March, 2019 |

8 Easy ways to turn unwanted gift cards into cash

Posted on March 20, 2019 | by consolidatecreditcard_admin

Posted by: consolidatecreditcard_admin on March 20, 2019

Gift cards are the most common type of presents that we usually give or receive on almost every occasion. But the problem is, we rarely use those gift cards. Most of the time, we receive a gift card to a place we don’t visit. Sometimes, we just forget about the gift card while going shopping.

Soon, all the gift cards turn into the garbage and we throw the cards into the garbage. But do you know that you can turn the gift cards into cash or something as good as cash?

Read this article to learn some easy ways to turn unwanted gift cards into cash:

1. Return the card to the issuing retailer

If you don’t want to keep the gift card that you have received from your friends or relatives, then you can return the card to the issuing retailer. In return, you can get some cash from the issuer. In most cases, the consumer gets a discounted or lesser value of the card from the issuer.

You can also get in-store credit from the issuer to buy some items from their physical outlets.

2. Sell the gift cards

You can get cash out of your cards by selling them to some retailers. However, you won’t be able to get the full price of the gift card.

However, there are some retailers that give the highest resale value of the gift cards. You just need to research online to compare the resale price of gift cards before selling them for cash.

Every gift card has a different type of exchange or resale policy. So, you need to read the terms and conditions mentioned on the card clearly before selling or exchanging the card for cash.

3. Trade your gift cards

Some retailers organize gift card exchange program for the consumers who want to trade in their gift cards. For example, Target often arranges gift card exchange programs for their customers who prefer a Target gift card over other gift cards. People simply participate in the program to exchange their gift cards to get the Target gift card.

The best part is that you can exchange the card even after using a part of the gift card balance.

4. Keep the card for gifting purposes

You can also store unwanted cards for regifting purposes. However, check the expiry date before giving the cards to the others.

5. Purchase a gift with your gift card

You can also use your unwanted gift card to buy a gift that you like. There are some stores that accept gift cards in return to sell their products.

6. Take advantage of social media to sell your gift cards

Some groups on social media sell or buy gift cards. You can approach these groups to sell or exchange gift cards that you don’t want to keep. You can send emails to your friend circle on your social media platform inviting them to exchange or sell gift cards. There are also some online forums that also trade gift cards.

7. Donate your cards

You can donate gift cards to charities that accept gift cards regardless of their type. Visit your local charity center to find out whether or not they accept gift cards.

8. Turn your gift cards into something useful

Nowadays, you can turn visa gift cards into Amazon gift cards to buy something useful from their website. In return, they are giving the balance in the user’s Amazon account.

Lastly, don’t store the gift cards in the drawer with the hope that you may use them one day. Most of the time, people forget about the cards they have in their closet. So, once you receive gift cards, visit their website to learn more about the balance and the method to redeem the balance. If you think that the card is not useful for you, simply resale it or re-gift it to turn the gift card into cash. Try to make the most of the gift cards instead of wasting them.

Is it a good idea to pay mortgage with credit cards?

Posted on March 6, 2019 | by consolidatecreditcard_admin

Posted by: consolidatecreditcard_admin on March 6, 2019

A mortgage is a secured debt, and a credit card is an unsecured debt!

Transferring and making a secured debt into unsecured debt by paying off mortgages with credit cards is very – very interesting.

Experimenting with debts has been an age-long hobby for human beings. People make use of debts to invest, gain profit on interests, purchase stock market vehicles, and all. I would rather say, that if you are unable to turn your debts to your own benefit, then you have not yet understood how debts work.

When I was asked to discuss, and develop content on “Can you pay off mortgages with credit cards”, I felt this topic to be something unique, that Consolidated Credit Card Blog hasn’t touched before. We aim to keep this post simple and straightforward. And thus, breaking the ice.

“Yes you can pay off mortgages with credit cards”:

We all know that having unpaid unsecured debt is far, far better than having unpaid secured debt. In the latter, the lender has the power to take away the backed up assets attached to the debt. But with unsecured debt, the lender can only garnish your wages or file a low priority lawsuit against you to seize your assets.

Once in a blue moon can an unsecured lender make a foreclosure on assets! So, it is a great advantage for you to pay off a secured debt with another unsecured debt. Because you will be changing the characteristics of the debt altogether! But, things are never easy in this universe, and especially when it comes to finances, theories are twisted and complexed more so!

Not all banks will allow you to pay off your mortgage using credit cards! They pretty well understand the concept of secured and unsecured debts, more than a normal consumer. They know that once you pile up your credit card by shifting the mortgage balance into it, they will lose their power of foreclosure. And, which authority wants to give up its own power and rules?!

Still, that doesn’t mean you can be stopped from pursuing your own wishes, dreams, or goals. There are several third-party services that convert credit card payments into mortgage payments. They will allow you to make credit card transactions, which in turn will disburse your mortgage lender in the form of mortgage payments. They can either send the money directly to the bank or cut a check and mail it to the mortgage lender.

Whatever it is, that’s not your headache to take. Services like Plastiq, Tio, PayTM, and many more give you the allowance to pay off the mortgage with credit cards, by making a transaction via them. But, expect them to charge you a fee, like say, for example, Plastiq will charge you a 2.5% fee of the total transaction amount. Hence, you can pay off your mortgage with a little help from credit cards. However,

Here are a few things you should consider before making mortgage payments with credit cards:

Compare rewards, cashback, and how much you will save on mortgage payments:

The best way to use credit cards is marked by how much cashback and reward points you are getting for every transaction. If you ain’t getting no benefits, then there’s absolutely no point in using credit cards for mortgage payments.

You will be paying a minimum of 2% fee to any third party service you are taking! Now, if this fee comes out to be more than what your monthly mortgage interest would stand, then there’s no use in making payments with credit cards. Also, you should be taking into account how many reward points or cashback you are getting. Mortgage payments are of big amounts.

You should be able to stash in a nice number of reward points and get cashback even if the cashback amount is low. If your credit card service provider does not seem to profit you much, then you should be avoiding that specific card to pay off your mortgage.

Beware of the credit card interest rate:

Another vital point to understand is, you should not keep a big balance sitting on your credit card for a long time. Else, you might end up paying more for mortgages, with credit cards, rather than what you are wishing for. Interest rates on credit cards are way higher than that of a mortgage loan. You can pretty well say that it’s nearly twice!

Hence if you can’t pay off the balances on your card at least once a month, or once every two months, then you will be in a bigger debt mess than you can imagine. Therefore, one month’s ‘mortgage payment balance’ on your card should be paid off by the next month’s credit card payment date.

Try to make use of credit card consolidation or balance transfer, if necessary:

If you plan to use credit cards to pay off a mortgage, then make sure you have a back-up plan in case you start to gather huge credit card debts. Always give credit card debt consolidation a big priority in such cases. Else, paying off such huge amounts will get more difficult, and you might never pay off your balances in full. You can also give balance transfer an option and make use of it to avoid interest rates completely.

For example, you are paying off your mortgage with credit cards to avoid monthly interest on the home loan payments. Then you transfer that credit card’s balance to a 0% APR balance transfer card, and start to pay off this time! This way, you are practically paying no interest at all. Sounds good? Yes… but be careful! The debt game can get dangerous if you are unable to pay them off in the end.

Hence, we have come to the finish line. I hope you found this post useful to some extent. Keep in mind all the things I have said, and keep on making your payments on time, to avoid late fees and extra interests…. Cheers! Have a happy debt-free life.