Where’d ALL the Money Go???
An e-book presented by www.MatterOfChange.com

The HOUSE
A few years ago my wife and I were able to buy a home of our own; we needed the room with 3 kids and 1
more on the way the apartment we were renting was just too small. And trying to find an apartment with 5
bedrooms and a yard for 2 dogs was next to impossible so we saved and looked at homes, and saved and looked at
more homes, and saved until we finally found a home to meet our needs and was within our budget, albeit at the
maximum our incomes could allow and at the height of the housing BOOM! Yet, after weighing all of our options we
came to the realization that we had no options so we purchased the home.

Soon after the closing we realized that our “perfect house” was not so perfect and was in desperate need of
work to make it safe and comfortable for the kids. That’s when we sat down and created our “must-do” list, then
calculated the costs to complete the “must-do” list. After a few moments of silence, and without so much as a
glance toward each other we took our “must-do” list and broke it down. From that long “must-do” list we created 4
new, shorter lists; a revised “must-do” list, a “should-do” list, a “would-like-to-do” list, and a “will-never-happen”
list. We were the typical family in America at the height of the housing BOOM coming to fear that we may have
stretched ourselves too thin, but there was no turning back now!

The HELP
That’s when family and friends came in. Understanding our plight we began receiving prepaid gift cards as
house warming, birthday, and holiday gifts instead of the usual sweaters, coffee makers, toasters, etc. Thanks to
the combined efforts of so many pitching in a small amount we were able to complete our “must-do” list within 3
months, our “should-do” list within 6 months after that, our “would-like-to-do” list within the first 2 years of
purchasing the house, and we are now working on our “will-never-happen” list, which we have since renamed our
“quite-possible” list!

EUREKA!
As I look back at that chapter of my life I found 3 important facts, 3 facts which have opened my eyes to a
new and optimistic reality.
#1. It doesn’t take a lot of money from a few people to help someone in need; what it takes is a lot of caring
people with small amounts of money to make the difference. Like the saying goes, “the more the merrier”,
having a lot of people contributing to the same cause shows genuine care and love and reinforces bonds as if
set in concrete!
#2. The prepaid gift cards we received did not cost anyone any more money than they had already planned
to spend on gifts they just afforded us the opportunity to utilize the gifts in a more efficient way. The gift

cards went towards much needed things such as construction materials, furniture, lawn care, and at times
even food since things were still tight for a while.
#3. Throughout the hectic 2 ½ year renovation period I had received many gift cards. Once we settled in
and began working on our new “quite-possible” list I found gift cards which I had misplaced. A few were
unused with the full value still on them and the rest I had left an unused balance of less than $10. To my
dismay ALL had expired or had been drained down to $0 from maintenance fees applied by the card
companies after the first 6 months!
Because of the generosity of others I was been able to fulfill the hopes and dreams of our
children and offer them the opportunity to live safer and more productive lives; a little caring from a lot of people
goes a long way!
After realizing how much everyone helped I wanted to pay it forward and donate to a worthy cause BUT our
funds were still at bare minimums and there was literally no spare change. I could not afford to write a check and
take money from our bank account. Dismay set in! There must be some way I can help others without having to
spend much needed money.
EUREKA!!!

Questions and Answers!
#1. How could I have wasted someone’s hard earned money?
Like most people, I didn’t intentionally waste money; I simply put the gift cards in a place where they would
not get lost which happened to be a place I visited very infrequently!
#2. Where’d ALL the money go???
After much research I found the answer to this question and I was completely in shock with what I found.
The unused money remaining on prepaid gift cards goes either to the Big Business from which it was purchased OR
it gets turned over to the Government’s Treasury! This next fact is where I almost vomited…there are BILLIONS
of dollars of unused funds left on prepaid gift cards per year, BILLIONS!!! That’s nine zeroes!!!

Do those huge Corporations or the Government’s Treasury really need that extra money? Well they’re
fighting over it as if they would starve without it!
Then I found out that between 15% and 20% of gift cards don’t get redeemed AND $24.92 BILLION was
spent on gift cards in the 2008 Holiday Season alone!!! After reading that I just had to do the math…that’s
anywhere from $3.74 to $4.98 BILLION that gets handed over to the Big Businesses or the Government’s
Treasury ANNUALLY!!! That’s a staggering number and one in which we as the consumer have no control of…
until NOW!!!
I have created a prepaid gift card company, Matter Of Change (www.MatterOfChange.com), which returns
control and power over your money back to YOU. That’s right, it’s not a misprint or poor editing, you don’t need
new reading glasses or a session with a psychiatrist, we are giving YOU the final say on what to do with YOUR
money!!! This innovative, patent pending business model will completely alter the prepaid gift card world and send
shockwaves and a bold message to Big Business and the Government, “it’s OUR money, WE earned it, We pay taxes
on it, it LOSES value over time BUT WE will at the very least regain control over how it’s spent!”
It’s accepted that once you pay for a gift card you cannot get the money back, that’s fine but having the
power to direct where any leftovers go is the next best option. Matter Of Change allows you to affiliate your gift
cards with a charity of your choosing AND you tell us when you want the leftovers transferred to that specific
charity! Statistics show that most gift cards are used within the first 6 months (80%) after that the likelihood of
cards getting used drops dramatically.
Matter Of Change is the company which will give you that power back, transforming you from an ordinary
consumer to a “Superhero Consumer” capable of being a hero to the World!!! YOU will have the option to tell
Matter Of Change what to do with YOUR gift card money before the Government’s Treasury takes it or Big
Business drains it through monthly maintenance fees.