Gift Card Giving Guide This Holiday Season

Christmas; a time for friends, families, celebration, and of course, gifts. But what do you get for everyone? What about that hard to buy for Uncle, or that friend that already has everything? What about your wallet? Looking a bit empty this year? Or maybe your one of the lucky ones this year and wants to buy the best for everyone, but still are stumped.

Gift cards are the perfect gift! The reason is, you don't have to search the store or spend hours in the mall for that perfect gift. You don't have to chance the horrible fact that what you think they might love, will get returned the next day. Your loved ones can get what they want, keep it, and be happy. You only have to put money on a plastic card and wahoo, you're done! But there is still the problem of what type of gift card to get them.

Well, here is a little guide that I came up with to help you on your way!

Restaurants

Giving someone a gift card for free food is a great way of giving the person a night off from slaving over a stove with all expenses paid. It also gives the family a night to spend together. There are so many restaurants out there, but which one do you choose?

First you have to think about the family size. Is it just two people, or are there one or two kids, or is it a Brady Bunch size family? You might want to consider the answer to that question to differentiate between family restaurants such as Denny's or Eat 'N Park to more adult oriented eating places such as Olive Garden, Red Lobster, or Outback Steakhouse.

If you choose the route for the family restaurant, such as Denny's, your looking at the main meals, drinks, and desserts times the number of people in the party. $5 - $7 for the meal, $2 technically for each drink, and $2 - $4 for dessert. It can get very pricy. For the minimum gift card amount for a four person family, $40; however if you look on the high end of meal costs, a more adequate meal coverage cost would be around $50.

Now if you consider a restaurant such as Olive Garden, a four person party with meals ranging from $10 - $13 each, $2 drinks, and $5 desserts, lowest gift card amount would be around $70. However, the more adequate gift card price should be around $80.

Now these above scenarios are only stating for a four person family, of course if there are only two people that would be using this, there would be a cheaper amount, so you can consider making the card cost be enough for one visit or maybe two or three visits. Of course, if the family is five or more, you may want to lean towards the family restaurants, unless you have the dough to spend!

Fast Food

Fast food is another area all to itself. Fast food is fast, and inexpensive, and most people don't have time for the fancy sit down dinners. Many people out there who live to work spend more time in the drive-thrus then they do filling their fridge. So giving the gift card of fast food would be a great gift and it would be inexpensive to fill it up to where they can buy several meals from one card.

For example: McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's all have a $1 menu and meal options for less than $5. Just a $25 gift card will keep them fed for at least four meals and if their into the $1 menus, you got at least ten meals from the card. Again, you do have to consider the family size, but all and all it is a cheap and efficient gift for those that are big on fast food.

Other places to eat that aren't considered "fast food" would be places like KFC, Subway, Quiznos, Arby's; your still looking at a minimum $25 gift card as at least two or three meals. KFC is one of those places however that $25 could feed a four person family for one meal. So you do have to still consider the family size. I always thought that for places like this, a $35 gift card would work better.

Gas Gift Cards

I think right now, that anyone and everyone would appreciate help paying for their gas. At $3.10 where I am at, paying almost $40 to fill my gas tank is just crazy. Even with the discounts through Giant Eagle and Shop 'N Save, your still going to be paying quite a bit. When it comes to giving gas gift cards, you really don't have to do much research or thinking to where to buy it. Every few miles there is a Sheetz, a BP, a GetGo, or a Sunoco. If your family or friend is out of state, just ask them what is most popular or the one that he or she goes to. Don't forget to consider the type of vehicle they are gassing up. Bigger vehicles drink up the gas. Minimum gift card would be $25, adequate would be $40, if you want to be really nice... give them more than $50 and I bet they will be smiling!

Department Stores

Macy's, JCPenny, Sears... everyone loves their clothes and or products, however sometimes it is very hard to come up with the money for that nice outfit you had wanted or that drill that you need to have! This is a perfect time, if you can afford the giving, to fill up that gift card with enough money to help that person get what they want.

Department stores such as the ones above carry a range of products from clothes to furniture to tools. Do a little probing. If they have been going on and on about their wardrobe, then consider the clothing costs. A regular outfit will cost you anywhere from $30 to $50. If they are aching to get a new couch or dresser, because their not cheap, you might want to pitch in at least $100. Honestly, if you Christmas piggy bank is low this year, than you shouldn't be considering gift cards for these stores at all.

Electronics

The topic of electronic gifts can go from cheap to expensive quickly. Stores such as Best Buy and Circuit City will have any geek drooling. People who are so involved with electronics whether it is computer related or not, can be so hard to buy for. The subject of DVD and CD's rank into this category because many people have so many of them that you never know what they do or they don't have. Unless you know EXACTLY what they want, don't even bother trying to figure it out, because it can get costly.

Normally $20 will get you a CD, single DVD, or some computer software. A lot of box set DVD's cost $30 to even $100 and the same for some computer programs. If you want to play it safe, if you have to get a gift card from an electronics store, an adequate cost would be around $50. Less is good, but in this case, more is better. ONLY if you can afford it.

