If you shop at Target or any other stores that have the promotional "get a gift card with purchase of this item", save your gift cards (someplace you won't forget or lose them, like I tend to do) until the amount builds enough for you to buy a big item - preferably around the holidays.
A friend of mine shops at the Target sales frequently. Quite often they have a sale where you get a $5 gift card for buying an item. Two years ago she started saving her gift cards in January. By December, she had enough saved to get her family an xBox 360 for less than $30 out of pocket! They never would have been able to afford one any other way! I thought this was a great idea, so I've been saving my own gift cards, instead of using them on my next purchase!
By Judy = Oklahoma from Oklahoma
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Be very careful of the fine print. Some cards have an expiration date and others take a fee every month.
There are online sites that give you cash for your gift cards if you do not want them. of course they don't give you 100% of the face value.
I really hate gift cards; give me cash any day.
daiquiri - I understand perfectly what you mean, when they first came out, I was burned a couple of times by those gift cards that expire or charge you fees! I got my mom a $20 visa gift card for Christmas one year & by the time she remembered about it, there was no balance; it'd all been taken out in fees! What I'm talking about is a bit different though.
Also, if you have store brand gift cards that have expiration dates on them, be sure to ask the store about their policy before you throw them away - some stores accept expired gift cards/coupons, as long as it is their store card & not a generic visa-type card.
If you shop at Target, they always have things on sale that will get you a Target gift card with the purchase, most of the time it's a $5 card, sometimes it's more (I've seen $20 cards for buying something like an xbox). Target gift cards never expire, you can save them & use them when you want.
Ace Hardware also gives out $5 store gift cards. Sometimes you see them in magazines or mailers, but if you sign up with the store, they mail them to you occasionally & you can also earn them with purchases. These do have an expiration date on them & I'd thrown several away, when the store clerk happened to mention one day that they accept their gift cards even if they're expired & you can save all the cards for a single purchase! Aagghh- I'd just thrown about $25 worth of cards away!
There's a store near my mom's who puts discounts for future purchases on the back of their receipt, these have an expiration date too, but the still accept them. My store does that too, but they don't accept them expired.
There are a couple of other stores near me that give gift cards/coupons with purchases (that don't expire), but I don't remember what they are because I don't shop there.
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