Is there anyone that does not have a Credit Card? Do you just use a Debit Card?

[billymach4]

That’s a strange way to think of it. You are also in debt for your utility bills. You are using water, sewer and electricity and not paying for it as you go.

Once you order anything at a restaurant! You are also in debt until paid in full!
Same thing when you go to the dentist or doctor, hospital. You will receive an invoice for payment. Debt!

 

[Talent312]

I like the expression that a debit card is an express lane into your account.
OTOH, a credit card can be an express lane into your merchant's account.

I am currently in a dispute with Amazon over the return of a $17.40 item.
They claim it wasn't received and cancelled the refund.

CitiBank chose to believe me when I said that I put the item into the hands
of Amazon's agent at Whole Foods (and would so testify under oath).

Amazon wants me to replace the $17.40 that CitiBank "took" from them.
In an email, I told Amazon's CSR, in so many words, to kiss my...
.


.

 

[billymach4]

I like the expression that a debit card is an express lane into your account.
OTOH, a credit card can be an express lane into your merchant's account.

I am currently in a dispute with Amazon over the return of a $17.40 item.
They claim it wasn't received and cancelled the refund.

CitiBank chose to believe me when I said that I put the item into the hands
of Amazon's agent at Whole Foods (and would so testify under oath).

Amazon wants me to replace the $17.40 that CitiBank "took" from them.
In an email, I told Amazon's CSR, in so many words, to kiss my...
.


.

That is their cost of doing business.

 

[Carolinian]

No, too much fraud risk when using a debit card these days. Credit cards or cash only - except for ATM usage obviously.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ditto, and for the same reason. ATM's only for currency exchange overseas.

 

[ScoopKona]

Ditto, and for the same reason. ATM's only for currency exchange overseas.

In my opinion, the least attractive way to exchange currency. Loads of risk, crappy rates, high chance of failure.

The most-attractive way is visiting Las Vegas and visiting Foreign Money Exchange on Convention Center Drive. The day the UK shot itself in the foot with Brexit, I went to the bank and bought GBP at the bottom of the slide. Since the UK is determined to reload and keep shooting itself in the foot, the pound is even lower right now.

But I'm very happy with the traveling I was able to do with my original Brexit-Sterling.

 

[pedro47]

My deceased Father in Law and his deceased Wife never owned a credit card for over 85 years. They paid cash just about everything.

 

[billymach4]

My deceased Father in Law and his deceased Wife never owned a credit card for over 85 years. They paid cash just about everything.

Well I guess they never had to arrange for air travel, hotel, or car rental online in age of the internet.

 

[billymach4]

Well I guess they never had to arrange for air travel, hotel, or car rental online in age of the internet.

Even prior to online travel you needed a debit and or cc card for most established hotels and car rentals. Hotels always held an overage for incidentals. Unless you pluncked down about 5 Benjamin's.

 

[isisdave]

You are in debt though, until you pay it off. Perhaps its become so common people don't realize they are in debt! Every time you use a credit card you are borrowing money and going into debt.

Plus the 3-5% merchant fees are going to the cc companies and robbing the businesses trying to survive.

So prepay the credit card $xxx every month, or $10000 on January 1, or whatever you like; then you're not in debt, they are!

The businesses "trying to survive" are passing the cost on to the consumer, you can be sure of that. Three percent for handling charges and doing the accounting is worth it. I've noticed at the grocery store that when they let you scan the card before you're done scanning items, the transaction is complete long before you could get cash from your wallet, hand it to the cashier, and have him/her process it and hand you change. Time is money.

Some merchants just don't accept cash. We went to a sports event at U of Louisville the other night. Tickets: CC only; Parking: cash only; Refreshments: CC only (this one surprised me).

 

[ScoopKona]

Some merchants just don't accept cash. We went to a sports event at U of Louisville the other night. Tickets: CC only; Parking: cash only; Refreshments: CC only (this one surprised me).

Computers don't steal or make math errors. They're also much, much faster.

Give a cashier $5.01 on a $2.26 purchase and then watch the ensuing hilarity.

