primitives discuss debit cards, credit cards

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7380928

Oh my.

babylonsister  (1000+ posts)        Sat Jan-02-10 07:11 PM
THE BABBLING SISTER PRIMITIVE
Original message

Debit card versus credit card: Several points to consider

Credit cards offer more legal protection; debit card use will not affect your credit score

While it's true that debit card users spend only money they have, they also have fewer legal protections than credit card users.

Besides, the cards carry significant costs for the not-so-careful. Overdraft fees from the largest banks average $35 a pop, which rivals credit card over-limit and late fees. (New federal regulations effective July 1 will require banks to get your permission before enrolling you in an overdraft-protection plan.)

And while it's true that credit cards can help you run up huge debt, many users pay off the balance every month, avoiding interest charges and taking advantage of a grace period before they pay the bill. Surveys show that more than 40 percent of credit card holders pay their entire balance each month.

So which card should you use when?

A lot depends on your attitude toward credit. If you'd rather pay as you go, a debit card is your best option. But before you decide, consider the pros and cons of credit versus debit cards:

more...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/yourmoney/chi-tc...

Mojambo  (1000+ posts)        Sat Jan-02-10 07:17 PM
Response to Original message
 
1. I have one debit card and that's all I'll ever have.

If I don't have the scratch, I'm not buying.

Warpy  (1000+ posts)        Sat Jan-02-10 07:25 PM
THE DEFROCKED WARPED PRIMITIVE
Response to Reply #1

7. Same here. 

Everything's paid for and I sleep soundly at night.

Ron Green  (1000+ posts)        Sat Jan-02-10 07:21 PM
Response to Original message
 
2. My wife and I have 3 debit cards and one credit card.

We use Quicken to keep track of all our accounts, so both cards work well for us.

TexasObserver  (1000+ posts)        Sat Jan-02-10 07:23 PM
Response to Original message
 
3. Debit card = money you have. Credit card = money you don't have.

Skittles  (1000+ posts)      Sat Jan-02-10 07:28 PM
Response to Reply #3
 
15. not true

I use a credit card for several things I DO have the money for but sometimes it makes more sense protection-wise to use credit as opposed to debit

flying rabbit (816 posts)      Sat Jan-02-10 08:43 PM
Response to Reply #15
 
25. Yes, that is how I use mine.

I keep track of what is owed so I don't have any surprises.

FLDCVADem (806 posts)      Sat Jan-02-10 07:30 PM
Response to Reply #3
 
17. I disagree completely

we pay our card off in full every month, we get cash back on every purchase, and there are no annual fees.

For us, it makes good sense to use our credit card.

Trekologer (304 posts)      Sat Jan-02-10 07:31 PM
Response to Reply #3
 
18. That's not necessarily true

A credit card could be money you have, just not with you. One also offers several protections, such as your actual funds being isolated from the account. Should a merchant post an transaction in error (such as adding an extra 0 or two to the amount) or a thief get a hold of the card number, its not your money that's being played with. If you have a dispute with the merchant (item breaks and they won't fix/replace it, wasn't what you expected, you paid a deposit then the good or service was never delivered) not only are you not required to pay the disputed amount but the card company takes care of the dispute. You can't do that with cash and often not with a debit card to the same extent.

The key is to be smart when using credit cards.

Now, now.

"Being smart" is rather too much to expect of the primitives.

FLDCVADem (806 posts)      Sat Jan-02-10 07:24 PM
Response to Original message
 
4. We have two credit cards

One that we use for almost everything (paid in full each month) and a second one that sits in our lockbox, but is used for recurring monthly bills that come (gym memberships, etc). This one is also paid in full each month.

Warpy  (1000+ posts)        Sat Jan-02-10 07:24 PM
THE DEFROCKED WARPED PRIMITIVE
Response to Original message

5. One way to protect yourself with a debit card is to keep it on an account with a balance whose loss won't wipe you out. Banks will send you emails to tell you when that account is below a pre determined rate so that you'll always know when you need to move a little money around to cover upcoming purchases. That's what I've done and it's worked out well.

I got rid of credit cards when they started charging junk fees. Silly me, I thought 18 3/4% interest should have been enough for them.