Another great idea when it comes to music, movies, and games, is to go to your local discount store such as an Exchange. Used movies, games, and music are a lot of times the best way to go. $25 will get someone three or four items. Some people think that they always have to have these items in new condition, but many used stores receive items that were never opened, or have only been used one time. You get practically never used items for $10 or even $15 cheaper than at any other store.

All-In-One

All-In-One gift cards are what I consider gift cards from places such as Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Costco, and or Sam's Club. These places carry everything from food to clothing to office items to furniture to auto accessories. You give someone a $25 gift card and they can stock up on food, buy a few shirts, a few snow shovels, or a table or chair. $25 however is a little on the inexpensive side for all that these stores have to offer, but it will make a pretty good dent in the final total. For the last few years, a friend of mine has always gotten me a $10 Wal-Mart gift card, and it may not seem like much, but it can pay for the food for me to cook a nice dinner, or help me stock up on those expensive feminine products.

Daily Necessities

How many times a day or week do you find yourself running to your local grocery store for that gallon of milk, or that loaf of bread, or maybe even that laundry detergent you have been needing for some time now? Shopping at grocery stores such as Giant Eagle, Foodland, or Shop 'N Save can be expensive, especially if you're making several small trips a week. They can be pricy even if you are using their discount cards. Giving a gift card to cover a small, medium, or large grocery order would be a perfect gift for anyone. Especially those who may be a little strapped for money this holiday season. Many grocery stores, such as Giant Eagle have offers going that if you spend so much on a gift card; they will give you 20 cents off per gallon of gas. So you and your loved one benefits from this gift card.

Always remember to consider the family size when buying grocery store gift cards, every person likes different things, so you want to make sure everyone has a chance to benefit from your gift.

Pets

Speaking about how everyone needs to benefit from your gift, what about the fluffy little ones that want to feel loved this holiday season too?! Sparky, Snowball, and Garfield need gifts too! Pet stores such as Petco or PetSmart are great places to go for gift cards to give to that special pet's owner to buy him or her whatever their heart desires. Whether it is a new food bowl, a new type of food, or a chew toy, they will be happy!

When choosing a pet gift card, consider the pet. If it is a 200 pound dog, you really don't want to get a $10 gift card. A large bag of dog food alone will cost about $20 and that chew toy will be the size of a dinosaur bone! But if the pet is a cat, you can buy a lot of canned food or even a nice size bag of dry food for $10.

When it comes to pet gift cards, I suggest the minimum to be around $25. Unless of course you have a pet like Beethoven or Garfield, then you may want to up that minimum to about $40.

Bookworms

If you have a bookworm in your family, it can get a bit costly depending on the types of books they read. If they are into the casual light reading, most of the books are under $10, however if your loved one is into the heavy computer programming reading where the books are over 800 pages long, you could be looking at $30 or more per book. So you definitely want to consider their reading preference before running into Barnes and Noble and purchasing a $10 gift card.

Whether light reader or not, normally $30 is a very nice gesture. Especially since all book stores are different and tend to sell at different prices.

Beauty Products

So many people out there swarm to stores such as Bath & Body Works to stock up on or purchase body scrubs, and scents, and lotions, and all the products that make your senses scream for help. A lot of time, I can't even stay in a store like that for more that 10 minutes without my sinuses yelling at me. So, get a gift card and help you and your loved one at the same time.

This stuff can get expensive though. A small bottle of lotion can cost you up to $12. So this is one of those stores you want to stay away from if you can't fork out at least $30. $30 would be enough to help your friend or family get two maybe three types of beauty products to add to their collection.

Kids

We can't forget about the kids. Sometimes Santa's elves go on strike and depend on the parents to take them to the local toy store to buy what he couldn't deliver. Doing this for a friend or family member gives the kids a way to pick out what they want, but you have to be careful on giving kids gift cards. Many don't realize the concept of "Santa only gave you $25 to buy your own Christmas gifts." When they pick out $100 worth of toys. So you might want to consider the age group you are purchasing the cards for. You also want to think of the price of toys. Hot Wheels aren't one dollar anymore and Barbie Dolls aren't $5. I don't even think you can buy Lego's anymore for under $10. So you want to make sure to keep it in a happy and affordable price range.

Remember, that the parents are the ones taking them shopping so any children not understanding the concept of a gift card will either have to pay for the other needed toys or deal with the screaming and crying in response of the word 'no'.

Online

Christmas shopping made easy. Online websites such as Amazon and Ebay have made themselves a name at being the most successful and easy way to obtain what you want without leaving your home. And most online stores offer gift cards.

This is a perfect way for you to shop for loved ones without leaving the comfort of your own home. But don't forget to make sure that the one that you are buying these gift cards for actually have a computer, internet and use the website. When purchasing these gift cards you should be considerate and factor in shipping and handling costs and taxes. If your thinking of getting someone a $25 gift card, you may want to up it another $10 to $35 to cover any of those little expenses.

Well, there you have it folks! Twelve ideas for buying gift cards for this holiday season; I hope that this guide helped you along your frantic way and assisted you on saving some time and money as well as giving your loved ones a perfect and useful gift!

Happy Holidays!