Received a Gift Card for the Holidays?

Some people claim that a Gift Card is an impersonal and unthoughtful gift--I'm guessing these are the same people that are done holiday shopping by November 15th and have these impressive handmade name cards to mark everyone's place at the Holiday dinner table. Inspiring perhaps but not realistic for me--Gift Cards are a staple of Holiday giving--and the fact that I can conveniently get them while shopping for groceries brings a smile of relief to my day.  I must not be the only gift card buyer since the National Retail Federation estimated that the total gift card spending for the holidays will be over $24 billion.  Here are some tips if you were lucky enough to receive a Gift Card for the Holidays:

1) Spend it--chances are if you don't use it soon after getting it, you will lose it. By shopping right after the Holidays, you may get some great sales/bargains.
2) Know your rights--Gift Cards used to have expiration fees and other complicated terms that could make them challenging to use, but things have changed.  New Federal Trade Commission rules went into effect in August 2010 that say that a gift card can not expire for at least 5 years from the date it was purchased. You may face inactivity fees though if you don't use the card for a year--another reason to spend it quickly. See all the new rules at the FTC's website.
3) Treat the card as if it were cash--if you lose it, you may be out of luck or you may pay a fee to  replace it.
4) The Gift Card is only good if the store is still in business--again, back to Tip #1.
5) If you received a Gift Card for a restaurant, don't forget to tip you waiter/waitress on the full amount of the check, not the remaining amount once the Gift Card is deducted (can you tell I used to be in the restaurant business?)
6) Spend the full value--why leave $2 on it--you probably won't go back to use those $2.

Charitable Giving-Do Your Homework First!

If you are in a position to help a charity this Holiday season--choose it wisely. There are so many requests for help, some of which have no intention of actually helping the cause you want to support.  Never give your credit card or checking account information out to someone calling you on the phone asking you to support their charity. You have no proof of who is on the other end of that phone and what they are doing with your financial information. Instead, ask them to send you something in writing and check them out first. Check to see if your state requires charities to be registered by going to the National Association of State Charity Officials' website . If it does, check the information on that charity to see how much of its funds go to the actual charitable work and how much goes to "administration". It's actually possible that a charity is properly registered but puts 90% of its money into "administration"--hardly a group I would want to support. Also, check out the charity through the Better Business Bureau's website and Guidestar's website. Make sure your good intentions to help others actually turn into reality.

For more information on giving to charities, check the Federal Trade Commission's information.