Cash or debit card?

[Lincsong]

I have never used a debit card, or an ATM. Don't want to get hit over the back of my head. My work continues to want me to do direct deposit. My reply; "what's the use? I'd still have to go to the teller to get money out"lol

 

[Rosie]

I use both. For bigger purchases I usually use my debit card. I usually only use cash for smaller purchases. Plus, I hate having to go to the atm over and over again to get more money since I don't like carrying large amounts (over 80 or so) of money with me. I live in NYC you know and take public transport.

 

[Tango Yankee]

Debit card for over 20 years

My old bank first offered a debit card back in the early '80s with a $0.15 bonus each time I used it instead of writing a check. I still have the account and the card with the bonus even though the original bank was bought out several times since and is now Bank of America Military Banking. Unfortunately BofA doesn't have any branches or ATMs in this area so I wound up switching to my wife's bank when I retired.

I pay almost everything electronically and when possible, automatically. That was a must when I was still in and had to worry about keeping the bills paid while deployed. It makes life a lot easier! As for checks, I only use them when I absolutely have to. I do carry some cash but prefer not to use it.

Cheers,
Tom

 

[Dixon Cannon]

Cash only. Harder to trace.

Ditto here, Staggerwing! I cash the checks and use the cash. Money Orders take care of the rest! No fuss, no muss!

-dixon cannon

 

[Emmababy]

daddy pays for everything

 

[lindylady]

SF is a very cash only citay, so I have acclimated to that. I use my debit and CC for things big, or purchases that I want a strong trail of (online things etc) cause they have good online protection.

LD

Lady Day, I'm going to be in San Fran next weekend. Do I need to stop at the ATM before I board the plane? Will the locals give me a hard time for not carrying cash?

 

[pigeon toe]

I always use my debit card, which is probably a bad thing. Luckily I've never even come close to overdrawing my account, but I tend to spend a little more than I want to when I go shopping with my debit card. It's the "out of sight, out of mind" mentality with my bank account. If I had cash I knew I would spend less.

At least it's not a credit card! Now I could see myself getting into trouble with that.

 

[Quigley Brown]

I only write one check a month...for my rent. I just got my first charge card two years ago and pretty much keep it locked away for emergencies. My debit card is my main source for payment, but I always carry cash. I really like spending $2 bills and dollar coins.

 

[DBFedora]

We are a credit (not debit) card family. We use only cards that give cash rebates for purchases and we always collect a decent sum of rebates each year. They are clear profit for us as we always pay the card bill in full each month, eliminating any finance charges. Also, we do not purchase anything for which we do not already have the funds available to pay for it, either. We rarely carry cash. It works extremely very well for our family.

 

[Novella]

I take money out from ATMs once a week - it helps me budget. If I have to go back to the ATM before the week's up I've been spending too much. If the money lasts two weeks instead of one I've been really good. I only use debit cards for online purchases and taking money out. I wrote checks for rent and utilities last year, but this year I pay online. It's a system that works well for me, although last week when I went to get out the weekly cash, after I punched in all my info the ATM told me that it couldn't process my request and spit my card back out. No money and no receipt, but my online account showed the money deducted. Argh. Technology! I called the bank and had a claim filed. It's no fun to be a week short of money without getting to spend it!

 

[Chanfan]

The credit only / pay in full each moth thing is a smart smart way to go, if you can control it and always, always pay in full. Not only do you get whatever the cards promo is (air miles, cash back, whatever), but your money can sit in an account earning interest until it's time to pay off the card. Nice to be double dipping, rather than being double dipped. Alas, while I have done this in the past, I've also run into times where using the cash was useful, and I didn't pay off - so I end up losing.

I tend to use debit cards, but also tend to take cash out when making purchases via debit at the grocery store. That gives me funds for small purchases or places that don't take the debit - as it's a Master Card, it's very few. Checks, I only bring if I preplan to - and normally I just pull out one or two for the purpose.

 

[Elaina]

We use both. I generally have all the cash, my husband uses the debit card. Of course, he gets paid on a debit card, and I don't so this may be part of it.

 

[BegintheBeguine]

I don't have a debit card. I have cash and some credit cards I get generous rewards for. Of course I pay the balances in full the week before they are due. Somewhere is an ATM card, used mainly for depositing rebate checks, and a checkbook. I haven't withdrawn money from an ATM since the summer. I collect cash, if I need it, when a bunch of us go out and they want to pay cash, I charge it and no I don't shortchange the group. I don't use a lot of cash, usually less than $20 a week, and that's when I go out for drinks including busfare. I hate going into stores and hate the idea of being in debt.