http://www.creditcardtuneup.com/

Enter your monthly expenses in the categories and it will tell you which card has the best reward for you.

One caveat with the site is they rank cards such as the “Citi® Driver’s Edge Platinum Select® Card” using rewards that only last for 12 months. Just hover over each card to view the reward details and keep in mind you will probably want to just get one that the reward doesn’t go down after a year.

Why in the world would I buy anything without this card, if the place I am shopping accepts it? Not saving that 1-3% is like a slap in the face to myself.

Of course I am talking about just using it as if it was a debit card and only buying things when you have the money to buy them. It IS as simple as this: If you don’t have the money to buy something then don’t buy it.

I try to do all my day-to-day transactions with cash, and the odd preloaded cash card. (When I can get a discount for using them, it makes sense, as it is money ahead, not behind.)

The plastic is for emergencies (credit is usually needed as I don’t have large amounts in the debit account normally) and those oh-frack-I’m-out-of-cash moments. I will save money ahead for trips and then transfer hotel or other funding to the debit account. Mostly the debit card gets used for ordering stuff off the net.

The biggest mistake most people make with debit cards is to have them tied to a household checking account. There is no nice way to say this, a debit card on an account used for any other purpose is an act of extreme stupidity. Your account can be trashed from malice or error. ($4000 Whopper anyone?) If you must have a debit card, get a dedicated account for it. This limits the damage if something goes wrong.

As far as I see it, money is the ultimate exercise in self-control. All forms of money make it easy to spend. If it wasn’t easy to use, no one would use it! Credit (and debit, to a lesser extent) hides one from seeing the cash and cause some to spend more, but cash burns holes in pockets for others. The trick is to just control your habits, however you need to.

Here’s what I do every time I think about buying something. I ask myself, “What would I do without having this?” That simple question has kept me from spending a lot of money.

Yes, this is absolutely true. Since I took out a credit card in July, I’ve made darn sure that I’m not using it for day-to-day purchases. Instead, I bring it out — as the Consumer Reports article suggests — for the big things. And I only bring it out *if* I have the cash to pay for the purchase anyhow. My card offers a 1% rebate, so I save a little on each transaction. I pay the balance in full each month. This, to me, is a smart way to use a card, but I’m only able to do this after spending years trying to recover from my previous stupid use of credit.

But paying for small stuff with a credit card? I think that’s too easy to spend. (Of course, some people think that cash is too easy to spend. I’m not one of those.)

http://katiescredit.com/credit-card-beat-up-debit-card-and-took-his-lunch-money/

I thought that United States currency was legal tender for all debts. Some businesses or governmental agencies say that they will only accept checks, money orders or credit cards as payment, and others will only accept currency notes in denominations of $20 or smaller. Isn’t this illegal?

The pertinent portion of law that applies to your question is the Coinage Act of 1965, specifically Section 31 U.S.C. 5103, entitled “Legal tender,” which states: “United States coins and currency (including Federal reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal reserve banks and national banks) are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues.”

This statute means that all United States money as identified above are a valid and legal offer of payment for debts when tendered to a creditor. There is, however, no Federal statute mandating that a private business, a person or an organization must accept currency or coins as for payment for goods and/or services. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether or not to accept cash unless there is a State law which says otherwise. For example, a bus line may prohibit payment of fares in pennies or dollar bills. In addition, movie theaters, convenience stores and gas stations may refuse to accept large denomination currency (usually notes above $20) as a matter of policy.

A stipulation would be that if there was a balance on the card any money in the savings account would be funneled to the credit card balance.

But given how many people do not scrutinize their credit card bills, this would be a great to force yourself to save.

Certainly a scheme like this wouldn’t fly if you didn’t have good credit card habits, but I know I would sign up for it…

…mind you I took too much cold medicine this morning…

Credit scores don’t matter to people who don’t borrow money because they HAVE money :-).

However, using a debit card for a car rental usually incurs a $200 to $500 deposit.

@JD:
“Use cash at any time. There’s no risk of identity theft and it’s accepted everywhere…”

Not at car rental agencies. See, I found out about the deposit on car rental because Enterprise wouldn’t take cash payment (even up front!) for the car I was renting from them. Its a security risk for them, apparently, to accept cash.

I also was refused a truck rental at Home Depot because I don’t have a credit card. They wouldn’t take cash either. What the **** is wrong with this country where vendors are taking plastic toy money (credit) instead of real money (cash)? My cash says “This note is legal tender for ALL debts, public and private.” How can someone “refuse” to take it?

Not True. A Visa or Mastercard debit card carries EXACTLY the same protection as a Visa or Mastercard credit card.

Once the new card was activated, I called another bank about the other card I no longer needed. Of course, they really did not want me to cancel, promising to waive the $75 annual fee and offering to switch me to a cashback program. I got them to credit me for the $75 fee I had just paid — bonus! I probably will cancel this card before the end of the year anyway, but it was nice to get that damn fee back.