What do you prefer?

blessed81

What do all of you prefer to use? cash, debit card, or credit cards? Why

blessed81

on payday, I transfer money to emegency fund, pay bills, and write a check to get cash for groceries and gas and whatever else maay come up. i hate using the debit card. When all of the cash is gone, we have to wait until next payday

jessica490

I like to use cash (which we mainly use for fun money) because once it's gone, it's gone.

But I like credit cards for groceries and vet apts that we don't feel like paying for at the time- we just pay off at the end of the month

formerlyGDaisy09

we like credit cards. we work them for points (I'm fairly certain we earn $500-1000 a year in rewards). we pay cards off in full every month.  I like that we can charge things when we need them opposed to having to wait for a paycheck etc. to come in.  

Example, we decided we were going to use my back pay from my promotion for a wholesale club membership and a new freezer, rather than waiting for my check on April 1st, as soon as we got the official letter that the promotion and pay had been approved by HR we went out and got it.  the money will be in our account before the bill is due. 

mana8503

+1 for credit cards for points.  I keep track of how much we spend on each budget item on mint.com. 

vlagrl29

cash on small purchases - I keep a $20 bill in my pocket every week to spend on little things.  The rest is debit or credit card.

als1982

Credit cards for points. We have tons of airline miles saved up, so we just recently switched to a cash back card and have netted more than $600 from our purchases in two months!!

hoffse

Yep, another fan of credit card points here.  We typically do cash-back cards, but we're shifting toward some travel reward cards to bring down the cost of a couple more trips we want to take.

AprilZ81

We put everything we can on a credit card to get the points and to help with cash flow.  We carefully track our spending (even small purchases like coffee) to make sure we don't over spend.  Credit cards get paid off in full each month.

simplyelise

Cash: Groceries, Blow Money

Helps us to completely stay in-budget and feel what we're spending.

Debit: Date Night, Toiletries, Haircuts, DH Gas

Because if we did cash for too many things, we'd be forgetting envelopes all the time.

Credit: My gas

Just to keep up my credit score because we currently rent but want to buy a house in 3ish years.

We autodraft or transfer from account for utilities, insurance, and student loan payments.

smbenevides1989

Fun money: Cash

Everything else: Debit card

I will use my credit card if we need something now, but are waiting for paychecks.

As soon as things clear up some, I will be using my credit card for groceries, gas, etc., then paying it off at the end of the month.

short+sassy

I'm a very cash person.  I even pay my mortgage, HELOC, and car payments in cash.  However, what can be charged, I put on a credit card to get the points.

And then pay my credit cards off (or at least try to) every month with...you guessed it...cash.

I keep very little money in my checking accounts.  I don't trust it there.  I won't go into the long stories, but I've twice had an issue where my account was wiped out without notice or authorization, my husband had it happen once, and I had a coworker have it happen once.

As an aside, I strongly recommend that everyone keep at least some cash handy and hidden somewhere in your house.  Enough to buy food and gas for a few days if something crazy happens like your bank account is wiped out by identity theft or your area is without power for a few days.  Because nobody takes credit cards if there is no power and/or phone/cable lines are down!

I'm especially talking to my fellow peeps who live in Hurricane Alley .

Mustard76

Credit cards all the way! We use one credit card for everything possible and we earn anywhere between $100-$150 a month in cash back.

MommyLiberty5013

Credit cards. For the cash back programs and the security from fraud. If cash gets lost of stolen, its just gone. With CCs you aren't responsible for any purchase you didn't make. Also, "safer" than debit cards because CCs aren't giving direct access to a checking account like DCs do.

ETA: CCs rewards programs are only worth it if you pay them off in full each month and on time, which we do.

JoanE2012

short+sassy said:

I'm a very cash person.  I even pay my mortgage, HELOC, and car payments in cash.  However, what can be charged, I put on a credit card to get the points.

And then pay my credit cards off (or at least try to) every month with...you guessed it...cash.

I keep very little money in my checking accounts.  I don't trust it there.  I won't go into the long stories, but I've twice had an issue where my account was wiped out without notice or authorization, my husband had it happen once, and I had a coworker have it happen once.

As an aside, I strongly recommend that everyone keep at least some cash handy and hidden somewhere in your house.  Enough to buy food and gas for a few days if something crazy happens like your bank account is wiped out by identity theft or your area is without power for a few days.  Because nobody takes credit cards if there is no power and/or phone/cable lines are down!

I'm especially talking to my fellow peeps who live in Hurricane Alley .

We do this!  We have about $400, but I might increase it a bit.  

OP - We use credit cards, specifically the United credit card.  We love it for the miles and free flights (we flew to Hawaii for free last fall and are debating Hawaii again or Europe for later this year!).  We always pay the credit card off each month.

brij2006

Debit card 99% of the time. If they money isn't there, we don't buy it. It also makes it easier for me to keep track of the budget because everything is done out of 1 account.
The other 1% is cash, but only when needing to pay someone for something (like our parents grabbing something at the store for us).
We do not have any credit cards anymore and never will again.

jtmh2012

We live and die by our credit cards.  Paid in full every month.  Points and cash back are nice.  Free money for spending what you'd have to anyway.

