I Hate to Nickel and Dime You

What do you do with those gift cards from Amex, Visa, and MasterCard when they get down to a couple of dollars? You can’t use them on iTunes. It’s silly to buy packs of gum, or cans of soda with a gift card. You could swipe them for a purchase and then pay the difference in cash, but that means knowing exactly what the balance is, so you can max out the card. If you’re like me, you toss them in a drawer and forget all about them, which is what Visa, MasterCard, and Amex hope you’ll do so they can pocket that $1.74 or $2.76. You can imagine how those forgotten balances add up!

But if you have a Square credit card reader and account you can swipe those microcredits right into your bank account. Log onto the card’s web site and check the balance, then swipe the card into your Square account to recover whatever is left. Today I recouped $15.72 after a small fee. Not bad for junk drawer clutter!

Square Reader Tip
Thanks Grandma!