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Items You Should Buy with Holiday Gift Cards

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The holidays can be a wonderful time of gift-giving and receiving as a way of showing love and appreciation for the people around you. However, some gifts can be tricky to know what to do with. For example, if you get gifted a lot of gift cards around the holidays, it can be difficult to decide what to buy with those gift cards, so they often end up sitting in your sock drawer for the next year or so. Don’t make that mistake this holiday season. Here are a few great items that you should buy with holiday gift cards this year.

A Nice Restaurant Meal

First off, it can be great to use your gift cards to buy nice restaurant meals. It can get expensive to eat out, especially if you try to stick to a budget. However, it can be very fun to eat at a restaurant so you can enjoy food and an environment that you don’t normally have access to. So, if you have a gift card to a few restaurants, make sure that you choose one of your favorite places to visit. You might even want to save the gift card for a special occasion like a birthday, an anniversary, or a celebration of a life milestone so that you can make those dates extra special.

Electronics

Another great way to spend your gift cards is by buying electronics. Even though electronics are pretty essential in our day and age, they can be expensive and unaffordable. Try to take advantage of the credit on your gift card to buy the electronics that you’ve been needing. For example, if you’ve started a remote job, invest in some great headphones or speakers to facilitate your work. If you enjoy doing virtual art, you could look into getting a tablet to help you to work on your talents. Additionally, there are lots of great technology sales around the holidays, so it is important to take advantage of that gift card while prices are low.

Furniture

If you’re looking for a useful way to spend your gift card, it can be great to buy furniture. No matter what stage of life you are in, you’ll always have a need for some type of furniture. For example, if you’re taking some online classes, you could invest in a great desk or comfy chair for those long hours on the computer. If you’re preparing to have a baby, you could use your gift card to buy a crib or high chair. If you’re moving into a new apartment, your gift card could help you get a new mattress or bed frame. Even though furniture might not always seem like the most exciting gift, it is definitely necessary, which makes it a great option for spending your gift card.

Clothing

One of the most obvious ways to spend your gift card would be to buy clothing. Even if you don’t follow trends and don’t have a huge wardrobe, it can be helpful to buy new clothes from time to time. This will help you to have outfits for every type of weather or every occasion. For example, modest dresses are great for any occasion that requires some confidence and style. A comfy lounge set is great for the colder months when you’re spending time with loved ones indoors. There are tons of great clothing options at many stores.

Home Décor

If you enjoy making your house look nice, you should consider spending your gift card on some home décor. There are lots of stores such as Target, Home Goods, and Ikea that have affordable and beautiful home décor options. When you’re trying to decide what to buy with your gift card, think about the aesthetic that you’re trying to achieve in your home, and try to buy décor that won’t go out of style in a few months, but that will have more of a classy, timeless look.

Kitchen Accessories

One of the essential elements of life is preparing and eating food, so using your gift card to buy some kitchen and cooking accessories is a great option. Even if you don't feel like you have a lot of talent in the kitchen, there are lots of kitchen accessories that make it really easy to prepare delicious food. For example, there are tools like air fryers, microwave steamers, instant pots, and more that can prepare delicious food fairly quickly and that are quite easy to use. Make sure to keep these types of accessories in mind as you’re deciding how to use your gift card.

Experiences

If you’ve received a Visa gift card, or any similar type of cash gift card that isn’t specifically connected to a store, it can be great to use these to invest in experiences. Having material items can be enjoyable for a time, but the memories that you gain from experiences last forever. Think about what types of experiences you and/or your family would love to have, and use your gift card to invest in making those dreams come true. For example, if you’ve been dreaming about taking your young kids to Disneyland, use your gift card to start planning that trip today.

Now that you’ve been able to think about the different ways in which you can use your gift card, don’t let it sit in your sock drawer for the rest of the year. Get out that gift card and use it today! Also, remember that the ideas in this article are only a few of many options. The great thing about receiving a gift card is that it can be used in so many ways to provide you with a gift that you will enjoy.

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Thank you for stopping by and checking out our tips on Items You Should Buy with Holiday Gift Cards. Which tip was your favorite? What other tips would you suggest? Be sure to let us know in the comments below! If you enjoyed this post, we’d be very grateful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to a friend or sharing it on Twitter and/or Facebook. Don't want to lose this? Pin it on Pinterest so you can get back to it later!

Have a great day!

