I am not a purse person. When it comes to purses, I am not about fashion, but practicality. I rarely buy a new purse and primarily see them as a means to get my junk from one place to another. I am not saying that a great purse won’t catch my eye, it’s just not usually me that carries one. I am all about pockets and compartments and yet I am not really sure why, as it usually only takes a few days before I just shove stuff inside and avoid the compartments altogether. One of the things that I have a total love hate relationship with is gift cards. As a teacher, gift cards are the best gift ever. After teaching for over 20 years, you collect a lot of knick-knacks and nothing is as appreciated as a gift card. The downside of this is that I often have so many that I can’t keep track of the cards and their balances.

I am embarrassed to say that my previous “system” consisted of nothing more than throwing my gift cards in a ziplock . The bag gets very grungy looking and it really doesn’t look that classy when I whip out my bag and search through for the correct card. The worst part is that I am not even consistent with this. I often have additional cards in both of my wallets and the odd one floating about in the bottom of my purse. So, when I saw this idea, I knew it could be the solution I was looking for. Here is what I did:

1. I cleaned out my purse and found every single gift card I owned ~ 23 at last count!
2. I wrote down all of the balances that I knew. Some had receipts wrapped around them to show the balances, but I was able to toss them once I wrote the amounts on the backs with a Sharpie.
3. I found a spot on the back of my cards that did not interfere with the magnetic strip or security codes. I punched a hole in the first card and then used that card as a template to punch the remaining cards in the exact same place, so they would line up nicely.
4. I then put them in alphabetical order, so I could easily find what I was looking for.
5. Finally, I slid them onto a key ring. This will allow me to keep them handy without digging through the disgusting ziplock that previously held them.
   

   Junky purse contents.

   

   Ziplock bag storage.

   

   My gift card collection.

   

   Alphabetized cards.

   

   Here are the cards hole punched and strung on a key ring in alphabetical order. Love this!!

I just did this, so can’t yet comment on how well it works, but I am 100% certain it will top my previous “system”.

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