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Courtesy Jen Glantz
In an effort to not overspend this holiday season, I decided to plan early and buy all my gifts by the end of November. After making a list of the 10 people I wanted to buy gifts for, I realized that I was about to spend more than $700.
Instead of pulling cash out of my savings account, I decided to part ways with 50,000 CapitalOne Spark Miles Select credit card miles.
Here's how I budgeted them to buy gifts for the 10 people on my list this year.
There are a few people on my gift list who I find it hard to shop for. Instead of buying them something they might not like, I always get them gift cards to stores they frequent.
Since I'm able to cash in miles for gift cards with my CapitalOne card, I decided to buy them for three people on my list.
My miles could be redeemed for gift cards at retailers and restaurants available on their platform at a rate of 0.8 to 1.067 cents per mile, depending on the business.
When I went to browse gift card options, I noticed that some gift cards from retailers were on sale and offered 10% off. For example, a $200 gift card to Barnes & Noble might be 18,000 miles instead of 20,000 miles.
I used 13,500 miles in total and picked up three $50 gift cards, all 10% off.
I had picked out specific items for five people on my list that I could grab on Amazon. These gifts ranged from $15 to $100. Another bonus was that I could have these items shipped directly to me or to my loved ones for free as an Amazon Prime member. This saved me around $50 in shipping fees that I'd have to pay to send them myself or through another online retailer.
I lowered my balance even more by redeeming some of my CapitalOne miles to cover my Amazon balance at checkout.
I used 21,875 miles to pay for $175 worth of gifts. I crossed off another five gifts from my list.
One of my friends is someone who loves experiences as gifts. Capital One miles can be redeemed for tickets to sports games, concerts, and shows, so I looked for an upcoming event to take her to. I noticed that one of her favorite comedians was coming to town in a few months.
I found tickets for around $92 and was able to pay for hers with credit card miles. It cost me 11,500 miles to cover the cost of her ticket. I plan to pay for my own ticket in cash.
With only 3,125 miles left and one person on my gift list, I decided to make the final purchase an easy one. I knew this person wanted a particular beaded bracelet from an online store.
Since I didn't have enough miles to cover the entire $50 purchase, I bought the bracelet with my Capital One card. I then applied the remainder of my 3,125 to help pay for my credit card balance that month. It reduced the price of the gift to $18.85.
While it didn't cover the entire price of the gift, I was able to get my friend an item that she liked and cover more than half of the cost using my credit card miles.
