What gift cards topped your shopping list in June? Surprisingly, almost the exact same ones, in the same order as last month – but with a little twist.

Home improvement giants continued to top the list, with Home Depot and Lowe’s ranked at #1 and #2. The secret is out – builders, subcontractors and professional handymen can increase their margins by buying discounted gift cards from Plastic Jungle. Both Home Depot and Lowe’s cards are currently offered at 7% off, immediately shaving costs and adding profit to the bottom line.

And it’s not just skilled experts that enjoyed savings. With June graduations and the Father’s Day holiday, Home Depot and Lowe’s gift cards made terrific gifts for the home improvement hobbyist.

Walmart and Target again ranked #3 and #4 respectively. As one-stop shopping centers, Junglers saved on nearly everything under the sun, including house wares, toys, clothing, electronics, and even groceries. With 3% discounted gift cards stacked on top of Walmart and Target’s already uber-competitive low prices, these cards get swiped up fast, so sign up for a notification alert to get first access.

Best Buy again ranked #5. A great source for computers, video games, televisions, digital cameras, mp3 players, mobile phones & appliances, Best Buy gift cards likely made for some great Father’s Day and Graduation gifts as well.

The next three spots were filled by clothing department stores: Macys (#6), Kohl’s (#7) and JC Penney (#8). Perhaps our Junglers were freshening up their summer wardrobe with new shorts, tanks, sundresses, swimsuits and sandals. All three merchants have darling summer clothing collections on sale now, as they make room for their fall and back-to-school collections.

The Apple Store held spot #9. Our family celebrated the end of school and good report cards with a new iPhone for my daughter, a new iTouch for my son and a new Nano for mama (I deserved a little treat for helping with all the homework and packing lunches all year long, right?!) Apple Store gift cards are quite popular, so be sure to plan ahead and sign up for an email alert when they become available.

Rounding out the Top 10 was Barnes & Noble. (Cabela’s filled this spot in May.) A popular go-to, slam-dunk teacher’s gift is always a Barnes & Noble gift card. Was your child’s teacher the lucky recipient of one of these end-of-the-school-year gifts?

Special Honorary Mention goes out to iTunes, who ranked #6 in quantity (vs. revenue), with a whopping 6,125 cards sold in June. That’s a lot of TV, video, movie, app and music downloads!

These Top 10 gift cards are just the tip of the iceberg (or should we say tip of the palm tree?) Plastic Jungle has  nearly 400 brands, with discounted gift cards offered up to 35% off. Click here to see what hot cards we’ve got up for sale now!

Plastic Jungle in the News

Thanks to consumer news reporter Gregory Karp for his useful outline for how to optimize your savings from discount gift cards.

Karp’s “Spending Smart” column reaches more than 6 million readers of Tribune Co. newspapers, including The Chicago Tribune and Baltimore Sun, in addition to a multitude of web outlets. Karp won the first-ever best-column award in 2006 from the Society of Business Editors and Writers.

In his recent Chicago Tribune article ”Use a Gift Card to Swipe Some Savings”, Karp says gift cards, bought at a discount right here at Plastic Jungle and other sites, are the new way to find discounts at favorite merchants.

Used to be, you’d get the Sunday paper, stacked with ads, and you might be inclined to pour through all the pages, flipping or keeping the coupons relevant to your life. Maybe they’d be a stretch — you don’t really like that brand but for $1 off, you’d switch.

Well, no one is asking you to compromise anymore.

Now, the smart shopper’s strategy is to take that coupon-finding time online into finding and purchasing relevant discount gift cards. (And, at the same time, she can check merchants’ sales nationally and locally.) Here at Plastic Jungle, you can purchase with confidence because every transaction is guaranteed.

The website Gift Card Granny, a discount gift-card aggregator, is challenging one of its fans to live entirely off of gift cards for one month.

“With discounted gift cards, I can continue to live the way we already enjoy and get an average of 10 percent off everything,” said Ashley Grimaldo, 31, a mother of two in Bryan, Texas. Grimaldo pledged to live off only discounted gift cards for a month. She figures she’ll save $150 to $200, compared with spending cash. “It’s a pretty good return for not much work,” she said.

Karp also quotes Luke Knowles, founder of GiftCardGranny.com, who estimates that a consumer regularly using discounted gift cards could save $2,000 a year.

Karp goes on to outline the best ways to optimize discount gift cards – so if you’re looking for gift card ideas, check out the article, then come back to Plastic Jungle and see how you can make the most of it. You could save up to 35% off the retail value of a merchant’s gift card: save on movies, flowers, donuts, clothing, housewares, restaurants and more.

