I picked up his book last fall and just skimmed over it and thought I would take a closer look at it the other day. We have not been following his plan although we liked the idea of getting that $1000 emergency fund started and we finally acheived that :)

We have a credit card debt which will be paid in full this week, YAY!

We are getting ready to start babystep #3 to get a fully funded emergency fund.

While browsing over his book today I hadn't noticed before but Did everyone here know that he does not have a credit card? He has instead a Visa debit card which he says works pretty much the same but he is using his money instead of the banks. Amazing! I had never heard of this before.

Our bank has mastercard but I am not sure if they have a mastercard debit card, guess I will call to find out lol.

For everyone following Daves plan did you get rid of your credit cards and go this route? It sounds really like a good idea.

How would this work? and is there a minimum amount to keep in this account?

Thanks :)

Isn't Dave great? I too loved the idea of the emergency fund and will have my $1000 fully funded at the end of the month.

As far as the debit card thing, when I first transitioned over to Dave's plan, I tried using my debt card but found I still had problems controlling how much money I spent so I went to cash for all things except gasoline mainly because I like to pay at pump and it keeps me out of the quicky mart where tempation lies. But you may have better control/luck than I did.

As far as how much to keep in your account. My debit card is linked into my checking account much like an ATM card is, I assume that that's the way it is with all banks. But if you are planning on opening an account just for your card, I would put together a budget and see how much you need for the items you normally buy.

Also I do not believe that a debit card gives you the same protection a credit card does when it comes to fraud and the like so I kept a credit card for emergencies until I am comfortable with the emergency fund. ($1000 doesn't go very far on a car repair) I also use that credit card for on-line shopping but pay off the items I buy as soon as I buy them. I don't shop on-line often though. And I may be mistaken about it not offering the protection but that is what I've heard.

At any rate good luck, with whatever path you choose to take.

Thanks :). I had also posted this question on www.spam! It is better fried than typedspam! It is better fried than typedspam! It is better fried than typedspam! It is better fried than typedspam! It is better fried than typed.com and from what I am gathering is that a visa debit card is basically the same as our debit cards in Canada.

Dh doesn`t want to give up the mastercard but he is pretty good with it, we just had an extra expense with the pool last summer we hadn`t expected, Oh and did I mention the unexpected ``tools`` too? whoops, forgot those couple of books I ordered , dang !:ack: .

The good news though is that now for unexpected emergency`s (within reason) we have a backup so no need to put anything like that on credit :) but I won`t rest till I get the fully funded emergency completed.

The best part is, I can actually see us having that fully funded emergency fund :)

I just went out of town with my sister, who paid the hotel bill. She had reserved the room with her debit card. When we checked in they said that they could use her debit card, it would not let them hold the room on it, like you can on a credit card. She said that she was planning on paying cash when we checked out, but they said she still had to give them a credit card. So I know he says you can reserve a hotel room with a debit card, but it didn't work for us. We do still have a credit card and unfortunately we are still in the habit of using it. We pay it off every month, but I just need to quit using it.

Jennifer

The Debit cards that have the Visa logos on them, now DO have the same protections as the Credit Cards do. This changed about 2? years ago, I believe. I don't know about MC for sure, but I would say more than likely, this is probably the new industry standard. I think you can check on the company's website--it should tell you.

We started Dave Ramsey's plan in Jan. (at least I did, dh is NOT thrilled, but is working with the cash system I have listed below, and a generous amount of spending money that I don't ask ?s about)

We have gone to a cash style system that is working nicely--I take a specific amount out of the bank on payday, usually in 20.00 bills (ones and fives for the kids "commission" envie). I dole out that money to last until next payday...including some spending money for each of adult. DH gets double what I get, so he does not feel deprived. :lalala:

All regular bills are run through the checking account, according to budget, and gas is budgeted there as well. We carry the debit cards, but have a paper sleeve (got from bank) and have written 'GAS ONLY' on them, to remind us not to use them...has worked really slick for past 3 months--have "fallen off the wagon" this last payperiod, as we did some yard work that required some purchases we had not budgeted for. BUT, my dh has had some overtime, and I had some extra stashed in the account to put on a CC. This slows the plan down a bit, but we did not charge anything!! hooray!:wave:

I like what he says, but don't follow him exactly -- obviously, because I keep my credit cards and never use my Visa debit card, though it is free with the account. I keep almost no cushion in checking, and failure to record a transaction (though I am pretty scrupulous about this) could be a disaster. I prefer to use the credit card and pay it off monthly. Then if I'm really busy and don't catch up the bookkeeping for a couple of days, it doesn't matter. If I used the debit card I would either be in a fidget all the time, wondering if I had maybe forgotten to record something, or I would have to keep more in checking, which I don't like to do.

I use the credit card online, occasionally, or in places where I get 5% cash back. Right now on gas that's 13 cents off every gallon, which makes filling up at least a little bit less painful. Other than that, I try to use cash.