Credit Card vs. Debit Card

Q: Credit card or debit card?

It's to get away without having a single credit card since they build up your credit score for loans, but also because credit cards are more necessary for big-ticket purchases if you don’t have all of the money saved up.

A:

The wonder of credit cards is that you can buy things even if you don’t actually have enough cash in the bank. Of course, the downfall of credit cards is that you can buy things even if you don’t actually have enough cash in the bank. So spend wisely.

One of the great perks about credit cards is that you can find ones with some

. It’s a lot more difficult to find a debit card that offers the types of rewards you can get with credit cards.

great rewards

However, in 2008 debit card use overshadowed credit card use for the first time,

. Traditionally, credit cards had more protection, but that’s not really true anymore. The great thing about debit cards is that you can’t spend more money than you have, so you won’t get into debt (which is too easy to do with a credit card). Without getting into debt, you don’t have to worry about the interest you’re getting charged.

according to USA Today

But, if you can commit yourself to watching how much you put on a credit card and paying it off so that the interest doesn’t get out of hand, then a credit card might be better. It gives you a little bit more freedom to splurge if you want to and not worry about paying until later.