Jamba Juice is doing it right this holiday season. At participating locations, you can buy a $25 gift card and get a free smoothie. If you’re a Jamba Juice regular, buy the gift card for yourself and start slurping! If you’re going to give a Jamba Juice gift card, then this next offer is even better.

Gift with Purchase

As Kevin B at the San Ramon Jamba Juice explains, for $15, you get a 22 oz. Tumbler and a $5 Jamba Juice gift card. I love ths promotion because it follows my 5 Steps to Better Gift Card Giving. The gift card can be used at a variety of locations, is in a usable amount ($5 is plenty for Jamba Juice), and the recipient gets to “open something.” This would make a great gift for teachers, office staff, and others you want to give a small token to this holiday season.

Add a Personal Scoop

Make it even more personal by putting a list of your favorite smoothies or the “secret Jamba Juice menu” inside the tumbler. Have fun with it.

Combine gift cards and coupons to save money.

With three kids going back to school (and soccer and football and scouts, etc.), my budget is tapped. We’re reusing last year’s backpacks and lunch boxes to save money, but the kids still needed a few things. So I combined gift cards and coupons to stretch the dollars a bit further. Here’s what I did:

Work It:

1. Scoured the newspaper and mailers for high discount coupons.
2. Bought discount gift cards to go along with the best coupons.

Big Savings:

For example, I received coupon for $10 off a $25 purchase at JC Penney. Then I bought a $25 gift card to JC Penney for $21.50 at Plastic Jungle.

At JC Penney, Ally found two pairs of skinny jeans for a total of $25.99 plus a must-have, embellished top on the clearance rack for $10. The bill came to $35.99 plus tax. With our coupon and gift card, however, we paid almost nothing at the register. By combining discounts, I paid $21.5o to Plastic Jungle for essentially $35.99 in merchandise at JC Penney. That’s 40% in savings.

Going Forward:

Yes, it takes a little work and forethought. Yes, a good coupon can make all the difference. But there are stores like JC Penney, Kohls, Macy’s, and Old Navy that routinely send out special promotions. If you buy discount gift cards in advance and match ‘em up with the coupons as they arrive, you can save a lot of money.

Plan Ahead for the Holidays:

With the holidays coming up, combining gift cards with store sales and coupons could be the relief your budget is waiting for.

A new twist on an old gift idea

I like the Work & Life blog on Real Simple. A recent post by Julie Rottenberg on the ups and downs of giving a magazine subscription as a gift got me thinking.

As Julie points out, a subscription is fun to give initially, but can leave you wondering what to do when renewal time comes along. (Should you renew? Does the recipient want the magazine renewed? Will the renewal look lackluster as a gift or tie you into a long-term gifting arrangement?)

Instead, I suggest giving a gift card for a magazine subscription. The recipient can pick out which magazine to order and the renewal notice won’t come to you. It’s a one-time gift.

With that problem solved, I started thinking of fun ways to deliver a magazine subscription gift card–all starting with a store bought magazine. The recipient can order a different magazine, of course, but your gift ensemble acts as recommended reading plus something for the recipient to enjoy while he or she waits for the first issue to arrive.

Then I’d pick up accessories to go with the magazine like a bag of chips, sunscreen, and a reusable water bottle for poolside reading. Or do something in line with the magazine you’re giving. For example, Sports Illustrated and an energy bar for the athlete, Family Fun magazine and craft supplies for the toddler-age mom, or Real Simple with decorative push-pins for the organizer.

This is a gift that works for Him, Her, the Family, and for Kids. I love it and appreciate Julie’s post that kicked me into re-thinking this old gift idea.

Wish my iPhone had a flash!

I took my kids to see Toy Story 3 this morning. I don’t normally like the animated flicks, but I chuckled even more than the little ones this time. Toys I hadn’t thought about in years showed up on screen like old friends. (Including a few toys I coveted but never got to make friends with, like that three story Barbie Apartment!) But the best part of the day was using the gift card I found last week to offset the cost of admission.

Saving Money

This little Disney-Pixar flashback would have cost me $45 without the gift card. That’s a lot of money for a matinee, especially when I’m trying to stretch the family budget across a summer’s worth of activities.

While a movie gift card may no longer be the most original gift to give, it’s still a great gift for a kid, teen, family, or anybody who likes to go to the theater. The recipient might not use it right away, but is certain to appreciate it when they do.

Make the Movie Gift Card More Personal

Partner a movie gift card with some movie snacks, popcorn, or something relevant to the movie you think they’re most likely to see. For Toy Story 3, for example, get a slinky akin to the one in the movie. For the new Twilight movie, Eclipse, get a gift card to the movies with some fake blood and vampire teeth. Or, if you’re like me, a movie gift card would go perfect with a purse size salt shaker for the tub of popcorn I’d buy once I got there.

With the kids home for summer, my once quiet work-from-home mornings have turned into a swirl of Legos, Wii games, flying Nerf balls, flying Legos, and a constant barrage of tattle-taling (You don’t want to know about my new threat, ominously called, “The Tattle-Tale Treatment.”). I can barely remember what day of the week it is, much less get anything done. And just when I feel guilty about that, I remember that it’s summer–my kids are old enough to remember the days we share, and young enough to still want to share them with me. What a treasure.

Another Treasure

So today, I shook my head in shame and then threw my arms into a double fist pump when I found an unused movie theater gift card tacked to the bulletin board in my office. ME, the one who spends her days obsessing about gift cards, forgot I had one. Unacceptable!

Then the self-loathing mixed with euphoria turned to anxiety as I wondered if the unused gift card would still be usable. On the back of the gift card, I found a web address on which to check the balance. Thankfully, I still had $21 to spend at the movies. (Back to the fist pumping!)

No More Worries

The good news – as of August 22, 2010, gift card laws are changing in a way that you’re less likely to feel anxious about unused gift cards. The new law says that gift cards can’t expire in less than five years and you can’t be dinged a non-use fee for at least a year. Most importantly, in my opinion, terms such as these must be clearly specified on the card before purchase. No more wondering.

So if I ever find another unused gift card in my possession, I won’t have to worry or wonder about whether or not I can still use it.

Now, my friends…Shrek 3, Toy Story 3, or Karate Kid? Any help here?

Maybe we could all learn a lesson from these two boys

My 8-year-old son has been stockpiling gift cards all year. From time to time, he’d ask me to buy something non-essential and I’d respond, “You can buy that with your own money.” He never wanted said item badly enough to part with the plastic.

But this morning, he and his little brother burst into my bedroom with a plan–they wanted to pool their money to buy Madden NFL and a new nun-chuck for the Wii. Your money? Yes. Something you really want? Yes. A non-couch activity for the summer? Let me get my keys.

This is just another example of why I love gift cards for kids. Matthew had received enough loot for Christmas and for his birthday that he didn’t want for anything else. So rather than redeem the gift cards frivolously, he saved them for a future purchase. In this world of instant gratification, I’m happy to see that his patience paid off.

Want to help your kids redeem gift cards? Click here.