The gift card guide / Go find them. Then see what waiting costs.
Go find them. Then see what waiting costs.
Check five places. Add up what you find. Most people find more than they expected.
Your drawer
Just the amounts. Never a card number. Nothing leaves this page. The numbers below are examples; change them to yours.
Below the $244 average (Bankrate, 2024). Keep looking. Most people find more once they start.
Found an old one? Its clock started when it was bought, not when you found it. If you don't know when that was, call the number on the back before you count on it.
What waiting costs
A gift card is money you already paid for. While it sits, it earns nothing. If you also owe money on a credit card, it's worse: you're paying interest while your own money sits in a drawer.
Go deeper: where the rates come from
If you owe on a credit card, the rate is the national average for cards that carry a balance: 21.52% (Federal Reserve G.19, first quarter of 2026). If you don't, the rate is what the best online savings accounts paid in October 2026, 4.27%. The average savings account pays only 0.37%, so the real number for most people is tiny. The point isn't the exact figure. It's that waiting never pays.
Almost half of people with a credit card, 47%, carry a balance from month to month (Bankrate, January 2026). If that's you, every $100 sitting in a drawer costs about $1.79 a month until you use it.
Your numbers, your math. This isn't a promise about what you'll save.
The forgotten pile keeps growing
Average unused balance per person, by year.
Bankrate, 2021 to 2024 surveys. Bigger
How the money got lost
Share of adults. 34% lost money at least one way.
Bankrate, 2024 gift card survey. Bigger
Found some? Put them in CardCue Pro before they go back in the drawer.
CardCue Pro keeps every card's balance, expiration and barcode in one place, and chirps when you're near a store where you have a card. Free for 3 cards. iPhone, with an Apple Watch app on every plan.
Not a bank or card issuer. It never holds, funds or guarantees a balance.
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