovely. To to be honest, mail costs will force me to be a bit sensible but in many ways Im wondering why it’s taken me so long to start this hobby which seems so perfect for me and although I’m trying to keep it in perspective, I love it a lot and can see myself in your place in four years! I’m glad it has brought you so much joy. 
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I buy stamps in bulk. You see, we have two kinds of stamps here, the regular ones you can pick up anywhere and the limited sets which are the same price but you have to either be really lucky with your post office or else order them direct and to make shipping worth it I buy about £50 worth of stamps at a time and they live in my pretty stamp box. They get used eventually as I’m an avid penpal writer and as stamps retain their face value I can still technically use Victorian stamps, they have no expiry date. So I don’t worry about it, curating my stamp collection is as much a hobby as using it and since I’m almost out of King Arthur stamps I should look at getting another set…
As for postcards… I limit myself to only buying really gorgeous ones or unique ones ahead of time. They also have a box and I generally only have about ten in stock at a time. It works for me though as I don’t have to go out looking for the right postcard when I need it, I have some really lovely ones that I can just send out when I want to.
This way when I get a letter or an address or a swap, I can reply in due time rather than try and get out to buy what I need first.
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It’s interesting to see how different people enjoy making the project their own, as it were, and work for them. I also like to have a stock of cards from which to try to select just the right one…
But, I can’t allow myself to get into stamps properly as well, or washi tape, although I do have a lot of stickers. I don’t trust myself. I also have pen friends with whom I keep up a more sustained relationship and I love sending them cards and so on, too. I love the connection of PC rather than collecting cards for myself but I do love stationary and collecting cards to send…
It’s great we are all different but in many ways so similar & I think that being reminded of that has been one of the things I have most enjoyed from this so far. A person writing to me from Canada or China is so far away, maybe speaks a different language, is immersed in a different culture but is just another human with similar hopes and worries and a similar love of Postcards and reaching out. 
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If I used regular stamps I’d probably just keep one book of 6 2nd class stamps and buy international postage when I go to send, but I love the limited stamps! They’re so beautiful! And they’re only available for a short time in specific denominations. I mean… I never know when I’m going to need a Star Trek stamp! And if no one ever appreciates them… I have Star Trek stamps! 
For washing tape I have this drawer and ONLY this drawer! If the tape does not fit in this drawer I am not allowed to buy it. I found some tapes my daughter had “borrowed” earlier and now it’s really full! But there are some lovely tapes out there and I use them in my journal as well as letter writing, so it’s really easy for me to overload on those so the one drawer rule is strict. I have a similar strict rule for sealing wax
I’ve been writing my penpals for 26 years so this is what works best for me.
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