I am wanting to buy an expensive item on Amazon (US $300) and thought that I could save up for it by buying amazon eGift cards for myself (between $20- $50 value) until I have the full amount. Is this the most economical and safe way to do this? I have a westpac debit credit card so I'm not sure if I'd be charged foreign exchange fees everytime I purchase a giftcard (they appear to be only available in US dollars). I'd welcome my fellow ozbargainers insightful input. Thanks.
Amazon Gift Cards. Saving for a Large Purchase
growler on 09/05/2017 - 01:19
Comments
or just buy it. $400 is not a lot of money.
He probably wants to save $2 from $400, let him be.
For me it's 6 weeks of groceries, I'm on a limited income
Likely that you would be charged foreign transaction fees with that Westpac card, if so it's best to find a card that doesn't.
Why are you buying the giftcards instead of just saving up for the full amount, I assume the idea is that you buy the giftcards at a discount?I don't have an income that would allow me to get any other cards. My idea was to quarantine the savings so I couldn't spend it on anything else until I build enough egiftcards to afford the purchase. I'm not to bad at saving but if a great offer comes up for something else I'm after it can be tempting to use the money to buy it first. After reading all the replies I suspect I just need to be disciplined with my savings until I reach the goal amount.
I see a method of forced savings, yes it is hard but the best way is to just be disciplined, maybe transfer to another bank account? In general if you don't have much available cash and then tie it up in gift cards, then you have no liquidity in an emergency.
I just got a fee free Macquarie debit card using a deal I saw on Ozbargain and it has no foreign transaction fees (I'm pretty sure).I have a second savings account so I will use it…..I have a cat so I keep mininmum $2,000 aside for emergencies such as vet bills.
Why not just save the money in your account and buy it when you have enough money? I don't understand why you are building up a gift card collection?
I think this will be how I do it.
Out of curiosity, what are you buying from Amazon? Maybe we can find you a better price so you can buy it sooner.
It's a long out of print tv boxset (US only release)that I will not name as I will embarrass myself…It's not appeared on ebay in the last 12 months, it's not on torrents (I have access to wifi via a telco hotspot offer and looked as a last resort) but there's 2 on Amazon marketplace at the same price. I'm pretty savy when hunting a bargain (I keep my household budget for food and cleaners etc to $10 a day) and I don't think I can find it elsewhere….thank you for offering though, it's appreciated.
I love getting packages too :-)