Let’s first know what free gift cards are and why merchants, both online and physical stores give them to their regular customers. It should be noticeable that nothing in this world can come totally free, so often the people who make out free gift cards make their money somewhere else.

The first few factors you need to know about free gift cards are they are kind of expenditures on advertisements. Stores will give them for two major reasons; retain an current customer and for recruiting new ones. Gift cards are actually a giveaway of a part of the profits they made in some purchases you made earlier. If you can produce evidences to show your purchases and the store has a free gift card program then you will be entitled to receive these cards which you can redeem at the right time.

Buying all your needs from the same store has advantages, especially at the time they issue free gift cards. Stores usually make some extra efforts to reward loyal buyers even if that means giving away freebies. So keep to the same store every time you make a purchase, but take care to see that they dont overcharge you for the regular purchases. The other thing you need to understand is whether they have a regular free gift card program and how often they do it. The ones with regular programs should work fine for you.

Stores will often insist upon producing evidences to show that you have made substantial purchases to give you free gift cards, so retain the receipts or bills to avail gift cards. Not always gifts are 100 % free as you might imagine them to be. Sometimes a discount card can come as free gift card and you will be required to make a purchase to use these cards. It is always prudent to find that out before you make any buys.

Free gift cards are not exclusive to physical merchants. Even online stores give gift cards and they are usually straight forward. They will let you know about it even before you make the first purchase. The processes are normally transparent with little information being hidden from the customers.

Some gift cards are not transferable and may be linked to credit cards. If you have a credit card see how much you will save after you have provided for credit card services. The Internet is the best place to look for free gift cards because you get the chance to compare many offers sitting in the comfort of your home.

Choosing gifts for women requires patience and care. Your choice of a gift for the women in your life should be guided by: the occasion (anniversary, birthday, new baby, graduation); your relationship to the woman (partner, parent, friend, boss, colleague, neighbor); the recipient herself (athletic, fashion-conscious, book lover, outgoing); and the price.

A teenaged woman, for example, might be overjoyed to receive a soft toy in a special case for her birthday, but women in their thirties will prefer a gift basket with chocolate and champagne. An athletic woman would be happy to receive a ticket to a bungee jumping session on her birthday, and yet a woman who likes something more sophisticated and stylish may not appreciate this gift.

Choosing the right gift for women has become easier than ever since you can browse gift websites and simply order online. AllAboutGiftsAndBaskets.com is a website that retails gift items for women for all occasions, at very reasonable prices. Gift baskets are also popular, since the right gift basket will hold all the items to gift a woman for a special occasion, and you dont need to go hunting for the many small items needed by her. AllOccasionBasketShop.com retails gift baskets ranging from gourmet baskets to Bath and Body baskets and Baby baskets.

Websites like TheCherryMillShop.com have many unique, slightly whimsical, not to state inexpensive, gifts to choose from. CherryMillShop.com retails one of a kind gift items like snow-dome shaped telephones and coke-crate shaped radios.

Personalization is something that adds a special touch to a gift item. PrintsCharming.TheShoppe.com, for example, retails bed linen, blankets, towels etc. printed with the photos supplied by customers. A customized gift like this will be greatly appreciated by a woman.

Purchasing the right gifts for women calls for plenty of thought and care. You may purchase gifts for the women in your life from any mart, store or website, it may be soft toys or luxury toilette cases, what ultimately matters is how much thought you have put into it.

I received a gift basket from my mother-in-law a number of months ago, who told me in advance she was sending it. My classic view of gift baskets is just not necessarily a great 1. The phrase “gift basket” conjures up photographs in my head of summer sausages and Florida fruits that ultimately go negative to get a lack of becoming eaten. I can now say, unequivocably, that the stereotype I held in regard to gift baskets is no extra.

When the gift basket arrived, I was taken aback and somewhat pleasantly surprised by its contents. It was a spa items gift basket, with bath salts, body, face and hand lotions, bubble bath, cocoa butter rubs and soaps, exfoliators, facial products and body mist. I decided there was no time like the present to see if I may like any with the merchandise, so I decided to give them a try. I’m normally pretty certain about what I buy in regard to bath goods, so I was skeptical that I’d appreciate any of these, all of which I had never ever heard of.

Let me say that without a doubt, these had been the finest bath items I have ever made use of. Not simply did I enjoy them, I wanted to know much more about them and where they came from. I identified out the name with the web page exactly where the basket was bought by way of my mother-in-law. Looking about, I saw that these were European spa goods and having a little looking, could very easily be ordered on the net. That was the details I needed, but the actual surprise came from seeing all the diverse gift baskets readily available. In the event you can name it, there seems to be a gift basket on the market for it. (For example, you can get some really great gift baskets for men nowadays. I simply had no thought just how much selection there now is in being able to pick a gift basket.

Due to the fact my 1st great gift basket, I’ve sent a number of to buddies and loved ones. I generally get a lot of compliments on my option of gift, as today’s gift baskets is often suited to any individual or loved ones. I’m genuinely thankful that I now know what an awesome alternative these are for sending a gift.

Giving gifts to family and charity while you’re alive can be a boon to them – and your estate.

Estate planning isn’t just about how you want your assets distributed after you die. It’s about deciding how much you want to give away while you’re still alive. If you plan carefully – so you don’t outlive your assets – giving allows you to reduce your taxable estate and provide advance help to your beneficiaries.

There are two easy ways to give gifts without incurring the gift tax:

You may pay an unlimited amount in medical or educational expenses for another person, if you give the money directly to the institutions where the expenses were incurred. You may give up to $13,000 a year in cash or assets to as many people as you like.

Anytime you give more than $13,000 annually to any one person you must file a gift-tax return and the excess amount will be applied toward your lifetime gift-tax exclusion of $1 million.

If at any point your gifts exceed that exclusion, you will have to pay gift tax on the excess amount. There is some good news in that regard. The top tax rate on gifts is gradually declining and will fall to 35 percent by 2010.

Keep in mind, too, that gifts you give within three years of your death that exceed the lifetime gift-tax exclusion will reduce the amount of money you may leave to your heirs free of federal estate taxes, according to certified public accountant P. Jeffrey Christakos of First Union Securities in Westfield, N.J. For example, if you give away $100,000 more than your lifetime exclusion within three years of your death, your estate-tax exemption will be reduced by $100,000.

If you want to invest in a 529 college savings plan for a beneficiary, contributions are treated as gifts. You may put in as much as $65,000 in one year ($130,000 with your spouse), but that contribution will be treated as if it were being made in $13,000 installments over five years.

That means you can’t give any more money to that beneficiary tax-free during that five-year period. Should you die before the five years are up, part of the money you gave will be included in your taxable estate, specifically the $65,000 minus $13,000 for each year you were alive.

The tax consequence of making large gifts can get complicated. So if you have a large estate, consult with your financial or tax planner to see how much giving you can do without triggering a big tax bill. Charitable donations are another way to reduce your estate. By investing in charitable gift funds and community foundations, those donations can stretch beyond your death.

Charitable gift funds, which are offered by Fidelity, Vanguard and others, permit you to make a tax-deductible donation, grow your investment tax-free, and then direct a contribution – in your name – to nonprofits of your choosing whenever you like.

Community foundations are regionally based charities that take donations of as little as $5,000 in cash, stock or property. The foundations invest that money, pool the gains, and allocate grants, usually to local nonprofits. In most cases, you may either have the foundation give money to organizations you choose or ask the foundation to locate a worthy recipient for a cause you like.

You also can set up what’s known as a charitable lead trust, from which a charity receives the income and your heirs the principal; or a charitable remainder trust, in which your heirs get the income and the charity gets the principal.