I stumbled upon a long-forgotten Starbucks gift card the other day and rejoiced. Here was $10-worth of coffee and treats -- luxuries I no longer allow myself in the name of frugality -- just begging to be spent. And a week before payday, too. Bonus!

Why is finding a gift-card better than finding that proverbial $5 in your pants pocket? Because unlike the five-spot, you can't do anything BUT spend the gift card. No saving it. No redeeming it for cash. No trading it in. You're forced to go out and spend it on what it was intended for. Coffee. Books. Music. Home electronics.

When you've taught yourself to do without, it's a sinful luxury. Not to mention an exciting taste of the way things used to be. For example, I long ago weaned myself off the expensive habit of buying new hardcover books. When something comes out I want, I either put my name on the list for it at the library or borrow it from a less frugal friend. But with a $30 gift certificate to Borders..well? My hand is forced. And doesn't it feel wrong, oh, so deliciously wrong to walk out of there with the latest bestseller in a crisp paper bag? Oh yeah, baby!

As we've reported here on WalletPop, gift cards are growing in popularity. Many retailers are also doing away with pesky expiration dates as well. With the economy going further south every day, I predict these little squares of plastic will take on a new cache. A license to spend, if you will.

So go ahead and give your loved one a vicarious thrill. Hand over that $50 gift certificate to Victoria's Secret or Best Buy and bid them spend, SPEND! On whatever they want!

This time next year, they'll thank you for the experience.

Imagine it's Christmas morning. You rush downstairs and first check your Christmas stocking to see what Santa put inside -- a gasoline gift card. Surprise! Merry Christmas!

In what is now an ongoing joke in my household, I buy my wife a $10 Christmas gift card at one of the finer stores in town: Longs, Safeway, McDonald's or Burger King. I see practicality, she sees a cheapskate. Now, with the economy in a recession, it looks like more people are coming around to the practical view, despite the lack of Christmas morning excitement they produce.

This holiday season, more gift card recipients plan to use them for necessities and not on luxuries, according to a new study released by Bankrate, Inc.

Here are four words I never thought I'd be using together in the same sentence: dollar store gift card.

So far, I've found two dollar stores that offer gift cards, Dollar Tree and 99-cent Only Stores. Well, why not? I love the idea. The concept of making gift cards available to dollar store shoppers hasn't, to my knowledge, made it across the border into Canada, but I'd be very happy if one of my friends or family members could mark my birthday or remember me at Christmas time with a gift card from a dollar store. Dollar stores are a lot of fun to shop in because you never know what you might find for a buck. Of course, if you're planning on giving someone a dollar store gift certificate, you need to be sure that they at least like, if not love, the store in question.

Dollar Tree gift cards are available at your local store for any amount from $5 and up. The 99-cent Only Store gift card is also available in-store. To my mind, the fact that these stores are making gift cards available signifies that the general public has begun to accept dollar stores as more that just places to get cheap toys and gift bags.

In the next few weeks, economic stimulus checks will begin hitting mailboxes and bank accounts across America. Like all good Americans, you should be ready to spend your check as soon as it arrives in order to stimulate the economy. Several retailers have already announced programs to lure shoppers through their doors with stimulus incentives.

Both Kroger and Sears are offering 10% bonuses, in the form of gift cards to anyone who signs over their stimulus check. If you want to get in on the spending but received your economic stimulus check via direct deposit, you can still take part in the "deal" via check or debit card.

I'm going to go out on a limb and predict the future, in May and June, we will see loads of check fraud as retailers have untrained clerks accepting checks for over $1,000, just wait and see.

The real question which you need to ask yourself is, whether this additional 10% bonus is worth spending your government windfall, rather than tackling debt. While these gift cards have no fees or expiration dates, cards are easy to lose and misplace, costing you a nice chunk of change. Also even though gift cards tell the holder to, "treat the same as cash," in my case, a gift card gives me a feeling that I can buy whatever I want since it isn't really money, often leading to frivolous purchases. If you find that you had similar feelings with the last gift card grandma sent you on your birthday, this deal may not be for you.

It's been a roller coaster ride for consumers trying to figure out what to do with their Sharper Image gift cards.

When the overpriced gadget chain filed for bankruptcy, it declared that it would no longer accept its own gift cards. Then it sort of relented, agreeing to accept gift cards, provided that you bought an equal value of goods with cash. So if you had a $50 gift card, you would have to buy another $50 worth of stuff in order to use it.