 

[Rolltydr]

If I pay cash for everything and use a debit card, the money comes out of my checking account every time I make a purchase. If I use the card online, it is susceptible to several different forms of detection and fraud which could give crooks entry into my checking account, conceivably wiping it out and I have little protection. I know because this happened to me.

If I pay for everything with my credit card, I can mask my card number. I can receive an alert for every single transaction so if someone else uses the card number, I know immediately. If an unauthorized charge is made and I dispute that charge, the bank assumes I am telling the truth and puts the onus on the payee to prove the charge is legitimate. The account is closed immediately and I have no liability and my checking account is never at risk. I pay the balance monthly, so no interest charge. I also get 2% cash back on every transaction which amounts to several thousand dollars annually. The bank pays me to use the card, not the other way around.

I almost never carry cash and when I do, not more than $20. I don’t put my money at risk to hackers and thieves. You may say I’m in debt for a month until the bill is paid but it’s a “same as cash, interest free” proposition, plus they pay me the 2%. If that’s “debt”, give me some more!

 

[pedro47]

Well I guess they never had to arrange for air travel, hotel, or car rental online in age of the internet.

No, they did not. He was wise enough to own a bus business (3 buses)
Built a custom brick home with a three car garage and one garage long enough to accommodate one bus.

He was a WWII Army combat veteran. That never talked about what happen in Europe during the war.

Also he worked as a jet mechanic for the federal government over forty years..

 

[pedro47]

Computers don't steal or make math errors. They're also much, much faster.

Give a cashier $5.01 on a $2.26 purchase and then watch the ensuing hilarity.

Or better give that cashier. $5.06 on a $2.26 purchase

 

[Rolltydr]

So prepay the credit card $xxx every month, or $10000 on January 1, or whatever you like; then you're not in debt, they are!

The businesses "trying to survive" are passing the cost on to the consumer, you can be sure of that. Three percent for handling charges and doing the accounting is worth it. I've noticed at the grocery store that when they let you scan the card before you're done scanning items, the transaction is complete long before you could get cash from your wallet, hand it to the cashier, and have him/her process it and hand you change. Time is money.

Some merchants just don't accept cash. We went to a sports event at U of Louisville the other night. Tickets: CC only; Parking: cash only; Refreshments: CC only (this one surprised me).

Most sports venues that I’m aware of are “cashless” now.

 

[simpsontruckdriver]

After listening to a person on the radio who gives financial advice (no she is not nationwide), I decided to go all Credit. I just got the CapitalOne Venture card, I plan on doing everything with it, bills, food, gasoline, etc. Cat food and work (trucker) food I will use separately. I figure, if I average $3000/month, and average 2x in miles, plus their countless cash back bonuses, I should be able to go on vacation for FREE next year! Well, not an all-inclusive week at some ultra-luxury resort on an island paradise, but travel in not-so-high-demand times when tickets are not as high. That is what the advisor did.

The difference is, a fraud with your debit card is you're guilty until proven innocent, while a fraud with your credit card is you are alerting your card and they instantly hand you back your $$$. But, if you absolutely must use your debit card, DO NOT select debit, select credit - which turns your card into a Secured Credit Card.

TS

 

[goaliedave]

Everyone makes choices. The merchant charge reduces a businesses profits or causes higher prices, the same way delivery apps like uber eats or Doordash kill small business. I forgoe the personal cc benefit to help small business.

I'm against debt so i don't like borrowing even for a month. I pay cash so i avoid all the problems with cc and debit cards. It's a shame people got sucked into cards as part of the consumer society conspiracy. Your sports team doesn't accept cash, my barber only accepts cash, yes there are a few things both ways.

 

[Sandy VDH]

NO CC only, pay in pull every month.

 

[ScoopKona]

I'm against debt so i don't like borrowing even for a month. I pay cash so i avoid all the problems with cc and debit cards. It's a shame people got sucked into cards as part of the consumer society conspiracy. Your sports team doesn't accept cash, my barber only accepts cash, yes there are a few things both ways.

