Why do you use a debit card?

[Ciao Mickey]

Why would you use a debit card instead of a credit card? What are the advantages?

I would think using a no-fee rewards credit card to make your purchases and then paying it completely off at the end of the month would be more beneficial than using a debit card.

What am I missing?

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

I use a debit card because I treat it more like cash. I am subtracting each purchase from my checkbook register and can see how much money I have spent.

When I use a credit card, I spend more.

 

[Tissa]

I use a debit card for most purchases because, I can not trust myself to save the money and pay off a credit card at the end of the month.

 

[ducklite]

Using a no-fee rewards card and paying it off each month is the better choice IF you have the discipline to not spend money you don't have.

Many either don't have that discipline, or don't trust themselves, or have gotten into trouble with credit cards in the past and no longer use them. For those groups a debit card is a "safer" and convenient alternative.

Anne

 

[kelleigh1]

Well, my debit card is a rewards credit card. If I use it as a credit card, I earn rewards points.

But, one of the advantages might be that if you use the debit card instead of some other credit card, the money is already out of your account. If you use the credit card, you might just end up spending that money throughout the month instead of saving it to use to pay off the card.

 

[U2_rocks!]

I would think so too. I only use my credit cards for purchases - my bank card is only used at the ATM to withdraw cash. I pay regular monthly bills online where I can, and write checks for the rest. For anything else, credit cards rule! Since we pay 100% of the balance when it's due, we never pay interest. Our credit rating keeps rising, along with our credit limits (we never ask for increases, we just notice from the statements that the limits are always rising!). Those pesky banks think they will eventually get us to rack up enough of a balance that we can't pay it off on time and they'll finally get to charge us interest! I like the rewards we earn on our credit cards - we get nothing for using the debit ones.

 

[pyrxtc]

I use so I know I am spending cash and not credit. I'm not very good about getting mail out in time and I did really bad when I was younger wiht CC. Also I use my debit carda s a CC and get rewards for it.

 

[I Believe n Fairies]

For us, we use it like cash. I NEVER carry "real" money around. I always have my debit card. We just subtract from checking as we would if writing a check, which I hate to do. I do not have the discipline to pay off the cc each month. My dh does, but not me... Also, with our debit acct we get points for stuff. We're going to cash in our points this summer for $100 towards a Hyatt hotel room and take the kids to Chattanooga for the weekend.

For us, it's easy.

 

[KristinU]

There's also some statistic that people spend more when using a credit card vs. cash - I'm totally one of them. That 1% of Disney Rewards was costing me roughly 20% more. Hardly worth it. I've switched to cash everywhere I can and virtual debit when I make an online purchase.

 

[Darcy03231]

My debit card accrues rewards points so I use that.

 

[JandJ]

I only use a debit card if the store/restaurant/etc. doesn't take my favorite rewards CC. We pay our CC off 100% in full every month and use it for everything we can, so it's like we spent no cash all month and then pay everything with one bill and earn lots and lots of rewards. If we didn't pay it off every month it wouldn't be worth it though, but we are on a strict budget and it hasn't been an issue.

 

[mousefanmichelle]

I use my debit card instead of cash - I use it for groceries, gas and the like. It is easier to pay for gas at the pump vs. going into the station to pay with cash- maybe I am just lazy but it works.
I don't have what it takes to pay off a credit card for my daily purchases - eaiser to know whether I have the cash to pay for something or not. If the $$ is not in my checking account I don't buy it cuz I am not paying overdraft fees!!!

 

[car1971]

I use my debit card for everything. I dont have any credit cards. I once got in trouble with them and now am totally debt free and would like to stay that way.

 

[leight]

I only use my debit card- it accrues cash every time I use it and is linked to my Upromise acct. I've had difficulties managing debt-but we are on our way to being credit card debt free. DH uses his reward card-we pay it off monthly- but I am limiting myself to a debit card. This is something we decided works best for us and it is working nicely.

 

[RichNKatHolly]

I use my debit card for everything. I dont have any credit cards. I once got in trouble with them and now am totally debt free and would like to stay that way.

Same here!

 

[i3utterfli82]

I only use my debit card for everyday purchases. It is a visa and is linked to visa rewards. I just got a $50 Target gift card (I choose) for my points, it didn't take me but a few months to get that. Not bad for a debit card!

 

[Lisa_M]

we also get visa rewards when using our check card. I use debit when I am at the store and need to get cash back, otherwise I use it as a credit so I can get points. Our complex lets us pay our rent online so we get points for that too! It's great!

 

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

We use debit cards for everyday purchases just like using cash. We are trying to use the CC for emergencies only. DH has the only major CC in the house. Only his name on the account so that prevents me from using it, and I carry it so he doesn't use it for frivilous purchases.

In May I will pay off the 3rd of 5 store CC's. The two left carrying a balance are the two I use most often, but I will be paying those down with the money I'm saving by not paying the others. It has taken over two years to recover from late payments on my credit report due to DH losing his job in 2004. My scores are finally improving and the balances are dropping. As much as I would like to have a CC of my own, mostly for the sake of just having one, I don't want to fall back in to that hole.

 

[KarenAylwood]

I used to only use my credit card for gas purchases (to keep it active for my credit report) and used my debit card for everything else. After my debit card company started giving me rewards, I started comparing the two reward programs. I've recently started using my credit card more and more to get rewards (they are much better than the debit ones). In the past I kept it strictly debit to keep myself from overspending.

I've been doing alright with charging more on the CC but have noticed that I do tend to spend a bit more. I start to think to myself "well, it's ok because I won't have to pay it off until -insert date here-" That's what can lead to trouble, and that's why many people use only debit cards.

 

[KimAshton]

I only use my credit card when I am staying at a hotel or renting a car. The rest of the time I prefer to use the debit card.