LogicsHere
Member
Have never had the desire to get a debitcard; not that I don't have good control over how I spend my money, I just don't like them or the risk they pose to your bank account.
Then how will you ever get a nice new Yeti?
Bass Pro Shops - Yeti Soft Side Cooler
What do you do - get one of those Styrofoam ones at Wal-Mart for $2.99? That's un-American!!! Come on - man up and put that $299.99 on your Visa ...nthego:
Every time you swipe your card (debit or credit) you expose all your personal information i.e. name, address, SS#, bank information,,,etc, to the world. You assume it is safe and no one will use it for nefarious purposes, but alas the mugger you need to worry about is NOT the stocking capped stalker creeping up behind you but the 18 YO Ukrainian sitting in his basement gathering all the bits and pieces of information he can to sell to other shady characters. It's a big business and no one and I include myself is safe from it.
I just try to remain as much off the grid as much as possible. I figure that if my wallet containing only $50, drivers license, and Medicare card is lost or stolen then it would be a small price to pay rather than draining my savings and entering my home stealing my safe and God forbid doing bodily harm. I read every day about another retail breach and security minded people saying, 'It is a fact of life that we all can't be entirely safe from fraud'. It's the attitude that they want you to accept and roll with the punches for convenience.
When and if I need to use my debit card I've taken the extreme step of scratching the swipe strip making it unreadable and forcing the clerk to enter my card # manually. They tell me to get a new card but they want the sale and enter it anyway. Ya I'll get right on that.
$12,000 a year on just gas/groceries? Ouch! $12,000 a year for me covers not only my gas and groceries, but the electric and yearly maintenance on my co-op.
You are not susposed to carry your Medicare card for that reason. If you have an 'Advantage' plan like mine they issue you a card that doesn't show you SS # only the member ID and group ID. Once again - Driver's license, Medicare card and $50.Your Medicare card has your SS number on it. Wish they would change that.
I put $500 twice monthly in an envelope marked 'Discretionary' my wife and I use it throughout the month for, food, gas, dining out, gifts, trips to Costco for bulk items, small household repairs, drugs, clothing and any other normal item that your can't budget long term for. Each deposit we take what is left over and move it to an envelope marked 'Emergency' for larger maintenance or unplanned expenses such as an appliance replacement, yearly auto tags, medical co-pays, property taxes,,,etc. We had enough this summer to replace our front porch for $2,000, replace my 8 YO laptop, new printer, her cell phone - all in cash, not one item was bought with credit. I used the figure of $12,000 to gauge our every day living expenses. I don't know how much she has squirreled away but she always seems to have enough to cover the cost.
I've hopefully bought my last house and I pulled my last credit report/FICO score in Jun, the only thing that was negative was the lack of credit use, I scored an A+ on inquires '0' last one was late 2012, can't even remember what that was. Space rent, utilities (power, phone, internet, Netlfix), auto insurance are my only other expenses. I give my wife $400 and I put $400 a month in my personal sock to spend as we see fit. She gets a much smaller SS check than I but I figure she was there raising my kids, nursing me back to health after surgery and having chicken one day and feathers the next for the 45 years we have been married, I share my income 50/50 with her. She gets my SS and Pension after I pass. It's a team effort.
Sorry, I was referring to earlier in my banking experiences. I used to use the debit card for all purchases years ago. I never gave my card to a waiter/waitress to process but would swipe it until I read a security publication about the amount of personal data recorded on the strip. I also decided after an incident with my AMEX card being used to purchase $1300 worth of ski equipment from a Colo address to be delivered in Neb during June, there's not a hill high enough in Neb to ski from. The only reason I found out about it was the equipment was bought from an online source in N.E. and they sent me a thank you note and reciept for the purchase, I did get full reimbursement from AMEX and then cancelled my card.
After that I opened three bank accounts 1 - deposits and ATM full cash withdrawal , 2 - savings, and 3 - all online purchases and monthly bills. Deposit cash from #1 into #2 and if I buy something online I deposit enough to cover it and the monthly bills using the debit card number from #3, I maintain a zero balance. All local purchases are made in cash. I ask for a 3% discount and have walked at times if they refuse, it's surprising how many times I reached the door and had the clerk call me back.
See why I don't want to add another accounting headache to my routine.
I will NOT use a debit card... They are worthless... might as well carry cash. A Credit card makes more sense if you can pay off the balance every month. You get cash back and other rewards with credit cards that you don't get with debit cards. I pay everything with a credit card and write a check to pay it off every month... Discover gives me cash back.