Debit cards, the ultimate in convenience. You don’t need to carry any cash and your purchases all show up on a single, organized statement each month. What could be possibly be wrong? . 

I can understand why people like to use debit cards. It gives them more of sense of control, to know that purchases are being deducted straight from their checking balance, and it eliminates the big surprise that may occur when the monthly credit card bill arrives.  

As tempting as debit cards may be, they are a lot of work and there is a better way. If you use a debit cards, every transaction requires an entry into your checkbook, that is, provided you remember to do so and don’t lose the receipt. You may also be charged a fee every time you use that card. 

When you look to return something, the receipt may be missing since you it was stuffed inside your wallet or checkbook so you didn’t forget to enter it in the checkbook. Your  monthly checking account statement has pages and pages of transactions that need to be reconciled. It really makes no sense. 

Rather than use a debit card, use a credit card instead. You should select a card that offers you some nice benefit for using it, than put all your monthly purchases on that single card and pay it off, without fail each month. Your purchasing activity is still neatly organized in a single statement, but you  avoid the fees and the extra checkbook entries and best of all you get to use someone else’s money free of charge- until the bill comes due.

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