Why I Switched from a Credit Card to A Green Dot Card
Like most people I have several credit cards, however I rarely use them anymore, really the only reason that I keep the accounts open is to avoid the damage to my credit that closing them would cause. These days I am using a Green Dot card for most of my purchases instead of a credit card, there are several reasons for this.
The big reason that I switched from a credit card to a debit card was to save money and in this respect I have been very successful. When I was using a regular credit card every month when the bill showed up it was a lot more than I had expected. This was mainly because like most people I had grossly underestimated the effects of interest. Eventually I figured out that by using my credit card I was actually spending more on interest than I was on the initial purchase. I thought that this was ridiculous so I switched to a Green Dot card.
Now that I have started using a Green Dot card instead of a credit card the amount that it costs me to use it has gone down dramatically. This is mainly because I don't have to pay interest to use the my Green Dot card. Instead I just pay a small fee when I load money onto the card. There is also a monthly fee that has to be paid but this is quite small as well and since I use my card so often it is usually waived anyway. The result is that I am now saving hundreds of dollars each month over what it cost me to use my credit card.
One of the other reasons that I switched to a Green Dot card is that it makes it a lot easier for me to stick to a budget. When I was using my credit card the limit was determined for by the credit card company and was far more than I could really afford. As a result I had a tendency to spend too much. With a Green dot card this is not a problem since I can't spend any more than I deposit on the card, pretty much forcing me to stay on budget.
I also really like the fact that using my Green Dot card allows me to protect my credit. A credit card can be a great way to build up your credit but it can also destroy it pretty quickly. The way that I was using my credit card I was heading down the path of ruining my credit. Fortunately this is something that I was able to prevent from happening by switching cards. Since Green Dot is not a credit card I can't hurt my credit so I know that it will be in good shape when I need to make a major purchase.