Guest Post : 3 Frugal Ways to Store and Make Your Photographs Timeless

Today on The Phantom Paragrapher, we have a Guest Post written from Kate Sorenson of Coupon Cravings.

3 Frugal Ways to Store and Make Your Photographs Timeless

Great memories are priceless, and your photographs document those memories for you. Photos are precious to most people for just this reason. They can remind you of a time forgotten, and allow you to share the past with those who weren’t there, like your children. 

Of course, you want to keep your photographs safe, and have ways to display them that will bring enjoyment to those fortunate enough to view them. But with all the digital photographs you take, printing them can become pricey and storing those files can be difficult. You need a cost-effective way to take care of your photos. Here are three ideas for storing and sharing your timeless treasures.

1.              Create a photo book online for yourself or your loved ones. Many people already know about creating printed photo books with digital photos. Sites like Apple iPhoto have been doing this for a long time. It makes a great gift or keepsake for your family. However, these photo books typically cost somewhere between $20 and $30. Luckily, it’s easy to find deals for print companies like Snapfish, on sites like CouponCravings.com, which can help you save up to 25% on photo books. TechCrunch.com also reveals an alternative site that makes them for significantly less. A UK-based company called HotPrints is making high quality photo books for around $3, plus shipping, which is under a dollar. That’s an incredible value!

2.              Store photos on CDs or DVDs. According to PCWorld.com, CDs can hold a lot of data, up to 700 MB, and DVDs can hold even more, 4.7 GB of files. Rather than spend a lot of money on an external hard drive, you can make a much smaller investment in a set of blank DVDs that will hold all of your memories for you. Just label them with dates or event names to ensure you’ll know where to find specific photos, and store them on a bookshelf or in a file drawer. This is an excellent way to take care of your photos without spending a lot of money.

3.              Store photos on several online services. Many people store their photos on Facebook, which is completely free. But to be safe you’ll want to back them up by storing your photos in more than one location. ReadWriteWeb.com explains that there are tools, like Pixelpipe, that make it easy to upload photos to multiple sites. Pixelpipe can send your photos to over 60 social networks, blogs, and photo/video sites. It can be very reassuring knowing you have a backup plan if anything should happen to one of these sites.

While you can’t put a price on your memories, there can still be a lot of costs involved in storing and displaying your photos. When you contemplate how to best take care of the images that mean so much to you, consider these money-saving ideas.