MISSION: USING THE FORGOTTEN

Credit cards have become a big part of our lives these days.  My goal is to forget about my credit cards and put them away so they are not used, but I recently realized that I had forgotten about all the "free money" I had accumulated with my credit card rewards.  Yes, I did accumulate those points by spending money on my credit cards; however, those are points I have earned and I decided I better use them before they expire.  To help reduce the out-of-pocket cost for Christmas gifts this year, I cashed in these points.  With it I was able to get

• A family four pack of movie tickets which I put in my son's Christmas stocking so we could go see "Wreck-It Ralph" (something he'd been asking to go see for awhile)  ($40 value)
  
• A summer Minnie Mouse Nightgown for my daughter for Christmas($20 value)
  
• A winter Minnie Mouse Nightgown for my daughter for Christmas($25 value)
  
• A $50 American Express Gift card for my son's birthday
  
• A $40 gift card good at Olive Garden or Red Lobster
  
• Mickey Mouse lip gloss for my daughter's Christmas stocking ($9 value)
  
• Chef Mickey's Cookbook from Disney World for me ($25)
  
• A t-shirt for my son for Christmas ($16 value)
  
• A pair of Isotoner Gloves for me ($45 value)
  

Yes, all of this was "FREE".  I cashed in a significant amount of points that we had accumulated and never used on my husband and my credit cards.  While I am happy to tuck away the credit cards and not use them, I certainly didn't want the points we had accumulated to become a pumpkin and disappear.  So if you use a credit card that has a rewards program, check your statement to see how many points you have and make sure they aren't going to be expiring soon because after all you did earn them. You don't want to let those expire because look at all you could be missing.

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