If you're anything like me, you are given gift cards occasionally for birthdays, Christmas, or showers (notice I buy clothes with them frequently??). And, if you're anything like me, you occasionally get gift cards to places that you think, “when will I ever use this??“…so it sits and goes to waste. Problems, people. Problems.
Well, here's a simple solution that you might be able to use to be able to spend the gift money at the store you REALLY want to use it at:
Use gift cards to buy other gift cards!
Here's my story…
Did you notice my recent, super-sexy Instagram pic from BlogHer? You know the one…
Yes, this one (mentioned here). Of me being fierce at The Bean in Chicago. (Just for the record, while I was physically in Chicago, the photo background was actually from a green screen. Close enough though, right?)
Well, thanks to the votes of you SUPER DUPER AMAZING IG FOLLOWERS, this pic won me a $500 Walgreens gift card!
When I found out I won, I…
First: Jumped up and down, doing a victory dance that you are lucky that you will probably never be able to see.
Second: Practiced my acceptance speech (just in case)
Third: Got really excited about being able to buy…a year supply…of….tampons?? Vitamins? Trail mix? What the heck do you buy $500 worth of at Walgreens?
Though I had MAJOR luck there in the toy department after Christmas, $500 is a lot of dinero for Walgreens. (Especially because in general I'm not too thrilled about their every-day prices. Walmart tends to do better, sorry to say.)
As my hubby and I perused the isles, I was stressing about what to buy. I didn't want to buy something that I already budget for, and didn't want to piddle it away on a bunch of little nothings. Then Bubba had a genius idea…
“Why don't you use the gift card to buy other gift cards??”
Then I saw it. Like a light straight from Heaven. Angels were singing as I came upon this beauty…
Like mana from Heaven. Gift cards galore. Anything you could ever want: TJ-Maxx, Old Navy, Amazon, Macy's, Barns & Noble, Best Buy, Kohl's…even Harley Davidson, for goodness sake!
I thought about buying a bunch of $25 gift cards to a variety of places, then settled on this beauty:
The queen of all gift cards. I used my $500 Walgreens gift card to buy a $500 Visa gift card. It's used like a Visa prepaid debit card, and is run like any other credit card – can be used anywhere. It cost me $5 to buy, so technically It's a $495 card, but I figure the $5 is worth the functionality.
I feel liberated! I can now spend my $500 at ANY store, on ANYTHING I want! The money will definitely be put to good use…
…to turn this absolutely hideous playroom/office wanna-be, into a beautiful, gorgeous, gender-neutral school room/office of my (and my hubby's) dreams.
Super smart my friend. I totally agree on the walgreens thing, I only shop their when its something amazing, can't believe my luck. Or I have run out of time and its the only thing open and near by. (which is more often then I would like to admit).
My recent post Once Upon a Jacket
What a great idea! I got a gift-card for a mall and will use it to get a gift-card from a certain store in that mall – a friend of mine loves that store and voila, I got a present for her. Congratulations on the $ 500-win!!!
If you return something and they give you the walgreens store card I wonder if it will work. I’ve never tried this before.
**** however I know if you have a price chopper market 32 card you can you it to buy any gift card you want lncluding using Mastercard. I worked for a company and around everyholiday he would give everybody 400 in grocery gift cards. Which is amazingly nice. But I was really young and didn’t buy food. So I figured out tge loop hole. But then he just gave me cash after that . He was the nice optometrist dr. Casey. Really nice guy. I wish I still worked for him. I left for a better paying job because when I asked for a raise after 3 years he gave me .15 cents.
Super smart my friend. I totally agree on the walgreens thing, I only shop their when its something amazing, can't believe my luck. Or I have run out of time and its the only thing open and near by. (which is more often then I would like to admit).
My recent post Once Upon a Jacket
What a great idea! I got a gift-card for a mall and will use it to get a gift-card from a certain store in that mall – a friend of mine loves that store and voila, I got a present for her. Congratulations on the $ 500-win!!!
Love this idea! I never would have thought of that!
My recent post Bracelet Stacking Tips
My Walgreens wouldn’t let me buy a visa prepaid with my giftcard! So frustrating having to buy $40 worth of stuff I will never ever use from there!
Oh no, that’s the worst! Maybe you could buy food or toiletries with it that you could use?!
If you return something and they give you the walgreens store card I wonder if it will work. I’ve never tried this before.
**** however I know if you have a price chopper market 32 card you can you it to buy any gift card you want lncluding using Mastercard. I worked for a company and around everyholiday he would give everybody 400 in grocery gift cards. Which is amazingly nice. But I was really young and didn’t buy food. So I figured out tge loop hole. But then he just gave me cash after that . He was the nice optometrist dr. Casey. Really nice guy. I wish I still worked for him. I left for a better paying job because when I asked for a raise after 3 years he gave me .15 cents.