Lots of people receive gift cards and don't use them right away. Being conservative with your gift cards is not a good idea in a recession. Already in 2008, $100 million worth of gift card money has been lost to store closings. Harry Smith of CBS talked to Christine Frietchen from Consumersearch.com who says 25% of people still have a gift card from 2007 that they haven't used yet. She also shared some gift card tips including use your cards post-haste, do research ahead of time to see what you want and check the terms on the gift card.
