I always start about 2-3 weeks before my birthday/anniversary/christmas and tell DH 'don't forget to buy your wife a card'! :lol: Call me selfish, but I figure the effort of going to the store, picking out a card and paying for it is part of the gift. Lately, neither of us need anything that we can't buy during the year, so the card is the gift.
He's pretty good when he buys me something. Although I did make him take back to KMart the diamond earrings he bought there....