Credit, Debit, or Cash

I always use credit cards for the points and have them on auto pay in full every month!
 
Never never never use debit cards! You can be wiped out and there is no recourse.

We use two credit cards from different companies. We pay them off monthly. We accrue points and cash back and they do all our accounting for us.
 
Caskem said:
Never never never use debit cards! You can be wiped out and there is no recourse...
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I think that's incorrect. Debit cards do carry protections but there are restrictions.

That being said we always use CCs when possible, not for the points or rewards...those are nice but the cards are more of a convenience for us. One outfit will only take a debit card, one or two others will only take checks. Go figure.
 
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We use CC for most purchases. Bill Pay for utilities, and cash only at our solid waste/dump $7 a month. About $2K in cash rewards in 2023.
 
I never ever use a debit card for purchases. If there is a problem with anything, then the money is already out of your checking account. If you can get them to fix the issue, it might take months, and there really isn't the same guarantee of purchases that a credit card has. C=I can't think of one single reason to use a Debit card vs a Credit Card. Unless you have an issue of overspending on Credit and can't pay off in full each year. But I doubt anyone on this site has that issue.
 
there are totally different laws involved between the use of credit cards and debit cards .

read the fine print on viabor master card zero liability and it tells you with debit cards if a non visa network is used you aren’t covered .

like you have some control over how the bad guys use your card .

we always see the news segment seven on your side intervene when a ban k will not refund someone’s money when their debit card was used and there is a question about how these numbers were obtained.

i used my fidelity debit card to take out my pay check from a bank lobby atm .

it never saw the light of day anywhere else .

somehow my pin and card numbers were stolen internally.

the bank saw the card was never used anywhere else so no problem getting my money back .

had that card been used elsewhere i would have had a losing battle on my hands
 
mathjak107 said:
there are totally different laws involved between the use of credit cards and debit cards .

read the fine print on viabor master card zero liability and it tells you with debit cards if a non visa network is used you aren’t covered .

like you have some control over how the bad guys use your card .

we always see the news segment seven on your side intervene when a ban k will not refund someone’s money when their debit card was used and there is a question about how these numbers were obtained.

i used my fidelity debit card to take out my pay check from a bank lobby atm .

it never saw the light of day anywhere else .

somehow my pin and card numbers were stolen internally.

the bank saw the card was never used anywhere else so no problem getting my money back .

had that card been used elsewhere i would have had a losing battle on my hands
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I only use my credit union and Fidelity debit cards to either deposit a check or withdraw cash at an ATM. I quit using debit cards for transactions starting several years ago.
 
I am virtually cashless. I use credit cards for everything. Even small purchases. I can't think of the last time I actually handled cash. The debit cards the banks send me are tucked away in the drawer. I don't use them. These are some of the reasons I use credit cards only, some of which have been mentioned..

1- The 2.25% cashback on everything I buy or every bill I pay with a CC adds up over time. Close to $1000 cashback last year. I don't carry a balance, ever.

2- Fraud protection is a biggie. It's the only method that gives you recourse if there's a dispute in your purchase or you are the victim of fraud.

3- It gives me a running record of all my purchases. The year-end statement the CC companies send show me where I'm spending, how much and what categories. It's something I've referred to often in the past to easily research an old purchase.

4- I really hate handling cash. Especially coins! :mad: It gets me through the register line quickly by paying contactless using my phone or watch to pay with my CC. I keep about $20 cash in my wallet. It just sits there.
 
I also just updated our retirement budget based on last year's spending in different categories using our Fido Visa 2023 spending report. It went up, but we're still at 100% in FIREcalc and 109 in Fido. Do banks do that with debit cards? I also only use mine very rarely, only as an ATM card.
 
scrabbler1 said:
There are 2 diners near me which have very similar prices on their menus. But way down on the bottom of the menu, one says the prices do not reflect a 4% discount if you pay cash. The other one says the prices do not reflect a 4% surcharge if you use your credit card. This makes price comparisons a little tricky because I will use cash at either place.
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I hadn't realized it at the time, but my state (New York) had enacted a law which would make one diner's menu illegal starting a few days ago. It is still legal for a business to post its higher credit card price while stating the presence of a discount for using cash (or charge everyone the same price). But it is now illegal to post a cash price while charging a surcharge for using a credit card, even if that surcharge is stated on the menu or at the register.

The second diner I described below has not changed it menu posted on line If that is what their actual menu inside the diner still looks like, then they are violating the new law. Once they get around to fixing it, it will become easier to make the price comparison I seek.

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/loc...ge-mandate-takes-effect-what-to-know/5126087/

This is a link to a recent news report which includes a link to a cartoon video about what is legal and illegal under the new law.
 
Before credit card rebates, I never used my credit card for restaurants,, groceries, or for gifts for the many birthday parties my young kids went to. Money was tighter then, and I did not want to see a credit card bill for these items because I could not see them while I was writing the check for the card bill. It was a psychological thing, admittedly, but it kept our budget "anchored."
With rebates, I now charge whenever possible. But like others here I pay cash whenever there is a card surcharge. When I have the cash on hand, I will tip with cash.
 
