I get several and I leave them in the middle compartment in my car. And every so often when I'm feeling super cheap I'll check to see if I have a GC for whatever place I'm about to go into. I'm usually happy to find that I have $25 or even $50 (sometimes even 2 GCs to the same place totaling upwards of $100) to spend which either gets me all my shit for free or at least gives me a nice buffer at a place like Best Buy if I'm looking to buy a relatively expensive electronic device or something.
Then food GCs are always good to find.
Long story short I probably keep 80% of my gift cards for over 2 years mostly because I often forget to check for them. And it creates a nice surprise when I realize that OH SHIT I do have $100 to this place. Haha.
3. "on average 1-2 years..." In response to Reply # 0 Mon Jan-05-15 10:04 AM by ndibs
i just spent one that was 1-2 years old to half price books on a book for the gift card giver this christmas. problem is i never go to west omaha (suburbville) so i knew it would be a long time before i made it out there again. so i used it up on someone else. another from the movies waas 2 years. i either went to different theatres or went on dates that paid. i have $50-60 to sur la table and i think i'll use it soon bc i actually asked for that and have some thigns in mind. but i have a mini gift card wallet i have so many.
4. "usually immediately unless its for some place like Macys or Tj Maxx " In response to Reply # 0
like I got this past Christmas. I ended up selling the Macys gift card. I went to like 3 or 4 different Macys and couldnt find shit. That place is almost as bad as Kohl's.