A debit card can be your greatest financial ally, or your worst financial foe. Used properly, they have great advantages over cash and check, but mismanaged they can become a financial nightmare. They do have some very distinct advantages over both cash and check however that make them well worth having if you can manage your spending responsibly. Since the amount is deducted straight from your checking account the same as a check is, you must balance your account the same as if you were using checks. If you do this faithfully, you will love your debit card dearly and may never write a check again.
Debit cards have many advantages over cash, and they are accepted in many places that once only accepted cash. They are less bulky and take up much less space that coins and bills. This frees up space in your wallet or purse. Also, how many times have you dropped bills trying to pull out the right amount of money and had to waste time picking everything back up and getting it to fit back into your walled. A debit card will not cause such issues. While you used to need to keep cash on hand for things such as vending machines, even these often accept debit these days. They also make it possible to pay for gas right at the pump and you do not even have to go inside.
Debit cards also have many advantages over checks. Checks cost money to have printed, and you have to buy stamps to mail the checks you write to pay the bills. When you use a debit card, you will use much fewer checks thus reducing check printing costs. You can also use debit cards to pay bills online or over the phone and often there is no charge for this. You can avoid late fees by paying on the due date and having it posted right away if you need to, and you avoid the cost of the stamp. Though the printing cost of checks and the cost of a stamp seem small, these are monthly expenses that can add up over the course of a year.
Debit cards do require a certain amount of caution. There is no written check record in a book or duplicate check to look back at. You have to come up with your own system to keep track of spending. You can save receipts and enter them in a manual or electric register, or you can enter them immediately as you go.