Activating Visa Gift Cards without Activation Code

Recently, I bought a $200 Visa gift card from Staples and I either threw out the activation code or I lost it and I didn't have my order number either.

I thought I had just lost out on $200.  Manufactured spending has really low margins so if you lose $200 it can take some time before you make that back.


Luckily, I saw that Travel with Grant gave some advice on how to active your gift card before the activation card comes.  I assumed it should work just as well for me.  I called Gift Card Mall and was able to activate the card by talking to a rep who only asked my name and address and the gift card number.  2 hours later my card was active.  Boom!  Thank you Travel with Grant

My Ideal Wallet - Q3 2014

Related Links

Best Credit Cards

Credit Card Sign Up Offers

Disclaimer: I receive a referral commission for the following link(s) and I greatly appreciate supporting the site: Credit Sesame, Chase Freedom

These are the Credit and Debit cards that will either be in my wallet (assuming my wallet was the size of George's) from July 1st until the end of September 2014


Make sure to sign up for Credit Sesame and/or Credit Karma to monitor any changes in your credit history for free (I have both).

• American Express Blue Preferred – 6% cash-back at groceries (up to 6k a year), 3% at gas and 1% everywhere else.  There is a $75 annual fee so it is only for those who spend a lot of money on groceries.
• $150 sign up bonus for spending $1,000 in the first 3 months
• You get 6% on a gift cards you buy at the grocery store as well.
• You also get one year free membership to Amazon prime if you have signed up for the card in the last 3 months

• Chase Freedom – 5% cash-back at Gas and Kohl's 
• $75 maximum cash back per quarter.  You need to activate the 5%.
• Chase Freedom 2014 5% categories
• $200 sign up bonus for spending $500 in 90 days
• Most 7-11 Stores are considered Gas Stations and sell $500 Vanilla One Visa Gift Cards.  They sell Vanilla Reloads too, but the register is hard coded to only allow cash purchases for that.

• Discover it™ - 5% cash-back at Gas Stations.  Same story as Chase Freedom
• 5% cashback for Discover is actually more than 5%
• Must activated for cashback bonus
• $150 Sign up Bonus for spending $750 in three months.

• Citi Dividend - 5% cashback on Hilton Hotels, Car rentals, Theme Parks and Movie Theaters
• Up to $6,000 of purchases a year instead of $1,500 a quarter (up to $300 cashback for the year).  I have no use for this card anymore this year since I already maxed out the rewards for the year in the first quarter.
• $100 sign up bonus for spending $500 in 90 days.

• Chase Ink Classic (Business Card) - 5% cashback at Office Supply Stores, Cable, Phone (Landline or cell) and Internet bills.
• 20,000 Ultimate Rewards for spending $3,000 in 3 months.
• No annual Fee

• Bank of America Better Balance Rewards - $25 back for every quarter that you pay your full bill or more than the minimum balance in every month.  Another $5 if you have a Bank of America Checking account.
• Best Usage - Set up a monthly bill on this card and auto pay the full balance. You never have to think about it and then every three months you will get $30.

• Bank of America Cash Rewards - 3.3% on Gas into a Bank of America Checking account - 4.5% if you have a Bank of America Privileges Card.
• Normally in my wallet for gas, but I will use Chase Freedom for 3 months.

• Fidelity American Express Investment Rewards – 2% cash-back everywhere else.
•  This card is always in my wallet

• Charles Schwab Check Card – Unlimited Free ATMs Withdrawals at every ATM in the world
• This card is always in my wallet

Sodastream $42.10 from Amazon after Rebate

Disclaimer: I receive a referral commission for the following link(s) and I greatly appreciate supporting the site:  Amazon

SodaStream Soda Maker Starter Kit - $42.10 from Amazon with free shipping.  I have been using my sodastream for years to make seltzer and I love it.  You save money and you don't have to lug seltzer bottles around from the store.

The actual price is $69.  There is a coupon from Amazon that will give you 10% off (Just click "clip this coupon" on the Amazon page) at checkout.  The price is now $62.10

$20 rebate available, just send in the UPC when it comes along with the form.    