Then the California state attorney general's office sought a temporary restraining order, seeking to block the company from requiring people to buy twice as much stuff in order to get what they'd paid for. But the Alameda County superior court refused to hear the case, saying that it didn't have jurisdiction because of Sharper Image's bankruptcy filing.

Check out the Wall Street Journal article (subscription required) for the legal details. Those issues aside, it seems that the consumer protection laws in this area are seriously lacking. People do not buy gift cards with the understanding that there is a possibility they will be stiffed in the way that banks do when they lend money.

Public companies are not even allowed to book a sale from a gift card until it's redeemed for merchandise. Given that, gift card purchases should be held in some kind of escrow account, and not released into the company's general ledger until the sale has been completed. The gift card money should be separate from the rest of the assets involved in the bankruptcy.

I've reached the age where the loved ones I gift are beyond toys, and I've taken to giving gift cards so they can buy their heart's desire. I'm also in the habit of dropping the day's pocket change into a jar on my dresser. Today, I realized this would be a great way to fund next Christmas.

What brought this to mind was an article about Coinstar, the automatic coin sorting machines seen in many groceries. I don't use them because I don't like giving up the 8.9% counting fee. However, instead of cash, one can choose gift cards for bookstores, theaters, restaurants and other merchants. When you buy one of these, the sorting fee is waived. I figure that, by the end of the year, the daily change from my pockets will buy enough cards for everyone on my Christmas list.

One-stop shopping and a painless savings program; now that's what I call a good Christmas shopping experience.

After receiving a well-deserved trashing from just about everyone -- myself included -- for its decision to stop accepting gift cards in the wake of its bankruptcy filing, The Sharper Image has decided it will start accepting them again. With some restriction.

In a press release issued early this morning, the retailer said that it will accept all gift cards for their full amount but that customers will be required to purchase double the value of the gift card. So when redeeming a $25 gift card, you have to buy an additional $25 worth of stuff for cash. Partial redemptions are not allowed but the company said customers are welcome to hold onto their gift cards and that it is working to ensure that, in the future, you'll be able to redeem your card with no restrictions.

It seems like sort of a bizarre compromise but it sort of makes sense as the company looks to liquidate inventory at the 96 locations it's looking to close.

My suggesting: If you have a Sharper Image gift card, save until the company hires a liquidator -- That's when the deals on useless high-tech gadgets you don't need will really start flowing. Elvis robot anyone?

I first got interested in the issue of companies deciding not to honor gift cards following bankruptcy filings when Bradlees tried to pull that nonsense back in 2000. The company reversed that decision after universal consumer outrage but at the time a spokesman for Eliot Spitzer's office said the company was within its rights:"Everything goes to the bankruptcy court, and there's a process in place for consumers to file a claim."

Now consumers with Sharper Image gift cards are in a similar situation after the company announced that it was suspending the acceptance of gift cards but reassured consumers that "We appreciate your understanding..." I'm sure plenty of customers were less than understanding.

I don't understand the logic behind this. Companies are not allowed to report a profit on the sale of a gift card until the it redeemed for merchandise. I would argue that the gift card money should be held in escrow for the consumers until the sale is made.

Gift cards are a great deal for businesses -- they give the company cash to use/earn interest on before they have to provide anything of value in return. Consumers shouldn't get the shaft when the company files for bankruptcy; they should get their money back before anyone else gets anything.

A recent survey revealed that approximately 27% of gift cards are never redeemed. In 2006, that came to over $8 billion in gifts that ended up going back to retailers. The most common reasons that respondents cited for not using their cards included that they never had time to shop or that they never found anything they liked.

Well, you can now chalk up another reason. In a follow up to last week's story about Sharper Image's decision to file for bankruptcy, the high-end retailer announced on Friday that it will no longer accept store gift cards, gift certificates, or merchandise credit.

This means that if you are currently holding any of these items, it is probably worthless. The bright side is that you may have a legitimate claim against Sharper Image's bankruptcy estate; the downside is that Wells Fargo is in line ahead of you, and it probably wants its $20 million back. You can fight over the remaining scraps. If any.

