Hi Friends!!!
I have received lot of messages from Post Crossers and PostCard United friends, asking me about "How to store the Post cards and stamps in a cost effective way" after seeing my huge collection of cards, covers and stamps. As a beginner myself I don't have exact answer, but here I would like to share my experience with you all. If you have any other better solutions, please share with me, I will publish it here so that others will also benefit.
I use the below A4 size transparent File sheet with 11 holes to store Post cards and covers. Group with few of my friends and buy it in bulk. No need to go for superior quality ones.
To organize the file sheets, we need a binder. I prefer 2 ring binder over 4 ring, which is easy to turn when we store more sheets. 4 ring binders often stuck and damages the sheet holes.
Then buy some plastic covers to keep the Post cards and post covers.
If the other side of the card is not important you can skip this plastic cover thing.
I use standard size, square one for cards and long ones for covers. For bigger/unusual size cards, I make my own by cutting and folding. I will discuss that later. In case you are using plastic covers to protect both sides, go for good quality ones because it will be in direct contact with valuable cards and covers, the oil and chemicals should not spoil them in long run.
I use A4 size one sided white papers (back side written/printed things won't be visible) to hold the cards and covers. This looks clean and if at all I have to share any information about the card or cover, I can write or print it on the paper for future reference. Moreover we can use both sides of the file sheet. If you just want to display and no information to be shared, you can use one sided calendar sheets, old magazine papers or flyers. Will look colourful.
Use 3M scotch tape to stick them on the paper, so that we can peel and take it to other place easily. Yes! we need reorganizing frequently.
This way I am keeping my collection in a well organized manner effectively, I hope. This is more cost effective than the Photo album, files or 2 divider sheets available in the market. Here we are not restricted to just 2 per page, you can store more one below the other. But don't pile them, in case of duplicates you will not be knowing how much you are having.
In the above page I have stored 4 cards. These are all for swap, so I just need the partial picture to figure out the card my partner is asking for.
And you can see, small portion of the paper I cut it out and used for some other purpose. We can reuse them to save money and environment instead of going for a fresh paper.
And we can store them in different orientations.
In the below page, the backing paper is not at all visible, so we can even go for any rough paper, the purpose is just to hold the the cards.
If you have any other alternate ways and need any help, feel free to reach out to me.