Save another $5, by downloading the amazon Toolbar button 

Buy 2 Boxes of Diapers and get a $10 Target Gift Card

Buy 2 boxes of Pampers, Huggies Giant Pack or 2 Up&Up (Target brand) Bulk packs and you will get a $10 Target gift card.

I wouldn't buy Pampers or Huggies diapers from Target since they are overpriced there, but my family uses Up &Up diapers and this a good price for these diapers.

After all the discounts, it comes out to about $0.15 per diaper for size 3.  I usually get about another 7-9% off the purchase price - See Maximize Spending at Target - which gets the price down to about 13-14 cents per diaper.

Discounted Gift Cards On Sale at Raise - Extra 5% Off

Disclaimer: I receive a referral commission for the following link(s) and I greatly appreciate supporting the site:  Raise and Top Cashback


Raise.com sells gift cards to retailers at a discount.  They run almost weekly weekend sales where you can get an extra 5% off on top of the regular prices on select gift cards.  The sale ends today.

Keep in mind that the base price for the gift changes with inventory so I will list its current price, but it might not be the same if you try to buy it


Click this link for the current discount rates of all the gift cards on sale

Don't have a Raise account?  Sign up free


You can will an extra 5% off the following gift cards with coupon code TAKE5:

• H&M - 13% without the promo code 
• Dell Promotional e-Gift Cards - 8% without the promo code
• Michaels - 18% without the promo code
• NFL Shop - 10% without the promo code 
• Build-A-Bear - 3% without the promo code
• Northface 13% without the promo code 
• Advance Auto Parts - 11% without the promo code 

The next ones also get 5%, but they aren't as interesting to most people

• Nutrisystem - 29% without the promo code 
• Darden Restaurants - 3% without the promo code
• Lone Star Steakhouse - 10% without the promo code 
• Annie Sez - 40% without the promo code 
• Hallmark - 4% without the promo code 
• Bob's Stores - 26% without the promo code 
• Mandee - 35% without the promo code 
• J Jill - 28% without the promo code 
• Sally Beauty Supply - 5% without the promo code
• Olive Mountain Restaurant - 23% without the promo code 
• IHOP - 2% without the promo code 
• Asha Salon - 10% without the promo code 
• Farmhouse Restaurant - 15% without the promo code 
• Zachary Prell - 35% without the promo code 

Start your purchase from Top Cashback and get up and get an extra 2% cash back as well!  

Don't have Top Cashback?  Sign up here for free.

$5 Amazon Promotion for Installing Amazon 1Button App

Disclaimer: I receive a referral commission for the following link(s) and I greatly appreciate supporting the site:  Amazon


$5 Free at Amazon

All you need to do is install the Amazon 1Button App.  The whole process takes about 3 minutes.  You will get a code good for $5 off of your next $25 purchase from Amazon.


Thanks YP for the tip!

$5 for $10 Starbucks eGift Card - Groupon

Disclaimer: I receive a referral commission for the following link(s) and I greatly appreciate supporting the site:  Groupon and Top Cashback 

Update: Dead!

$5 for $10 Starbucks eGift Card - Groupon - 1 per account.  The deals ends at the end of the day tomorrow. (6/13/2014)


Don't have a groupon account?  Sign up here for free


Start your purchase from Top Cashback and get up to 15% cash back as well!  

Don't have Top Cashback?  Sign up here for free.

$20 at Sears for $1 to new Top Cashback Members

Disclaimer: I receive a referral commission for the following link(s) and I greatly appreciate supporting the site:  Groupon and Top Cashback 

There is a Groupon deal going on now that gives you $20 worth of Sears merchandise for $10.

If you are a new member to Top Cashback, Top Cashback will give you $9 for buying the groupon so your effective price goes down to $1 for $20 at Sears.

Sign up for Top Cashback here.  You can also sign up for your spouses who don't have Top Cashback to be eligible even if you aren't eligible.  If you refer them, you'll get $10 too

- Can't be used until June 13th

- Expires August 31st

- The groupon can only be used in store

- New member of Top Cashback is defined by whether you have ever had a transaction that posted to them, not when you start your membership.

