[pct-l] backpacking with money

[Gary Wright]

On May 4, 2010, at 1:41 PM, Austin Williams wrote:

> I carry a debit card, and only about $20 or $40 in cash.

I don't ever use debit cards.  If they are stolen, the thief can drain your entire bank account and you'll spend a lot of time arguing with the bank to get your cash back.  A merchant can screw up a transaction also and they will be screwing up your bank account at the same time.

Credit card transactions have a much more robust consumer protection laws than debit cards. You can always dispute
credit card charges before you pay the bill.

An alternative is to have a separate bank account tied to the debit card and to limit the amount of cash in that bank account.

If you have an ATM card that can double as a debit card you may want to check with your bank to see if you can disable the debit card feature.

Here is a look at some of the difference between debit and credit cards: <http://banking.about.com/od/checkingaccounts/p/debitvscredit.htm>

Radar