Dana Lake ‘23
Former EIC
Bar course signup season has ended, and actual bar prep season fast approaches. While Themis and other companies open the gunner doors at the end of March for early studiers, the recommended start date in May looms large in the distance. And what better way to prepare for bar prep than to instead turn our attention toward online shopping?
If you received a gift card as part of your incentive package when choosing a bar course, check the expiration date. For Themis, the expiration date is six months from activation, which puts it right at the end of May for most people.
Law students don’t need to be told how to spend a couple hundred dollars. We blow through money like no other group of people. But there are ways to spend a bonus that won’t necessarily expand the amount of stuff you have to schlep across the country when you start work next fall.
Whatever your feelings on the use-it-or-lose-it strategy these companies employ, we can all agree losing it isn’t an option. If you haven’t been spending it down over the last few months and still have a bunch of funds left, here are five ideas to help you meet the deadline.
Money Laundering
This is the preferred method if you aren’t looking to actually buy 500 bucks worth of stuff right before you have to pack up your whole life and move after graduation. Use your card to cover a group online food order, or some other shared cost, that people will Venmo you for. In one easy move, you have converted your highly restrained virtual gift card into actual money that won’t expire. If your friends are also a bunch of law students with their own gift cards to use up, you can beat them to the punch, thanks to your loyal Law Weeklyreadership.
Buy a Gas Card
This sort of transfers the problem from one gift card to another, but at least a gas card won’t expire. Pre-pay for your summer driving (and summer road-trip snacks) with a card from Wawa or your gas station of choice. Most let you buy in whole-dollar increments, so if you haven't touched your card at all, you can do a clean transfer of all $500.
Online Grocery Shopping
Walmart+, Whole Foods, and other grocery stores that let you order online for pickup or free delivery are an easy way to save money on a bill you were already going to have anyway. If you have a pet, stocking up on their food so they don’t starve while you’re lost in the bar study haze is another option. You can spring for a new water fountain and keep them hydrated through the summer, or if you have a cat, you can try out the fancy cat litter that you would never normally buy.
Pure Consumerism
Well, why not. Treat yourself, as the millennials say. It isn’t often you get a couple hundred dollars earmarked specifically for fun treats; if you are an anxiety shopper, limiting your finals-induced purchases to only the gift card is a way to use it up and also avoid spreading the consumerist contagion to the rest of your bank accounts. A new outfit for graduation, a fancy bag for commuting to the office, various AliExpress impulse purchases—the options are endless. Get ahead on your Christmas or birthday shopping, or buy that pricey crafting item you’ve never been able to justify. Buy an aerogarden and some cool plant pods to bring some greenery and joy into your miserable study den/hovel. The dopamine boost of a new package on the way might be just what you need to keep up your motivation for one last spring semester, and having to go out and pick up the box will at least get you walking once a day.
And as for the Leftovers…
What are you supposed to do with the odd amount of money left over at the end? Most online retailers don’t let you split payments, but there are ways to spend exactly the amount left to get the most out of your gift card. Online donations to most nonprofits, for example, let you choose an exact amount to give, down to the penny. If you have a beloved NPR station you’d like to support (shout out to WLRN, South Florida’s only NPR news station), or random GoFundMe’s that look interesting, the odd forty dollars and change at the end of your card can make a real difference.
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dl9uh@virginia.edu