4 ms·

Yes, we have them. If you're good with money, debit cards are a waste for the most part. You can get credit cards that pay you at least 1-1.5% for every purcha

by kdamken 10y ago

Yes, we have them. If you're good with money, debit cards are a waste for the most part. You can get credit cards that pay you at least 1-1.5% for every purchase. They're basically paying you to spend your money. If you're bad with money, steer clear of credit and stick to debit though.

soylentcola 10y ago
The caveat here is that debit cards that withdraw from your checking account carry the risk of massive overdraft fees if you're really bad with money or just barely scraping by. Interest on a credit card can be bad but years ago I had a bank pull some really shady stuff to hit me with hundreds in overdraft fees on a handful of minor purchases. Essentially, I was living just about hand-to-mouth as a young underemployed guy and when payday rolled around, I'd go to deposit my paycheck and then over the next couple of days, I'd check my balance online to see when it cleared. Once the funds showed up as available, I'd head out and put gas in the car, buy groceries, pay rent, maybe grab a 6-pack (again, naive, irresponsible guy) and whatever other little things I'd been holding off on buying until I got paid. Well, fast forward a week or so and it's almost Christmas. The boss gives everyone a $100 Christmas bonus and I'm thrilled because I never have enough money to go around. I go to the bank, hand the teller the check, and when I get the receipt? Maybe $10 or so balance. Turns out that when I deposited that paycheck several days ago and waited for it to clear before making several small purchases, the bank messed with the dates and times, essentially pulling the credit, running the debits, incurring many $35 overdraft fees, then applying the deposit after the fact. The kicker was that the website now showed this new timeline and I didn't have anything printed out to show for it. Not only did they drain my bank account but they took my Christmas bonus to pay the bogus charges. No amount of speaking with staff did any good. They told me I needed to be better at balancing my checkbook. It was right around then that I learned the real way it's really expensive to be broke. If you don't have credit or some sort of savings to act as a buffer, banks will find all sorts of ways to penalize you and take advantage of you. Eventually got my shit together. Went back to college to finish my degree, paid with a loan, now all good with a modest salary, only $12k or so of college debt, no car payment, and enough of an emergency fund that I could pay rent and live frugally for a year without employment if I had to. Sorry for the long rant. Haven't told that story in years and hadn't thought about it in as long. But once I started thinking about it, it all came back to me.

by kdamken 10y ago

soylentcola 10y ago

The caveat here is that debit cards that withdraw from your checking account carry the risk of massive overdraft fees if you're really bad with money or just barely scraping by. Interest on a credit card can be bad but years ago I had a bank pull some really shady stuff to hit me with hundreds in overdraft fees on a handful of minor purchases. Essentially, I was living just about hand-to-mouth as a young underemployed guy and when payday rolled around, I'd go to deposit my paycheck and then over the next couple of days, I'd check my balance online to see when it cleared. Once the funds showed up as available, I'd head out and put gas in the car, buy groceries, pay rent, maybe grab a 6-pack (again, naive, irresponsible guy) and whatever other little things I'd been holding off on buying until I got paid. Well, fast forward a week or so and it's almost Christmas. The boss gives everyone a $100 Christmas bonus and I'm thrilled because I never have enough money to go around. I go to the bank, hand the teller the check, and when I get the receipt? Maybe $10 or so balance. Turns out that when I deposited that paycheck several days ago and waited for it to clear before making several small purchases, the bank messed with the dates and times, essentially pulling the credit, running the debits, incurring many $35 overdraft fees, then applying the deposit after the fact. The kicker was that the website now showed this new timeline and I didn't have anything printed out to show for it. Not only did they drain my bank account but they took my Christmas bonus to pay the bogus charges. No amount of speaking with staff did any good. They told me I needed to be better at balancing my checkbook. It was right around then that I learned the real way it's really expensive to be broke. If you don't have credit or some sort of savings to act as a buffer, banks will find all sorts of ways to penalize you and take advantage of you. Eventually got my shit together. Went back to college to finish my degree, paid with a loan, now all good with a modest salary, only $12k or so of college debt, no car payment, and enough of an emergency fund that I could pay rent and live frugally for a year without employment if I had to. Sorry for the long rant. Haven't told that story in years and hadn't thought about it in as long. But once I started thinking about it, it all came back to me.