Other Krazy Deal Daze Post You May Be Interested In:

How to Make Your Simple Home Look Luxurious

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Everybody wants their home to look lush and beautiful, but if you (like everyone not a billionaire) are on a budget, then you’re probably not planning on hiring a decorator to redo your design in the new year. But, a couple long years of a pandemic have worn upon America’s collective souls, and it’s time to update your decorations. You want something which gives the luxurious warmth your family and friends want to relax into, but also the simplistic modern design which is itself relaxing. How can you make your simple home look luxurious?

Use Metal in Your Design

Metallics do not, of course, make luxury in and of themselves, but add an antique element to your spaces. Try metal tiles in your kitchen backsplash or add shine in bathroom hooks. Humans are genetically programmed to search for shiny things because water has that sheen, which leads to both the love of metals of all kinds and the love of other shiny items like gemstones and glass. Whether hammered bronze or copper, which are both on trend, or an aluminum industrial element, adding in metallics can create a luxury feel to your space.

Paint With Neutral Colors

Neutrals are so much more than white and cream! Almost every color has a neutral-edged counterpart on the color wheel, which can help make any color you love into a neutral if you can figure out what to add to create the usable neutral you need. Reds, greens, and blues also have neutral variations. This gives you the chance to choose options which fit your own taste, but which are neutral in texture. Bold colors tend to visibly distract from your décor items in a room. But in contrast, neutrals give you the chance to have both rich wall color, and also the gentle colors which enhance and bring out every treasured item and picture.

Add a Pool

While you might not want an Olympic-sized pool in your yard, the addition of a pool can add a great deal of luxury to your property. If your lot is oddly shaped, or it’s difficult to access the backyard, don’t despair! Concrete pump trucks can easily reach over your fence and other obstacles on your property. This gives you the freedom of being able to add in both luxury and functionality to your yard. Make sure to budget in the safety aspects which will make sure that both children and others will be protected when not in use.

Use an Anchor Piece

When purchasing furniture, it can be tempting to go through a series of cheap pieces, all of which both feel cheap when using them, and also break down easily. The reason that vintage classics stay both classic and vintage is that they have withstood the test of time. Look for a piece which is both well made, heavy, and which can likewise become vintage. Design around such, and your home will have some pieces which can continue to add luxury over time.

Plants

What lends both luxury and oxygen to a space? Your plants need not be the more trendy, nor expensive in order to be useful to you in creating the luxurious look you crave. Try groupings of similar types of plants together in similarly styled pots, so as to have variance of texture but a rich, monochromatic look. Look for those plants which are easy to care for, in varying heights. The bonus of using plants is that you get an extra boost of oxygen and calm by using them in your spaces!

Lighting

While you’re adding metal into a space, one easy way to add both it and luxury is to change out your lighting! There are gorgeous options for adding a sculptural piece which can both make your space look luxurious without adding clutter, and also help lower the ceiling to only slightly above your viewpoint. Many modern homes have tall ceilings, particularly in living rooms and entryways, and the lighting left by contractors are generally not conducive to adding luxury! When you search for lighting, look for pieces which will add the modern feel while also offering classic design. You want something which your family can use for decades, and the next owners of the home will beg you to leave for their enjoyment.

Minimalize

Nothing says luxury like a lack of, well, mess. If your budget is strained and you want to make it possible to have a modern feel to your home, remember—less is more! Designers work hard to create a visual continuity in luxury homes by using neutral colors on walls and furnishings such as desks or bookcases, which then blend visually into the wall space. Items on shelving should be minimized, and collections placed together so that they can be more congruous.

It can be complicated if you like to collect several types of items. Try grouping them together. As always, go through things like books, toys, blankets, knick knacks, and other items often. Collect things that you no longer use or love to give away and bless other families. By removing things that are no longer useful to you in your home, you give the option of bringing in décor items which you do indeed adore and will use happily. By removing those things which are extras- extra frames, extra books, extra furnishings—you can create a space which is peaceful to the eye, which automatically makes it more welcoming to guests.

Luxury can be less expensive than you think! By removing items which you no longer use, you are freeing up space where you can enjoy your design, and having more space is perhaps the most useful and luxurious hack of all! Make sure your lighting is both bright and beautiful. Add in your plants and an anchor piece, while considering how nice a pool would be next summer. Look for those subtle sheens, both in your metallics and the warm neutrals which can make your room glow!

Read this next: Top 10 Budgeting Strategies To Help You Curb Overspending

Thank you for stopping by and checking out our tips on How to Make Your Simple Home Look Luxurious. Which tip was your favorite? What other tips would you suggest? Be sure to let us know in the comments below! If you enjoyed this post, we’d be very grateful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to a friend or sharing it on Twitter and/or Facebook. Don't want to lose this? Pin it on Pinterest so you can get back to it later!