Nikki Stone1  (1000+ posts)     Sat Jan-02-10 07:27 PM
THE BELLA ABZUG PRIMITIVE
Response to Original message

9. As long as you don't charge more than you can pay off every month, a credit card is safer provided they don't start adding yearly fees for use of the card.

mike_c  (1000+ posts)        Sat Jan-02-10 07:32 PM
THE MIKE_C PRIMITIVE
Response to Reply #13
 
19. that's not true, at least in my experience....

A couple of years ago someone stole my debit card number while I was on a trip-- I presume someone who rang up a charge on it-- and I returned home to find $500 of charges for purchases that I didn't make. One call to my credit union refunded every dime.

regnaD kciN  (1000+ posts)        Sat Jan-02-10 07:37 PM
Response to Reply #19
 
20. Same here...

Except, in my case, the debit card itself wasn't stolen. Somebody got hold of my card information (maybe they found a sales slip a store had discarded?) and mail-ordered a lot of stuff. My bank (this was even before I went with a credit union) refunded the charges once I filed a formal police report.

mike_c  (1000+ posts)        Sat Jan-02-10 07:50 PM
THE MIKE_C PRIMITIVE
Response to Reply #20

24. that's exact;y what happened to me....

Sorry, didn't mean to give the impression that the card was stolen-- only the information was taken.

As far as legal protections go, I believe that using a debit card as a credit card-- mine is a Visa card as well-- gives you all the usual legal protections while maintaining the "live within your means" limits of spending only what you have.

uppityperson  (1000+ posts)        Sun Jan-03-10 04:21 AM
DOROTHY THE SNOBBISH PRIMITIVE
Response to Reply #14

33. I discovered that a while back, debit card, even if says VISA, doesn't have the protections debit card is in lieu of writing a check, same protections as a check (minimal) but takes the money out of your account right now.

NNN0LHI  (1000+ posts)      Sat Jan-02-10 08:55 PM
THE GROUCHY OLD PRIMITIVE
Response to Original message

26. Getting used to using anything other than cash for everyday purchases is a trap

Debit card, credit card. Don't make any difference. Plastic is plastic. Lot harder to peel off the Benjamins than whip out the card. Ever looked at some gizmo if some drawer that you purchased a couple of years ago and never used and wondered to yourself, "Now why in the **** did I buy that?" The answer is plastic. Chances are you wouldn't have bought that unused gizmo if you were using cash. And if you had you would have likely returned it and got your cash back a long time ago.

Want to stick it to the man? Use cash. You will spend less and actually need what you buy. Its a win-win situation.

BlueIris  (1000+ posts)        Sat Jan-02-10 09:08 PM
Response to Original message
 
28. What sick bastard would unrec this thread? 

Get a life, trolls.

[Specbid]

These nitwits do argue about everything, don't they? What's next? Debate over Cottenelle vs. Charmin?

[franksolich]

These nitwits do argue about everything, don't they? What's next? Debate over Cottenelle vs. Charmin?

Actually, the primitives did debate that issue.

I think it was in the Frugal Living forum, about two years ago.

[Specbid]

Actually, the primitives did debate that issue.

I think it was in the Frugal Living forum, about two years ago.

Too funny.

[Carl]

I don`t get something here.

Primitives tell us that they are wildly financially successful.

Primitives tell us that they are all just a few days shy of being homeless like I guess this bobbo person is from what I have heard.

Primitives tell us that they are all wise users of their credit cards and manage them properly.

Primitives tell us all the time that their credit card company has screwed them and they can`t even make the minimum payment.

Primitives tell us that they their credit is shot and they can`t even borrow a cup of sugar.

Primitives are confusing.

[GOBUCKS]

I don`t get something here.

Primitives tell us that they are wildly financially successful.

Primitives tell us that they are all just a few days shy of being homeless like I guess this bobbo person is from what I have heard.

Primitives tell us that they are all wise users of their credit cards and manage them properly.

Primitives tell us all the time that their credit card company has screwed them and they can`t even make the minimum payment.

Primitives tell us that they their credit is shot and they can`t even borrow a cup of sugar.

Primitives are confusing.

Well those are five accurate observations about the DUmmies. And of the five, in only two of them are they lying - I changed the lies to bold. So they are only lying 40% of the time, which is amazing for DUmmies.

