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The Advantages of Debit CardsDebit cards allow you to pay for your purchases without cash, and the money is deducted directly from your checking account. It makes life easier! Plus, you won't have to worry about debt problems because if you don't have enough funds in your account, the transaction will not go through.You can also use your card at ATM machines. If you want to be smart about it, when possible, request cash back from your purchases. More and more Americans are using debit cards to control their spending habits. It's just like using a credit card, but since you don't "pay later" you can avoid debt. Remember to log all your spendings as you would with a checkbook balance. If you decide to write a check for something and then check your balance, there will not be a difference from when you last checked it until the check is cleared. This is the opposite with your card; the balance will change instantly. You will especially have to be careful if you write checks and use your card. For instance, if you had 300 dollars in your account, and wrote a 150 dollar check to pay a bill, your account will still show 300 dollars as your balance until the check is cleared. So the next day you decide to use your debit card, and when you check your balance it read 300 dollars still. Be Aware that you only really have 150 dollars in your account, and you would have known if you had written it down in a checkbook or some other type of log. You don't want to rack up pointless bounced-check fees. A prepaid credit card is just as the name implies. You pay up front, and then use the card until you've spent all the money. The good news is you never incur interest fees because you've already paid for your card purchases. The bad news is each time you load your card, you often must pay a fee. Still, prepaid cards are also a good choice if you want to avoid high credit card interest fees.
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