Hot Discounted Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle Right Now (hurry! supplies limited):

Get Kohl’s Gift Cards at up to 11% off            >>>

Get 1800Flowers Gift Cards at up to 35% off   >>>

Get Dunkin Donuts Gift Cards at up to 10% off >>>

Get Fandango Gift Cards at up to 30% off        >>>

Get Cabela’s Gift Cards at up to 10% off          >>>

Get Walmart Gift Cards at up to 3% off         >>>

See All Discounted Gift Cards and eCODES Available Right Now on Plastic Jungle   >>>

What are your ideas when it comes to discounted gift cards? Do you have any shopping shortcuts to share? Let us know with your comments!

If you’ve recently taken advantage of our sweet discounts off apparel retailers’ gift cards (at time of writing, save up to 14% on American Apparel Gift Cards, 14% on Kohl’s Gift Cards, 11% on The Limited Gift Cards, 10% on bebe Gift Cards, 18% on Lucky Brand Denim Gift Cards, plus a very limited supply of Bloomingdale’s Gift Cards and Macy’s Gift Cards ) you likely have your eye on something to purchase.

Have you considered what’s showing for Spring/Summer ‘11? We’ve got a shopping guide ready for you. Spring 2011 lines popped a few trends to the forefront:

Color Blocking: Check out W magazine’s bold accessories showing. Color is strong, contrasting, and makes a statement. Consider these choices from JCrew Collection: vivid pencil skirt, textured and rich leather pocket shirt, royal blue silk shirt and the duchesse short.

White?: Or is it Chalk? Pastel? Whatever you call it, it’s pale, chic, and just barely on the white spectrum. Take a look at Anthropologie’s riff on the trend with their Cloud Art Dress and Draped Denim Dress. Check the palette on JCrew’s washed crepe Nanene dress – nuances of color as well as one or two deep, rich tones.

Hemlines: Harper’s Bazaar shows long and billowy for the fresh weather.

Harper's Bazaar Billowing Skirts

Glam Disco-Era Looks: Palazzo Pants (tips on wearing the blousy style at WhatEmmaDid.com) and Pajama Dressing. Editors at Elle magazine give tips on coordinating the baggy style with slim pieces.

Minimal White: StyleCaster and Christina Gregoire, among other blogging fashionistas, think Minimal White is the new “little black”.

Bohemian Chic: Consider this trend an extension on its long-running favor, with lace on your backpocket or pocketbook. Check out Lucky Brand Denim’s clever paisley block prints. Editors at W magazine don’t want you to travel style-less and put together a few trendy travel pieces for you.

–>>Get a Lucky Brand Gift Card at 18% off!

Quick Reference: As a whole, we’re happy to refer to the TallGirlTale’s Take on Nordstrom’s list of top 10 Spring Fashions. And the Shopping Girl’s fave must-read, Lucky Magazine, is favoring all of us with a list of Lucky Magazine’s list of Spring Trends on Sale.

Follow WWD on Facebook or Twitter for the latest on NY Fashion Week

Don’t Forget Fall! It’s doubtful the media will let you forget this is Fashion Week for Fall 2011. Here’s a little peek on Tom Ford and the new minimal shows trending right now from the New York Times Fashion pages. And don’t forget to take a peek at notes from the deep-in-the-trenches trend followers at WWD (formerly Women’s Wear Daily) – go straight to WWD.com/Eyescoop to find out what the retail buyers are seeing (and looking to put on the racks).

Need cash for your new picks? Don’t forget that if you have an unused or partially used gift card you’d like to swap, Plastic Jungle is the web’s largest secure gift card exchange site. There are tons of Gift Card Exchange Options on Plastic Jungle for those looking to cash in on unused gift cards.

I have a feeling the best-selling (and favorite) retail fashion pieces for Spring and Summer 2011 will fall in the chambray Palazzo Pants category, along with lacey white blouses and printed structured dresses. What’s your next piece to buy? And what are your favorite collections? Let us know with your comments, below.

Where on Earth were we shopping for Back-to-School, Halloween and Thanksgiving? Looks like Walmart was the gift card or e-gift card retailer of choice for Plastic Jungle fans. The great thing about Plastic Jungle is the ease with which you find a sure discount. No crawling the web, getting pop-ups and spam: Plastic Jungle is safe and secure and guaranteed.

Check out where your favorite stores landed, and maybe try some of these favorite merchants you’ve not visited yet. Just click on the retailer to see what cards they have available on Plastic Jungle right now. They must be popular for a reason!

Your Favorite Gift Cards

View gift cards you loved in January, February, March, April, May, June, July and August.

Which gift cards are you loving to gift for Christmas? Let us know which is your favorite gift card to gift, and how it works for you and the recipient. We love to hear how gift cards save the day.