If you are looking to put the brakes on out of control spending habits, financial experts recommend slicing and dicing your credit cards and using a debit card or cash to purchase necessities. Debit cards make it easy to keep track of spending. Since the card is automatically denied if you don’t have the cash in your account to cover the cost of the item you are purchasing, it’s impossible to buy things you cannot afford. Unfortunately, debit cards are not perfect. While they may look identical to credit cards, they don’t come with the same features. For example, if … Continue reading →

Internationally acclaimed personal finance expert, Suze Orman swears by cash. The money guru constantly encourages viewers of her CNBC show to stop using credit cards and start using cash in order to stay out of debt. Well, now the money honey is advocating something she calls, “better than cash.” Orman recently created a new prepaid debit card, and she wants the whole world to get one. It’s dubbed the Approved Prepaid MasterCard, and according to Orman it could mean added security for people who are trying to get their financial lives in order. “I heard from so many people who … Continue reading →

CNN has scarred me from using my debit card. The cable news network’s story on skimming makes me want to cut-up my card and use cash only for purchases. For those of you who missed CNN’s piece (or similar stories broadcast on other networks), skimming is a practice perfected by thieves looking to capture your bank card information by sliding it through a special machine. The device, which is often placed over real card slots at ATMs and other payment terminals, reads the card’s magnetic strip and basically gives complete strangers access to your checking account. According to financial service … Continue reading →

My 7-year-old doesn’t get an allowance. She doesn’t need to, she gets whatever she wants when she wants it, thanks to very generous grandparents. However, that hasn’t stopped her for asking for money. Since entering the second grade, allowance has been a hot topic in our home. My daughter’s classmates get it and she wants it. Given that she is not exactly a prime candidate for Merry Maids and she has very selective hearing, I’ve been reluctant to set-up a chore chart that pays out at the end of the week. Still, I haven’t ruled it out completely. I recently … Continue reading →

Back-to-school is infiltrating every aspect of my finances, from my wallet to my bank statements. My latest statement included a brochure on debit cards for college co-eds. Apparently, my bank offers a special card program designed specifically for students who are leaving the nest this fall. In the case of my bank, parents must open and maintain the accounts, though their college-bound students can access the funds via a bank-issued Visa or MasterCard debit card. Moms and dads can then track their kid’s spending throughout the academic year. Bank cards are just one of dozens of options parents have if … Continue reading →

I was driving home the other day and the radio host was talking about banking fees. I wish I hadn’t been almost at our destination because I would have enjoyed hearing more of the show. The part I heard was about new fees for using debit cards. I love my debit card. It’s fast and it’s easy. It’s not a credit card, so I can spend only the money I have. It’s not checks, so I don’t have to carry a pen or hold up a line filling in the blanks. Debit cards are one of the best advancements in … Continue reading →

Reloadable debit cards like the Green Dot MoneyPak can be a convenient way to pay bills or fund your PayPal account. Unfortunately, criminal minds have been hard at work lately creating a variety of scams whereby they obtain MoneyPak card numbers and then use whatever balance is left on the card. If you have a MoneyPak card or other prepaid debit card, protect yourself from fraud with the following tips. Many of the current scams involving MoneyPak cards closely resemble scams that have been around for some time, where wire transfers of funds are requested. Since smart consumers have caught … Continue reading →

If you think that using a credit card is safer than using a debit card, you may change your mind after hearing what personal finance guru Dave Ramsey has to say about the real advantages and disadvantages of using credit and debit cards. According to Ramsey, one very important disadvantage of using credit cards is that they allow users to incur debt – something that does not happen with debit cards because you are limited by the amount of funds in your bank account at any given time. I really never thought about it that way, but it makes a … Continue reading →

I love going out to eat. There’s nothing to prepare. There’s no risk of injury to self during preparation. Then there’s nothing to clean up afterward. Eating out is wonderful. Before my husband and I moved to Texas, my mom and I would meet often for lunch. We’d meet somewhere about halfway between us and make a day of it. I miss those lunches, but I’m sure I’ve saved a lot of money staying home. When mom and I would go out to lunch we’d each present a debit card when the check arrived. We never met a server who … Continue reading →

The last time I went shopping at Target I requested the Target RedCard Debit Card before my purchase was complete. The process to get the card was very simple and easy. I gave the cashier my driver’s license so he could get my basic information then I had to respond to prompts on the credit/debit machine. The prompts were simple and pretty much what I expected them to be. I did have to apologize to all the people who joined my checkout line late. I should have urged them all to go through the process themselves. I was so excited. … Continue reading →