We're SAVING YOU MONEY on gift cards. We're entering the home stretch of the shopping season, and many of you are resorting to gift cards at this point. There's nothing wrong with that, you just need to know exactly what you're buying. The biggest difference between gift cards is some charge activation fees. Other's don't. Cards like ones from Visa or American Express may seem like a good idea because it can be used anywhere, but you'll pay anywhere from $4-$10 just to activate the card. The National Retail Federation says shoppers will spend an average of $155 on gift cards this Christmas, but not everyone is buying in.

"I think they're great for service people and such, but we're just trying to keep gifts to a minimum this year," says Natalie Thornburg. "If it's a person we'd only buy a gift card for we just buy a card and say 'Merry Christmas'."

If you are going to buy, just remember, gift cards form banking and financial institutions charge a fee. Store gift cards are fee free. Grocery stores like Kroger will give you fuel points for buying gift cards there. It's a good way to get double value out of the expenditure. Always check your receipt to make sure the clerk activated the card. FOX17's Stacy Case got burned that way. She gave an Itunes card she bought that was never activated as a gift. The recipient told her a while later it wasn't activated. She went back to the store to have it activated with her receipt and the store had changed management, and they would not activate the card. Lesson learned. Send us your money saving ideas at Facebook.com/FoxNashville.
Gift Card Fees