I know having a lot of gift cards is a GOOD problem, but my collection has become a disorganized mess recently. People were SO generous when Ben was born, our collection of gift cards grew significantly.

But at that time I didn’t really have a set system for keeping them organized, so they quickly became a hot mess. So much so that I was putting some of the gift cards in my wallet, some in my purse, some in Matt’s wallet, some in my car. Before I knew it I started losing track of them.

The Problem

The worst part was that because they were so disorganized, I would go shopping and end up using cash because I forgot I had a gift card to that place. I quickly realized that I had to get this problem under control so that I could take advantage of these generous gifts from our family and friends.

The obvious solution was to add them to my wallet, but that didn’t work out because I had too many to fit. Plus, Casey’s wallet was stolen a few weeks ago. I realized then that storing this many gift cards in my wallet, may not be the best solution… just in case. So today’s super simple DIY project is how I organized my gift cards so that they’re safe and I never forget what I have!

How To Organize Gift Cards

Here are the super easy steps I took to get this problem under control. And when I say “super easy”, I really mean it! This whole project took me less than 10 minutes and cost me about ten bucks, which was so worth it!

Step One: Pick Up Supplies

You’ll need two things for this project, possibly three depending on how organized you want to be:

1.  Page Protectors for Business Cards
2.  Binder
3.  Tab Dividers (optional)

The business card page protectors are the magic ingredient to this organization project because they are the perfect size for holding traditional sized gift cards.

Step Two: Layout All of Your Gift Cards

Once you have your supplies, it’s time to corral all of your gift cards. For me, this meant looking in my wallet, purse, Matt’s wallet, my car and even in the junk drawer. I laid all of the gift cards out on the table so I knew exactly what I was working with.

I made sure to “stack” any cards that I had more than one of.

Step Three: Group Categories of Gift Cards

Once the cards are laid out, it’s time to start categorizing them so it’s clear what cards you have when you set out to go shopping for “baby clothes” or “household decor” or “DIY projects”. Here were the categories I used:

• Clothes
• Home & DIY
• Baby
• Food & Drink
• Misc./General

Step Four: Add Gift Cards to Page Protectors By Category

Now it’s time to simply slide those gift cards right into the page protectors by category. You double up the cards because the page protectors are double sided, but I decided to put one card per slot.

If you want, you can always add the mini receipts that usually come with gift cards right behind the card in the page protector. This way you always know how much each card is for and have proof of that if there’s ever a problem when you go to use it.

Step Five: Add Pages to Binder

Now it’s time to add all of these to a binder so you can easily flip through and see your entire collection in one organized spot!

I added the pages of gift cards into the binder based on the tab dividers. All the baby gift cards went behind the “baby” divider, all of the retail gift cards went under “clothes”, and so on and so forth. 

I couldn’t believe what a difference this binder made in a few short minutes. I love that I can see all of my gift cards and take inventory of exactly what I have. And I also love that any future gift cards (or merchandise credits) now have a home so they will no longer get lost in my wallet/purse/car.

The only negative about keeping them at home instead of in my wallet is that I have to think ahead about grabbing one before going out shopping. I can’t just randomly stop at target and have a gift card on me.

But in a way, I like that — no impulse buying! Plus, I do most of my shopping online so having the gift cards at home works for me. AND, if my wallet ever gets lost or stolen, I won’t be heartbroken over the fact that all of these gifts are lost.

Other Tips and Tricks

If you do use tab dividers, think about getting the ones with pockets. It’s not a necessity but I found they were helpful for other “catch-all” items that may not fit in the business card slots. You could stick extra coupons in these areas or gift cards that are “odd” shapes, like these Target ones. I also stuck membership passes to the zoo in this binder and plan to put any other similar items in here.

Overall, I’m so glad I invested the few bucks and few minutes to finally organize gift cards. This binder has made such a difference in not only figuring out what we have, but actually using them when the time comes!

Bridget