- Only valid if you are buying just this Groupon.  If you want to buy another groupon, buy it in another transaction.

Don't have a groupon account?  Sign up here for free

HT - Deals We Like - Feel free to user her affiliate links

American Express - $10 off a $50 Purchase of Grocery Stores in NY/NJ/CT

Select cardmembers have a offer for a $10 statement credit if you spend $50 or more at a grocery store in NY, NJ or CT.  You can find the offer in the "offers for you section" when you log in to AmericanExpress.com

If you have the offer and connect it to your card (unfortunately I don't have it), you can get up to 3 $10 credits when you spend $50 or more 3 times. 

If you have the offer on multiple cards, don't connect it to one of the cards right away.  Open up americanexpress.com in separate tabs and get the offer open on all of your cards, then click on the offer for all the cards.  If you don't do this, the offer will disappear from your other cards one you click on it once.

You can load up on gift cards (to the grocery store or elsewhere) in $50 increments to stock up on 20% off.

You can find the details of the offer here

From the Amex Details:

Where you can redeem your offer

For the purposes of this offer, a “supermarket” is a store whose primary business comes from the sale of a variety of foods such as meat, fresh produce, dairy, canned and packaged goods, but also sells a variety of household products, pharmacy products and pet supplies.

The following are NOT considered supermarkets:

• Specialty food stores such as a standalone cheese shop, butcher, or bakery
• Small corner grocery stores
• Gourmet shops
• Convenience stores
• Drug stores
• Natural food stores
• Large superstores including warehouse clubs, big box stores, supercenters, hypermarkets, and megastores whose primary business comes from the sale of items such as toys, electronics, furniture, clothing, sporting goods, household products, office supplies and beauty supplies, and which may also sell food in a space that is typically less than half the total store size

HT - Frequent Miler

$15 off $150 of American Express Gift Cards at Office Max This Week - Manufactured Spend Opportunity

Office Max is offering $15 off $150 of American Express Gift Cards from 6-8 to 6/14.

$200 or variable load gift cards are eligible for the fee reduction so you will need to buy a $100 (if it is available)  and a $50 gift card to qualify.  Ad says one per household, in the past that rule has been store to store.

I don't know how much the fees are but if I remember correctly the $100 is probably $5.95 and the $50 one is probably $4.95 that means that your total fees will be $10.90.  You will get $15 off so you will make $3.10!

If they don't have any $100 gift gift cards you will be forced to buy 3 $50 gift cards and your will come out to $14.85 so your net would be $0.15 after fees.  In my option, $0.15 is not worth the points since this probably cannot be scaled




- Buy with a Chase Ink card (whichever flavor you have) and you will 5x the points for office supply purchases, which will be on top of any savings.


- You may be able to add the balance of these American Express gift cards onto an existing American Express Gift card that has a higher balance.  For example, if you bought a $3,000 gift card and you have used $500 of it and now have a balance of $2,500, you can add the $150 to that and your balance will now be $2,650.  If you still have $3,000 on that card you can't go above the set limit.  You have to call the number on the back of the American Express Gift Card to try it.  I've never done it myself, but I've read reports of it working.   If you try it, let me know in the comments if it works

June 6th (Today) - National Doughnut Day - Free Donuts!

Today, Friday June 6th is National Doughnut Day so you can get some free donuts!

Free Donut from Dunkin' Donuts or Krispy Kreme.

No purchase necessary from Krispy Kreme!  You need to buy a drink from Dunkin' to get your free donut.


HT - Hey, It's Free

Bank of America Museums on Us - This Saturday and Sunday

Bank of America Museums on Us program gives Bank of America card holders free access to select museums on the first Saturday and Sunday of the month.  June 7th and 8th are the dates for this month so that means this Saturday and Sunday are the free days this month.


You need to have a credit or debit card in the name of each person so you still have to pay for kids, unless you get a credit card for you child, like I did.

Sign up for email or text alerts to remind yourself of the dates here.