And what is this with DUmmy Warpy moving money between bank accounts? I think she told us she made only $24,000 per year, and that was before her drug addictions led to her disqualification from nursing. She moved from some east coast socialist hellhole, maybe as a condition of her probation, down into the desolate wastes of the Southwest desert. One would expect that as a result she is making even less than $24,000, maybe zero, and it's very likely that her drug abuse has continued. So again I ask, what is it with her moving money between multiple bank accounts? Where could it come from? Is it possible that she isn't being completely honest with us?

[franksolich]

Is it possible that she isn't being completely honest with us?

Of course the defrocked warped primitive isn't being honest.....but most of all with herself, much less with the other primitives and decent and civilized people.

And therein lies a tragedy waiting to happen; I've never seen it not happen.

The defrocked warped primitive, by the way, was once an R.N., but no longer is; the primitive R.N. making $24,000 a year is a current R.N., Ms. Ed the unappellated eohippus (the "Horse with no Name" primitive) down there in northern Texas.

Ms. Ed is another tragedy inevitably to happen.

People who Hate ultimately self-destruct.

[Chris_]

I get a kick out of the ones that say they pay their credit cards off every month then you read a few weeks later how the card companies raised their rates.  To the non payment/late customer rates.   

greenbriar claims to have $200,000 debt.  All that money she brags about them having.  Imagine that.

People who Hate ultimately self-destruct.

Yep.

[The Village Idiot]

This is why we are going to be bartering when the economy collapses, but of course the DUmmies can only trade the pot they're growing. Anyone with a bag of chips or a chocolate bar will have an advantage.

[BlueStateSaint]

This is why we are going to be bartering when the economy collapses, but of course the DUmmies can only trade the pot they're growing. Anyone with a bag of chips or a chocolate bar will have an advantage.

Actually, the next medium of exchange will be ammo.

[The Village Idiot]

Actually, the next medium of exchange will be ammo.

3 .22 shells for an orange? thats robbery. heh.

[BlueStateSaint]

3 .22 shells for an orange? thats robbery. heh.

That assumes that the holder of the orange actually has a .22, else it's gonna suck to be them.

[The Village Idiot]

That assumes that the holder of the orange actually has a .22, else it's gonna suck to be them.

lol. I was assuming the fighting was over and peaceful people "thats us" win.

[AllosaursRus]

3 .22 shells for an orange? thats robbery. heh.

What they don't understand is, we're going to let them have the .22's after they've been spent, and then just take the damned orange!

[BlueStateSaint]

What they don't understand is, we're going to let them have the .22's after they've been spent, and then just take the damned orange!

You practice "gun control," right?

That means using one round.

[AllosaursRus]

You practice "gun control," right?

That means using one round.

We ARE talking about.22 cal, right? Many times it takes more than one. Especially if your quarry refuses to stand still. Much like a DUmmie, running away screaming, "Don't shoot!".

[BlueStateSaint]

We ARE talking about.22 cal, right? Many times it takes more than one. Especially if your quarry refuses to stand still. Much like a DUmmie, running away screaming, "Don't shoot!".

AR, distance is your enemy.  Head shots.

[kenth]

We ARE talking about.22 cal, right? Many times it takes more than one. Especially if your quarry refuses to stand still. Much like a DUmmie, running away screaming, "Don't shoot!".

Yep, since they are such proponents of "peace", and we, being maniacal gun owners, they would rush to placate us and give us the orange, while apologizing for society that made us what we are; i.e. scared shit-less, throw the orange down and run away.

Then they'd go home to the cardboard box and scribble in the dirt how they were accosted by right wingers who they talked into giving up their guns and food.

[AllosaursRus]

AR, distance is your enemy.  Head shots.

History is abound with perps/vics, surviving head shots from a .22 cal.

Just sayin'......heh, heh! Then again, I DO use my .22 mag for vermin/varmints.

[BlueStateSaint]

History is abound with perps/vics, surviving head shots from a .22 cal.

Just sayin'......heh, heh! Then again, I DO use my .22 mag for vermin/varmints.

Geez . . . you're so difficult to please!  Then, shoot again if you have to, or use a shotgun . . . *sigh*