Say no to those damned Credit Cards people!

Hey folks, once again, I have to tell you something. Now a long time ago, you people thought that prepaid cards were cheap, ghetto and tacky, haha, told you they weren’t. It can save your life. Let me tell you people a story about something, you will want to hear, whether you want to or not. Ready? Of course you are. Now pay attention. I have this friend of mine, who sent their rent payment out to their rental company and strange enough, they got an overdraft. Well this friend did not know what happened when the check never cleared and decided to call the rental company. They said, we never got paid and you are 6 days late, which will be 50.00 plus 5 dollars a day until we get the payment, plus you need to pay for the returned check of 25.00. Whoa, so this friend of mine was pissed. She called the bank and spoke with them and then sure enough, they said sorry, that money is not in the account. She said yes it is, and they said no it isn’t and that went on, until the bank informed her that she was wrong. This friend went down to the bank and discovered that it was deposited into her savings account, and not her checking. She looked at the teller and said, I am coming in. She went into the bank and asked them, what the hell was going on and they said. We didn’t know that you wanted us to pay it, so, it cause an over draft. You now owe us $35.00 for the fee, and 10.00 if you transfer it. We can transfer it for free of course. So therefore, She ended up paying 50+25+35+50, which equals $160.00 all for one late rent payment. The extra 50 is the 5 dollars a day late fee for the rent payment. Which in actuallity, she was not late at all. She had the money there, it was placed in the wrong account. Hum, now has this happened to anyone? Of course it has. I am not against banks, I just think that you should get the bank to work for you, and not the other way around. My friend does not use checks anymore and she now only uses money orders. The bank that she thought would transfer the money for her, has stated that “they did not know that she wanted that check paid”. She doesn’t trust them anymore. She also only uses prepaid cards which she controls. She uses cash and is now finally able to save some money. Take my advice people. Stop letting these banks screw you. There is a new scam going around with banks and it has happened to 4 friends of mine. No recovery here. Let me tell you. Three different banks have done the same thing. Cash withdrawals. Taking money off of the top. You withdraw $300.00 and they give you $290.00 and swear to you that you miscounted. Once you leave that drive through, which I wont use anymore, you cannot say that they did not give you all the money.As far as they know, you are the liar, and who do you think will win? Not you. Even if you let them count it in front of you, which by the way is so fast, you can ask them to slow it down. Count it again and hold up that line if you need to. Count that money. Ask for big bills if you must and take big bills to keep it simple. They will try to give you smaller ones, which if you notice they are doing that now. They never used to in the past. Why are they doing that now? I know a con when I see one. Either the rep is taking the money off the top and pocketing the rest, or there is a scam from the company as a whole, since people aren’t banking as they used to. So many of my associates have closed their banking accounts. Beware. Caveat Emptor’, let the buyer beware. Pay attention to your money people.

thanks ericka courtney, Now read the rest below for you torturous pleasure.

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This story is from Businessweek, at www.businessweek.com or you can go to www.msnbc.com and look under Money. I always do.

Raquel Garcia is serious about avoiding debt. The 18-year-old customer-service representative for U-Haul recently canceled her credit card. Now she gets her entire paycheck deposited onto a prepaid debit card, which she uses for all her purchases.

Because she can access only what’s in the account, Garcia no longer worries about breaking her budget. “I’m spending just what I need,” she says.

For consumers reeling from a series of economic body blows, debit cards are increasingly becoming the plastic of choice.

Some use the cards, which pull money directly from a bank or other account, as a budgeting tool to limit spending. Others embrace them out of necessity as banks clamp down on credit.

All told, debit purchases are expected to climb 13% in 2008, to $1.2 trillion, according to The Nilson Report, an industry newsletter — compared with a 3% rise, to $1.9 trillion, for credit card transactions. At Visa, the No. 1 card company, debit spending could surpass credit this year.

• Build credit without a credit card

For the banks issuing the debit cards, the trend seems bittersweet. On the plus side, debit cards don’t pose a threat to the banks’ books like credit card accounts do (credit card losses are mounting as borrowers fall behind on payments). But the profits on debit cards aren’t as plump because banks don’t collect interest on them.

Issuers largely make money from debit card fees, which pale next to those on credit cards. Retailers, for instance, fork over 1.6% of credit purchases to banks, three times the amount on debit transactions.