What’s The Deal With Debit?
By Dustin Garber

Ok so there is a big buzz going around about debit cards. There’s been a flurry of commercials and those little black boxes for swiping your cash away are popping up everywhere. Just swipe your card, punch in your pin and you can pay for anything from an X-Box to your hamburger. The commercials say it’s easier than writing a check and safer than carrying cash and best of all almost everyone qualifies for a debit card. Usually all you need is a checking account at the credit union with some money in it.

But before you start swiping all over town, there are some important things about debit cards that you should know.

Be careful, credit cards and debit cards look almost exactly alike and you can end up in spending trouble with either of them. Be sure to get all the facts from the credit union about the card you are getting. Even if it is a debit card there are still a lot of mistakes to be made. It’s a lot easier to overdraw your account when it’s not actually money in your pocket that you’re spending. So what happens if you overdraw your account? You can expect a penalty fee that can easily be more than the transaction itself. Speaking of fees, some debit cards have monthly fees and some have per transaction fees. Make sure to find out what fees, if any, are associated with your card.

Using a debit card is an easy way too lose track of your money. There are several ways to stay on top of your transactions. The easiest is to keep your receipts and enter them into your checking register every day. If you lose track, you can always contact the credit union to find out the easiest way to get a statement printout. If you suspect you forgot to record a transaction, don’t wait for your monthly statement to come in the mail. Waiting all month for a statement is a surefire way to overdraw your account.

If you’re careful to keep track of your spending, a debit card can be a convenient solution to frequent trips to the credit union or ATM to get cash. But we all make poor choices sometimes and it’s often a lot easier to blow that babysitting money you were saving on a shopping spree when it’s a little piece of plastic in your pocket. My advice is to separate your saving money from your spending money and never withdraw money from your savings account with your debit card. This means you might have to make a few more trips to the credit union, but you’ll only be able to spend your spending money.