What's in my wallet? Everything but cash and credit cards
Filed under: Budgets, Cards, Debt, Wealth
What's in My Wallet is a series of posts from WalletPop writers and editors that will help you maximize your financial self according to what you carry.By special request I now empty the contents of my wallet for review. I should tell you first, my wallet is not used as a receptacle for carrying actual money. Cash goes in my front pants pocket just because I think it's a bit more secure there. The wallet which I am carrying right now is probably about two years old and I'd be willing to bet it's touched cash, maybe twice. My wallet is an effective mini filing cabinet which is seldom tampered with except for the nearly daily removal and deployment of my trusty debit card.
Let's see now, I have my driver's license here and amazingly it's up to date. It has the obligatory bad photo on it and a little donor icon over on the right side. I have a couple health insurance cards here also. Knock on wood, those have seen daylight only a couple times. My social security card also takes up a wallet spot. It's in amazingly good condition for what it's been through all these years.
I'm carrying several little paper slips with phone numbers I occasionally use. I'm also carrying a couple business cards as reminders of services well performed. The largest volume of my wallet is taken by my favorite pictures of my wife and my girls. I guess perhaps my wallet gives evidence of the nature of my priorities.
There are no credit cards in my wallet and I like it that way. Credit cards don't interest me and I haven't had one for about a decade. My debit card functions in the very same manner as a credit card does, except when I use it, I'm spending money I actually have. You might be tempted to wonder why I loath the presence of a credit card in my wallet. If so, I'll simply explain it to you this way: It is my opinion that credit cards are too damn expensive to own, and the people who use them the most are generally the people who should be using them the least.
What's in your wallet and what's your opinion on credit cards? We'd all love to know.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-08-2008 @ 5:26PM
Macy said...
I used a debit card for a while until I found out Credit Cards extend my warrenties, give me cash back, and are safer than debit cards if there is a problem with my purchase.
Now I just use credit cards and pay them off each month.
Also great for tracking spending at the end of the year!
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2-09-2008 @ 8:44AM
Greg Patrick said...
I use both debit & credit card. To correct the other poster. In the U.S. debit cards are protected by efta. The key is to notify your bank fast.
For debit card with 2 business days the loss is $50.00
2 to 60 business days the loss is $500.00
60 or more business days all the money plus any overdraft.
Both MasterCard and Visa has extended there zero liability to their debit card. If you need to claim this. You will need to request a special form from your bank. This does not apply to pin transactions, only signature transactions (However, I think visa interlink may be covered under this but you would have to prove it went through this network). Your card must have the Visa or MasterCard logo for the zero liability protection.
Regulation E requires banks to give provisional credit within 10 business day of a written dispute. They have 45 days (90 days international) to investigate
Technically it is the 11th business day (even if the bank credits you on the 10th business day, you won't be able to use tell the 11th business day.)
Another rule that is sometimes overlooked is this
for unauthorized transfers involving only your debit card number (not the loss of the card), you are liable only for transfers that occur after 60 days following the mailing of your bank statement containing the unauthorized use and before you report the loss.
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