None of the places I shop offer a cash discount. If they did, I would pay cash if the discount was higher than 1.5%.

I buy everything I can with my CC, which gives me at least 1.5% cash back on everything. I don't like miles. It's like doing tax preparation and trying to enter the Publishers Clearinghouse simultaneously.

I use the cash to pay down my bill every year. So I get a discount of literally everything. Since I spend something like 20% of my income, I don't even think about the monthly expenditures. They could jack my interest rate up to 100%, compounded minutely, and it wouldn't really matter because I'd never pay it.

I've had the same card for 30 years. I have had fraudulent charges over the years -- almost always during/following trips to Europe. I call them up, tell them that I didn't buy $10,000 of medical textbooks in Paris, and that is that. I enjoy the electronic economy FAR more than the paper economy -- it's a bother to carry around cash and write personal checks.

 

[goaliedave]

None of the places I shop offer a cash discount. If they did, I would pay cash if the discount was higher than 1.5%.

I buy everything I can with my CC, which gives me at least 1.5% cash back on everything. I don't like miles. It's like doing tax preparation and trying to enter the Publishers Clearinghouse simultaneously.

I use the cash to pay down my bill every year. So I get a discount of literally everything. Since I spend something like 20% of my income, I don't even think about the monthly expenditures. They could jack my interest rate up to 100%, compounded minutely, and it wouldn't really matter because I'd never pay it.

I've had the same card for 30 years. I have had fraudulent charges over the years -- almost always during/following trips to Europe. I call them up, tell them that I didn't buy $10,000 of medical textbooks in Paris, and that is that. I enjoy the electronic economy FAR more than the paper economy -- it's a bother to carry around cash and write personal checks.

Most USA boomers are like you, they use debt for the personal benefits, and only use cash if there is a discount. Imagine our parents living that way?

 

[ScoopKona]

Most USA boomers are like you, they use debt for the personal benefits, and only use cash if there is a discount. Imagine our parents living that way?

When debt costs literally zero, I don't see the downside. If you're paying to use the money, that's another thing entirely. My Boomer parents were that kind of risk-averse. And they learned the hard way that taking zero risks is in itself very risky.

The main lesson I learned from them was not to be like them.

 

[goaliedave]

When debt costs literally zero, I don't see the downside. If you're paying to use the money, that's another thing entirely. My Boomer parents were that kind of risk-averse. And they learned the hard way that taking zero risks is in itself very risky.

The main lesson I learned from them was not to be like them.

You are entitled to choose personal benefits over societal benefits. I've mentioned the societal benefits in earlier posts.

 

[ScoopKona]

You are entitled to choose personal benefits over societal benefits. I've mentioned the societal benefits in earlier posts.

What societal benefit? No place I shop offers a cash discount. And, frankly, taking cash costs money in accounting and labor. Those registers need to reconciled at the end of the night. And considering just how bad most people are at math, that's a lot of time wasted counting down cash.

If we get rid of cash entirely, we can save a great deal of labor costs from the associated counting and dealing with actual paper currency. Doesn't matter what we use as money as long as we all agree that it works. (The biggest con in human history.)

I would be 100% good with a system which used my thumbprint and/or retinal scan to pay. It's all about velocity of transactions and security of transactions. That would send both into overdrive.

 

[DrQ]

Most USA boomers are like you, they use debt for the personal benefits, and only use cash if there is a discount. Imagine our parents living that way?

Long term debt can be used to your advantage:

• If you have a low fixed interest rate, you can use inflated dollars to pay off the debt.
• You can preserve your capital for investment.

 

[ScoopKona]

Long term debt can be used to your advantage:

In a rising market, you can buy property without having to save 100% of the purchase price -- lock in yesterday's price at yesterday's interest rate.

This is why I was able to retire young. If I had to pay cash for houses, I would have to wait for housing bubbles to burst. And even then, I'd be limited in what I could buy.

 

[mdurette]

You need to add another to your poll for my vote:
No, I exclusively only use a credit card

I can't even remember the last time I used a debit card, honestly I would have to go digging to even find it, assuming I have one somewhere.