Gift card bonanza

It's been six months since Christmas, but I bet more than a few of you out there have at least one gift card that you got as a present still sitting in your wallet, or in your desk drawer, or maybe in that bowl of junk by the phone. Gift cards, unlike cash, seem to be more easily lost and forgotten about. I've come across hundreds, maybe even thousands of dollars in gift cards over the years with my clients that they've forgotten about, which is a shame, because it can be really fun to buy something for yourself without actually spending money.

Well, if you have trouble keeping track of your gift cards, the easiest way to alleviate that is to the spend them.

If you have quite a few saved up, set aside a weekend day in the next month and make it the goal of the day to use up each and every gift card in that single day. If you don't live near the store in question, see if they have an online store.

Don't be afraid to use up your gift cards! You will enjoy the product or service so much more than having to keep track of the card and keep reminding yourself to use it.

Creative Commons photo posted to Flickr by Kerry Woo

Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com. Sign up for Lelah's News, a once-monthly newsletter.