Used to be that when you received a gift card for Christmas from a major retailer like Wal-Mart, you'd use it to buy something fun -- say, that new Eagles CD -- and you'd redeem said gift card at the same time you were exchanging that Christmas sweater that looked like it came straight from Bridget Jones's dustbin.

Recession worries, however, are curbing this form of retail therapy. According to a survey by America's Research Group, 15% of those who received gift cards in their Christmas stockings last year turned around and redeemed them in December, compared to 33% in 2006. And when they are redeeming them, it's for socks and peanut butter, not DVDs and silk scarves.

This trend bodes ill for retailers counting on shoppers to ring up post-holiday sales in part by spending more than the value of their gift cards. According to the Associated Press, sales at 43 retailers surveyed by the UBS-International Council of Shopping Centers rose just 0.5% in January, well below the original 1.5% forecast. The council's December survey of stores open for at least a year showed sales increasing by a paltry 0.7%.

According to Deloitte & Touche, between 2 and 10% of gift card dollars go unspent. What happens to that money is a topic of much debate.

About half of states think they should get at least some of the cash under unclaimed-property laws. Of course companies would like to keep the money to give their profits a boost (Revenue that carries no expenses can improve margins nicely!).

I don't know enough about the legality of all this to offer an opinion but here's my idea: What if the unspent portion of gift cards were donated to children's charities like Toys for Tots to provide presents for kids less fortunate than those gift recipients who didn't get around to spending it.

That way, the companies could still book normal profits on the cards -- just as though they'd been used by the intended recipients -- and people who receive gift cards they don't want could just let them lapse, knowing it would go to a good cause.

Sound like a good idea? Too bad it'll never happen.

Ever held onto that gift card for a few months, waiting for the perfect time to use it, only to find at the check out counter that it had expired a week ago? Or that it had hidden fees attached? Or that you could only use it at certain branches?

That's a holiday surprise not as likely to happen this year, thanks to some key rulings by the Federal Trade Commission and several states that have decide to regulate their use, according to the Washington Post.

The National Retail Federation is predicting a jolly holiday season for the gift card industry, with sales reaching $26.3 billion, up from $24.8 billion last year. The average consumer will spend about $122.59 on gift cards this year, compared with $116.51 last year, the federation said.

Earlier Zac wrote about a program to design your own credit card. Coincidently, I'd just run across a similar program for gift cards.

Other bloggers have written about the shortcomings of the gift card. I read recently that 25% of the balance on gift cards goes unclaimed, mostly because they are tied to a specific store. I've found an interesting alternative that helps with that problem.

And makes a nice gift. A new program from Visa, available via GiftCardLab.com, allowed me to create my own Visa gift cards with the photo of my choice. I happened to have a shot of my extended family taken this summer, so I uploaded it to the site and voila!-- gift cards with my family's picture on them. Better yet, I was then able to add each recipient's name on his/her gift card.

The cards don't come cheap, though. Each one cost me $5.95 plus the gift amount I chose to put on them. Delivery is supposed to take 7-10 business days, and I'm counting on to come through. If they do, I expect some squeals of delight around the Christmas tree this year.

In this age of the internet and lack of time, gift cards are becoming a preferred gift option for many. With the holiday shopping season in full swing, billions in gift cards will most likely be purchased from now until the end of the year, from virtual stores like Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) to bricks-and-mortar stores like Best Buy (NYSE: BBY).

Are gift cards really the best option for that special person who is hard to shop for? Most likely, yes -- but don't let that thinking make you believe gift cards are foolproof gift items, either. If you're into gift cards offered by banks (these act like normal credit cards in a sense), the allotment of fees, surcharges and other nastiness may take away some enjoyment from those special recipients this holiday season. Want more? Be sure and check those expiration dates as well -- and include that information as part of the gift. Sound harsh? Would you rather have that or having that special someone sit on a gift card that then becomes unusable in the near future? You pick.

Why on earth fees on gift cards are tolerated by consumers I'll never know. Perhaps it's the retailer's way of punishing consumers for not actually buying a product as a gift. Maybe it's yet another way to goose margin amid the zillions of other ways to gouge unsuspecting customers on top of that worthless extended warranty. Oops, I meant "premier product performance plan." Ehh. Here's something to stew about: Best Buy reported a $43 million gain from gift cards purchased in 2006 that were "unlikely to be used." Did that include any gift cards you purchased as gifts?