Managing Stacks of Gift Cards

Over the last couple of years, I have amassed quite the collection of gift cards. Our country seems to be in love with this stupid things, but they drive me up the wall. Right now I have gift cards for Walgreens (2), Office Depot, Starbucks (7), Blockbuster (2), among others, so many that I don’t carry them around with me all the time because there isn’t room in the wallet for all of them, and I’m a guy so it isn’t like I can just throw them into my purse or something.

I decided to start gathering all of my gift cards into a separate wallet which I carry in the center console in my truck. That way I always have the things with me when I’m out shopping and can actually use them.

I’m having to be a bit creative with some of these, as they aren’t stores I normally frequent. I have two Blockbuster cards, and while I use their online service they don’t take gift cards for their online service and on principle I won’t pay $4.29 to rent a movie. Luckily several of my recent mailers from Blockbuster Online had a coupon for a $0.99 2-liter of Coke. Not an incredible deal, but still a good price for something I use anyway, and I get to use up these gift cards before they expire.

I also have a ton of Starbucks gift cards, courtesy of my employer. Most of the other people in my office are such coffee fiends they remind me of Hammy the Squirrel from Over the Hedge, so Starbucks cards are a great way to get the attention of people in the office for whatever new program they are trying to promote.

However, I am a Mormon, so for me coffee is a big no-no. I’m still trying to figure out what to do with them. I think they sell prepackaged sandwiches and sodas now, so maybe I start using them for that. Or maybe they get re-gifted?