Comments on: Cash or Debit Card?

By: Gene

Gene — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 23:10:31 +0000

Hmm…

PLUSES FOR THE DEBT CARD:

1) Convenient, after you buy things, if you are a frugal shopper, wads of bills and coins begin clogging up your pockets and in my case they fall out of my pants. I loose small things out of my pockets easily.

2) Provides a record online that I can access via internet or your smartphone.

3) usually free to use, and lots of places will let you use your card for little purchases, even though it costs them.

4) Takes money out of my account immediately. Checks float out there and complicate my actual balance.

5) Can be used to get cash. The grocery store I use lets you get cash without penalty.

6) If you are on a trip and you buy alot of things, which cashier wants to take the time to count out all these loads of coins and small bills that you have been accumulating everytime you buy something with a $20 or a $50 or a $100 bill?

CONS FOR THE DEBT CARD:

1) Business like low priced gas stations and small business must charge for the use of the card… SO..to avoid these pesky fees having some cash on hand helps you to save money.

2) If you have a credit/debt card and it is stolen you need to be able to call your bank SOON and cancel it before the crook finds a lame clerk somewhere who doesn’t check their ID on a credit purchase.

3) Lots of small business still refuse to use debt cards.

THEREFORE SOME OF BOTH IS THE BEST CHOICE!

I believe having a debt card on you is the best AND have a couple of $20s on your person somewhere for gas, debt fee places and cash only businesses.

By: rob

rob — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 02:21:32 +0000

Thats your opinion I guess but using a debit card for me is not pointless at all. Quite the contrary.

By: Vik

Vik — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 13:38:23 +0000

Cash is pointless as are debit cards. If you are responsible, get a credit card that rewards you.

In one year I have been rewarded 4 round trip tickets.

Keep the cash somewhere where you earn interest. If you use a card (of any kind) it is easier to track your expenses. I use expenseview.com for every transaction.

The key to be smart with your money is tracking every transaction…

By: Carol

Carol — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 15:34:53 +0000

I’m torn on this one. I really rely on my debit card and hardly ever use cash. I don’t feel safe using it. However, one big disadvantage of our debit card is that since my husband and I have a joint account, we are both spending out of, it means we both have virtually unlimited access to the bank account. We often don’t know how much the other has spent until we turn in the receipts and then it’s “whoa nelly”! With a cash based envelope system, each person has a set budget amount to spend and you can keep a better handle on your money.

By: rob

rob — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 14:24:04 +0000

Using a debit card over the last few years instead of a credit card has allowed me to keep my spending from getting out of hand. Using the debit, even though it may not have the same level of protection as a credit card, was the single best thing I could have done to avoid paying outlandish credit card fees.

By: Suzy

Suzy — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 12:42:48 +0000

About a year ago, my husband and I decided to use cash for everything. We shredded our debit cards after paying $38.89 for a cup of coffee ($37.00 overdraft fee + $1.89 for coffee). We were both taking money out of the same account and weren’t writing all of the purchases down. Since we have started using cash only, we have trained ourselves to spend more thoughtfully and now we only pay $1.89 for coffee in the morning! I would suggest to ANYONE to try this for a week or a month. We’re very pleased with our results.

By: justme

justme — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:02:58 +0000

#9 i am with you I hate being stuck behind people using plastic it is so slow;-)

By: justme

justme — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:01:05 +0000

to # 8 no matter how bad you need/want something if you cannot aford it you cannot buy it plain and simple budget idea

as for peopel who lose cash and cannot control their spending with cash that strikes me as a flaw I would choose to correct

By: Joel

Joel — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 02:26:57 +0000

I prefer a credit card over a debit card, credit card gives a 25 day grace perion on payment and there are some point incentives also. I pay the bill in full each month and never carry a balance. I would never use credit if I had to pay intrest charge.
I have never used a debit card because it is more troublesom to keep a tally on spending.

By: kemkem

kemkem — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:08:11 +0000

I am not surprised that people spend more with the debit card. It doesn’t seem like it’s “real” money. I am one of the dying breed who still uses an ATM card. I had to threaten to close my account in order to keep getting renewals. They would automatically send me a debit card and l would go in and demand an ATM card. It is more real to me when l have to put my pin # in. I know it’s coming straight from my wallet so to speak and it makes me more careful. The banks hate ATM cards because they can’t charge the establishments the 3-5% processing fee. I use credit cards for dining out.