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  • NEW AD ——>

    Filed at 6:34 am under by dcobranchi

    Money tips for kids. My kids all seem to have inherited my cheap genes. Anthony paid for the gaming computer he and I built a month ago. All with babysitting and birthday money. And Chelsea has a gift card from Target that’s at least 3 years old. She just won’t spend the money. I’m so *sniff* proud.

    (Yeah, I know the money’s really already been spent. To her, though, that red gift card is green.)

    3 Responses to “NEW AD ——>”


    Comment by
    Tim Haas
    February 25th, 2006
    at 8:22 am

    She might be cheaping herself out of a gift entirely — depending on the state in which the card was bought, the unused portion of the card could escheat to the state’s coffers within three years of purchase. And that’s a real hard lesson for kids. (You might want to tell her about the value-diminishing power of inflation, too.)

    Check the escheat laws here: tinyur.../ogxuq (it’s a PDF).


    Comment by
    COD
    February 25th, 2006
    at 8:29 am

    And Target could be dinging the card for a service charge each year too. Gift cards should always be spent ASAP – it’s what the gift provider would want!


    Comment by
    Tim Haas
    February 25th, 2006
    at 9:06 am

    I checked that, Chris — Target, like a lot of national retailers, has eliminated service charges and company-imposed expiration dates. (Not that they’re necessarily doing this from the goodness of their hearts — states have started passing laws to eliminate those practices.)