Xstatic3333

I prefer a mix of debit and credit. I use credit for some things, but debit for small purchases like gas, groceries, etc. that I'd have a hard time keeping track of otherwise. I hate carrying cash because if your purse gets stolen it's gone forever. I just take out a little for going out in groups and church collection.

Kahlyla

AprilZ81 said:

We put everything we can on a credit card to get the points and to help with cash flow.  We carefully track our spending (even small purchases like coffee) to make sure we don't over spend.  Credit cards get paid off in full each month.

We do this, exactly. The only things we use cash or cheques for are to pay the occasional small vendor or contractor who prefers to work in cash, or to get a deal for paying in cash. Or the odd thing, like the kids' dance class or a class trip or something, that simply isn't set up to accept credit cards.

als1982

To help make sure we don't overspend, we pay our credit cards off weekly instead of monthly.

formerlyGDaisy09

short+sassy said:

I'm a very cash person.  I even pay my mortgage, HELOC, and car payments in cash.  However, what can be charged, I put on a credit card to get the points.

And then pay my credit cards off (or at least try to) every month with...you guessed it...cash.

I keep very little money in my checking accounts.  I don't trust it there.  I won't go into the long stories, but I've twice had an issue where my account was wiped out without notice or authorization, my husband had it happen once, and I had a coworker have it happen once.

As an aside, I strongly recommend that everyone keep at least some cash handy and hidden somewhere in your house.  Enough to buy food and gas for a few days if something crazy happens like your bank account is wiped out by identity theft or your area is without power for a few days.  Because nobody takes credit cards if there is no power and/or phone/cable lines are down!

I'm especially talking to my fellow peeps who live in Hurricane Alley .

I'm fairly certain that most these debts wouldn't let you pay with anything other then cash (if direct debit and checks are considered the same as cash as they draw directly from your bank account).  I wish I chould charge my mortgage payment and earn points on that!

dragonstarjk

Another credit card user here!  I like to think of our cashback as an extra little savings account.  Right now, I'm saving up my Amazon cashback to get a GPS unit for my car.  H is saving his Cabela's points for some new hunting gear this fall.

I usually make a payment every paycheck to make sure I am on budget and don't end up overspending by the end of the month.

MrsAshleyH10

Credit cards all the way. Paid in full every month.  We take advantage of bonus cash back categories (5% instead of 1%, changes quarterly)-- I get paid to spend money. They also help me visualize what we spend and they categorize where we're spending money.
 
It's a rare occasion to have cash in my wallet. It's too tempting to spend and I usually can't remember where or when I spent it.  I have some cash in the house in case of emergency and I made it a little difficult to get to, so it's not tempting.

sugarygoodness

Credit for everything--I love cash back. I use cash for emergencies and tips. I am always looking for the best card on the market (travel points or cash back) if anyone has any suggestions?

HoneyBee973

We use our credit cards for everything possible to collect rewards, and pay off full balance every month. 

We keep some cash at home, just in case something comes up.  And I like to have cash on me when we go out, so we can pay tips in cash. 

KatieCutie05

Debit Card. I hate using cash because its not trackable. I only like it for vacation spending as it's easier to stay on budget with.
We don't use credit cards anymore. It stresses me out now to charge anything. I tried to go back to the points game but Im so anti debt now that I felt like I was cheating on myself. Plus I'm freaked out I'm gonna forget to pay it or end up paying interest. Its not worth it. I keep it in my car as a backup if I forget my debit card.

Wulfgar

I pay cash for groceries, my gas, and some of our misc eating out each month.

A lot of our bills are direct debit from our accounts (mainly reoccurring bills such as cable and cell phones).

I very rarely have any plastic in my wallet because of issues in the past.  I do have our YMCA going to my credit card.

MW does use her debit card a lot more than I do but she doesn't have the issues that I have.

bmo88

We have most of our bills on auto draft payments (mortgage, phones, car payment, etc). Everything else is usually paid with a credit card, which we pay off  in full each month. We always pay on time, no interest and we earn rewards.

Erikan73

Debit because it's easier for me to track where the money is going by looking at the list of transactions online. For me, cash just seems to disappear but I think twice about pulling the card out.

als1982

@sugarygoodness

Right now, our primary is Barclay Arrival Plus, which nets 2 point per dollar spent, and redemption of 1.1 dollars for every 100 points. The catch for that good rate is that it's only on travel redemption, and not straigh cash back. But I've noticed that travel is defined very loosely and things like train tickets and cabs count in addition to cuise, hotel and flight purchases. Annual fee is waived the first year and signup bonus currently equates to $400.

We also have a Chase Southwest, which H uses for his business travel. H travels on average once every two months. This card has an annual fee, but nets double points on hotel stays in addition to Southwest flights.

I spend quite a bit for work and use a Chase United. It has an annual fee, but comes with two business class lounge passes a year and free checked bags. We usually take one big international vacation a year and fly a United partner (we're trying Lufhansa for the first time in May) so this makes the fee worth it.

We also maintain a fee free Capital One for longevity, which has a decent earn rate for a fee free card. We put all our wedding expenses here and ended up making well over $1,000 before we even got into the strategy of points and miles.

cbee817

credit cards only- easy to manage, easy to keep track of, and you get points/cash back/rewards which helps a ton with 2 kids. Everything is paid in full each month. I usually have $5 in my wallet if I'm lucky.