Lately I see more places adding a fee for using a credit card. That changes the way I’m thinking about this. Has this trend changed your credit card usage? In the past, it was a nobrainer to use the credit card and reap the rewards.[/QUOTE]


We see the fees for paying w/credit cards being added more and more also. Thus far, the fees have not exceeded the cash back.....With our BofA Premium Rewards (coupled w/ML relationship), we get 3.5% off travel/dining and 2.63% everything else....And with Verizon Visa we get 4% off gas/groceries.

As long as the fees do not exceed the cash back, we are credit cards for everything.....even property taxes/IRS....but if that changes, we will break out the check book and hit the ATM.
 
For many years we used cash for any local purchases. DH is averse to anything financial. He found using credit cards abstract and too complicated. Yes, it's very weird. But in trying to get him in touch with our money he asked if we could just use cash. So we did.

When Covid hit in 2020 he thought maybe cash was not such a great idea. I always loved optimizing the credit card cash rewards so we went back to using a couple of cards. We never carry a balance and pay no interest.

I keep him updated on which credit card to use for what purchase (2% on everything card except for the quarterly 5% on categories on another card) and he keeps a note in his wallet. So far, so good.

In 2021 I got my first smartphone and started paying for everything with Apple Pay. Just love that! Last summer I got a hand me down Apple Watch and now I pay with my watch.

I downsized my purse so well that I stopped using it and just carry a minimal wallet. I put a $20 bill in the wallet, just in case. It's been a year and I have not used it.

When we used cash all those years I had a supply of coins coming and going. I would roll those up and take them to the bank for bills. Last week I found I had a roll of quarters and a roll of dimes left and took those in.

I used to enjoy using cash. Direct, concrete, and ANONYMOUS. But I also like the cash rewards. I haven't kept track of how much, but it's better than none.

I have a debit card to the checking account but I don't think I've ever used it. And I wrote a check yesterday for Property Taxes.
 
I had a good, if atypical month. $667 from my 2023 purchases on my Costco Visa card (I use it a lot for travel, which gets 3% cash back) plus $574 from Fidelity after charging the balance of work I had done on the bathroom.

Credit cards every time unless they charge fees that exceed the cash back.
 
CC for the extra protections they have under Federal law.

I have a debit card just in case I need to get cash in an emergency. That almost never happens. The other day I needed cash for a 50 cent cup of coffee. I opened my wallet and realized I had been walking around for a least a week with not so much as 2¢ on me. The wonders of modern tech!
 
Sue J said:
For many years we used cash for any local purchases. DH is averse to anything financial. He found using credit cards abstract and too complicated. Yes, it's very weird. But in trying to get him in touch with our money he asked if we could just use cash. So we did.

When Covid hit in 2020 he thought maybe cash was not such a great idea. I always loved optimizing the credit card cash rewards so we went back to using a couple of cards. We never carry a balance and pay no interest.

I keep him updated on which credit card to use for what purchase (2% on everything card except for the quarterly 5% on categories on another card) and he keeps a note in his wallet. So far, so good.

In 2021 I got my first smartphone and started paying for everything with Apple Pay. Just love that! Last summer I got a hand me down Apple Watch and now I pay with my watch.

I downsized my purse so well that I stopped using it and just carry a minimal wallet. I put a $20 bill in the wallet, just in case. It's been a year and I have not used it.

When we used cash all those years I had a supply of coins coming and going. I would roll those up and take them to the bank for bills. Last week I found I had a roll of quarters and a roll of dimes left and took those in.

I used to enjoy using cash. Direct, concrete, and ANONYMOUS. But I also like the cash rewards. I haven't kept track of how much, but it's better than none.

I have a debit card to the checking account but I don't think I've ever used it. And I wrote a check yesterday for Property Taxes.
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Yeah, but, for me that $20 would have ended up buying a lottery ticket when it got to $900 million ;)
 
I just encountered the opposite issue today. I took some jewelry to a "We Buy Gold" place- a few mismatched earrings, an old ring that's a bit tight and a gold bangle bracelet that I bought in India that was always a but too small and left a scrape on my hand every time I put it on. The bracelet was sold as 22K but their electronic gadget said it was 19K. Hmmm. They gave me 5 crisp $100 bills.

To me they're white elephants. Why use them in the grocery store when I could get 2% cash back? So, I've hidden them away and will do what I usually do on the rare occasions I have too much cash- I'll give it to the church Treasurer as a donation. That way SHE has to get it to the bank (my accounts are on-line only) and the donation is documented.
 
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Credit cards for most things but tips or extra fee for using CC. DW pays our Dr/hosp/clinic bills by CC over the phone - and gets the cash back.
 
Our bank pays 4% on the first $25K in our checking account if we make at least 20 debit purchases a month, so yes, I whip that card out to meet that goal. Plus, I can see where our dollars are going without waiting for a CC statement.
 
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