I need to stop using my ATM card

**happymommy** · 11-04-2005, 12:30 PM

Well, dh uses it more than I do because he is always filling up the cars with gas and stopping at the convience stores on the way home from work. YES i know a big FRUGAL NO>>NO>>

Reading Shell's thread about biggest money mistakes, I realized that is one of ours right now.
I think I was feeling proud we we're not using credit cards but I realize debit is can be just as dangerous. Spending $10 extra here and there is adding up!

Has anyone one gone debit free?

**sanderson76** · 11-04-2005, 12:37 PM

I am just the opposite. I use my debit card for everything. I never keep cash...the reason why I never keep cash is because I will spend it if I have it. I think twice if I have to use my debit card. Plus, my debit card helps keep me accountable to what I do spend because it will show me online where I spent it.

With cash I very easily can drop a $5 here or a $10 there and not really remember what I used it for.

**daddys3chicks** · 11-04-2005, 12:42 PM

I agree with Samantha. If I have cash it is gone. ONce a $10 or $20 is broken is slips away. DH keeps the checkbook attached to the debit card, so I have to check with him to make sure we have enough money before I get something. THe thought of having to call him to spend $12 on McD's is scary, so i most often pass! LOL!

**YankeeMom** · 11-04-2005, 12:49 PM

I have no debit card. Every time tha bank offers one, we turn it down. Our reasons are:

- it's too difficult to keep track of how much money is in there. Especially with more than one person having access to the same account (with two debit cards).

- The more inconvenient it is for us to get to our money, the less we tend to spend. For instance, our credit union is not open on the weekends. So if we want to go somewhere we have to plan ahead & take out cash if the place doesn't take checks. It cuts down on the impulse spending A LOT!

**happymommy** · 11-04-2005, 12:50 PM

Maybe that is my probem, I don't record our ATMs, I call the back everyother day just incase he forgot to give me a reciept.

Hmmmm, maybe getting organized is my first step?

**RuthNY** · 11-04-2005, 01:00 PM

I use mine all the time also. When I do use it, if I haven't time to write it in the check register I at least put the receipt in the checkbook so I'll remember later. I keep track of my balance online. I never reconcile my bank statement any more.

One important thing to remember about using your debit card for gas purchases tho is that most places that sell gas will put a hold on your account until the exact amount has cleared. This is no problem if you keep a larger balance in your checking account, but if you keep a pretty low balance you might run into trouble.

Say you have $20 in your checking and you put $5 in your gas tank using your debit card, they may freeze (let's say) $10 till it clears. If you go to the next place and use you card for $15 you may have a problem because there's a freeze on $10 so there's only $10 available...not the $15 you THINK there is.

There was a post about this somewhere, but I don't have time to look for it.

**pammy** · 11-04-2005, 01:05 PM

We've had to quit using ours as much. Sometimes receipts got lost. And it was easy to hand over a card, but a big shock when I got my statement. Nope, cash works much better for us now. We actually see it leaving instead of it being in digital land.

**MandiDawn** · 11-04-2005, 01:14 PM

I havn't used a debit card in a year, and I love it. On pay day, I pull out money to use for two weeks, and that's it. After it's gone, I don't spend any more. Cash don't go so fast if you know there's no more to replace it. If it's Wed and I only have $6 left, and I know I need to buy some smokes (I know totally unfrugal and unhealty habit!!) I pass up a pop that day. At the end of two weeks I put leftover money aside and when it gets to be a big amount, I use that for hair-cuts, eyebrow waxing, ect.
Every paycheck (2 weeks) i pull out:
$60 - gas money. This money is only to be spent on gas.
$100 - ($50 for each week) this is for pop, smokes, eating lunch out, presents, oil changes, renting movies, basically anything that is not a monthy bill.
I think this keeps me on track more than anything else. I know that I can't eat out every day, since that would cost more than $50, but also know that if I was using debit, I would always have "more money" in there in case I went over $50 a week. This way, it's set in stone. When it's gone, it's gone.
but as good as this works for me, I am the only one I know who does it. Most people say "cash goes to fast" but I think that's because you know it's a renewable resource. You can always go get more. If you don't let yourself go to the atm more than once per pay period, you won't spend as much, does that make sense??

**Valerie in WA** · 11-04-2005, 02:24 PM

I do better with cash. I do a modified 'envelope system' for cash. At the begining of each month, I withdraw money for: groceries ($ varies), gasoline ($70-85), spending ($40), clothing ($20-I thrift shop routinely) and family entertainment ($40). I fold each category of money in half and paper clip it with a slip of paper indicating what it is for. Then all those little bundles go in my wallet (actually, I put my gas money in my van). When it's gone, I'm done. It forces to me to look at my spending weekly to make sure my money will 'last' until the end of the month.

BTW, my reason for stopping using the debit card was privacy. I don't like all my habits recorded in once central location. But I found that even though I 'knew' the debit card was 'real' money, I spend less with real cash money.

**Jerseygirl** · 11-05-2005, 09:46 PM

No debit, no ATM cards no nuthin' here. I take $100 cash 2-3xs per month for household expenses and anything else goes on the amex (with reward points) so there's no interest.

**daddys3chicks** · 11-06-2005, 03:24 AM

I like the envelope idea~

**schellie69** · 11-07-2005, 10:08 AM

I started taking out the grocery money for 2 weeks and dividing it into weekly amounts that way i can shop the sales each week but since i know that the amount I have is all I have I don't buy impulsive anymore I watch the money more closely, and tell my self and the kids no more. I use my check book for bills and gas no groceries that comes out of cash I am trying this for a month and see how it goes I am hoping to have money left over but we shall see.

**Jayne** · 11-07-2005, 10:25 AM

We need to stop using our debt cards...it is too east to blow money...I like your system Valerie, I am going to try it ..Thanks!!

**momof42003** · 11-08-2005, 09:47 PM

We use our debit cards.. With us though, if you use it as a debit and not a credit card, the amount is shown deducted almost immediately... Within the hour... If we use it as credit card it can take up to a week to go through.. Last month DH had a 40.00 credit use at a gas station out of town and it went through almost four days later, at the same time I was trying to use it for debit... Obviously, I could not use the money for debit... So as long as we use it as debit and not credit, we are ok.... But I would like to use it less though...

**mom2matty** · 11-08-2005, 11:05 PM

I use my debit card a lot as well and I am good about making sure I put it in the checkbook.......our problem is dh tends to wait a few days to tell me he used the atm card and then we have problems!! I would like to get away from using it so much and stick more to cash!!!