Here is a list of the museums in the New York/New Jersey area:

• NJ
• Liberty Science Center (Jersey City)
• Montclair Art Museum (Montclair)
• Morris Museum (Morristown)
• Newark Museum (Newark)
• NY
• Suffolk county Vanderbilt Museum (Centerport)
• Long Island Children's Museum (Garden City)
• Metropolitan Museum of Art (Manhattan)
• Staten Island Children's Museum (Staten Island)
• New York Historical Society (NYC)
• Whitney Museum of American Art (Manhattan)
• Brooklyn's Children Museum (Brooklyn)
• Queen's Museum of Art (Queens)
• Guggenheim Museum (Manhattan)
• Old Westbury Gardens (Old Westbury)
• Long Island Museum of American Art, History & Carraiges

American Express and Twitter - $5 off a $5 Purchase at Dunkin' Donuts and others

Disclaimer: I receive a referral commission for the following link(s): Top Cashback, Mr. Rebates, Plink, Extra Bux

American Express has come out with a slew of offers available for statement credits when you tweet specific hashtags.

The one that is most interesting to me is a $5 statement credit for spending $5 at Dunkin' Donuts.  This can be in store for anything or online to buy gift cards.

Only includes standalone or with Baskin' Robbins stores, but not if it is connected to a gas station or something similar.

Available Deals:

• Dunkin' Donuts: Spend $5 and get $5 statement credit.  In store and online
• Tweet: #AmexDunkinDonut;
• Spend $5 by 6/30/2014
• Columbia.com: $10 statement credit off a $50 online purchase.  Online only.
• Tweet: #AmexColumbia
• Spend $50 by 8/1/2014
• ExxonMobil: $5 statement credit for spending $5.  At pump only.
• Tweet: #AmexExxonMobil
• Spend $30 by 7/31/2014
• Hilton Hotels: $50 statement credit for spending $250.  Includes any bills to your room
• Tweet: #AmexHilton
• Spend $250 at Hilton Hotel by 9/2/2014
• Lord and Taylor: $20 statement credit for spending $100.  In store and online.  Paypal excluded.
• Tweet:  #AmexLordandTaylor
• Spend $100 by 6/30/2014
• Newegg: $15 statement credit for spending $150.  Online only. Excludes Newegg Business and Flash. 
• Tweet:  #AmexNewegg
• Spend $100 by 7/31/2014

Here's how to do it:

• Sync your Twitter Account with your American Express credit card
• Tweet #AmexHomeDepot #AmexDunkinDonut #AmexExxonMobil #AmexColumbia #AmexNewegg #AmexLordandTaylor #AmexHilton. You can tweet them all in one tweet and it should work for al of them, but make sure to confirm
• Click @connect to confirm you have been enrolled
• Spend the money on your connected card

You can have Twitter accounts under multiple names (pseudonames are allowed in Twitter) and you can connect a different card to each account.

Change which American Express card is synced here

You can keep records of which card is linked to which account to make it easier. I send myself an email.



Start your Shopping at Shop Discover for Columbia and get an extra 10% cashback into your Discover account.  Requires a Discover it® card.  

Don't have a Discover it?  Start your shopping for Columbia at Extra Bux and you will get another 8% cashback.

Start your Shopping at Top Cashback for Lord and Taylor and get an extra 5% cashback.


Start your shopping at for Newegg at Mr. Rebates and get an extra 2%.




Add Dunkin Donuts to Plink and connect your American Express card to Plink and get another $0.25 for a $3 purchase or $0.50 for a $3 purchase.

Water Pitcher with 2 Replacement Filters $5 with Free in Store Pickup - Home Depot

Disclaimer: I receive a referral commission for the following link(s) and I greatly appreciate supporting the site: Mr. Rebates and Chase Freedom

Water Pitcher with 2 replacement filters for $4.88 with Free in Store pickup from Home Depot.

It's kind of junky, but it's perfect for Pesach.


Pay with your Chase Freedom (sign up bonus just increased to $200 from $100) and get 5 points per dollar spent at Home Depot until the end of June.

Start your Shopping at Shop Discover and get an extra 5% cashback into your Discover account.  Requires a Discover it® card.  Pay with your Discover card and you will get another 5% from Discover for Home Improvement stores until the end of June.

Don't have a Discover card?  You can get 3% back for starting your shopping from Mr. Rebates.