Gift Card Genius!

Recently I've been looking for all sorts of ways to cut down costs and bring in more cash.  Upon clearing out my closet and going through old purses I've found some unused gift cards.  I've definitely seen the new CoinStar machine at the supermarket that allows you to sell them there but I also found a great site called Raise.com

While most of the cards there are offered at 5% you can find some steals at about 23% off (for example Panera Bread) which works if these are places you would normally visit.  Since I visit Starbucks nearly every day I decided to purchase a few for 7% off, this was also my first purchase so I found a promo code for $5 off of $50 for even more savings!!  You can check sites like my fav retailmenot.com for more promo codes.

Today I found a great deal at PetsMart for 15% off the gift card, combined with their friends and family sale I got an extra 15% off AND with pet food purchases you get a $5 credit for your next purchase - winning!  You should note that most of these gift cards are eGifts and some of them are only available online.  The great thing about stores now like PetsMart is that you can buy online and pickup free in store usually the same day!

I was able to stock up on pet food for both of my babies at a 30%+ savings, didn't have to lug a cart and lift the items.  I'd say