Hacker News Reader

Comment by dougdude3339 | Hacker News Reader

I prefer my debit card because I'm more aware of how much I'm spending. Money taken out of my account is immediate and feels real. Ultimately, I spend less.

View on HN

One isn’t more real than the other. They are both numbers in an online database. In one case your assets are going down, in the other your liabilities are going up. The net result is the same.

I agree with dougdude. I like debit cards better because you see the balance change immediately. The thing I dislike about credit cards is payment is deferred by a month.

> The thing I dislike about credit cards is payment is deferred by a month.

I like this. It means that I can earn a bit more bank interest on what I've spent.

It's a world of difference if one of them gets stolen vs the other.

In that case a credit card is actually significantly better than debit

Yes that was my point. A debit card stolen from you hits harder than some numbers in a database going down when you can't pay your rent.

The parent isn't explaining it well, largely because it's not rational.

I think of it like alcoholics who can't be near alcohol. It's some deep seated degeneracy or fear.

Problem with a debit card is that if something goes wrong (product broken, or worse, debit card skimmed) it's my debit card, and thus my money.

Credit card? I file a charge-back which is a forcing mechanism for the vendor. Credit card skimmed? I get a new one, and I don't need to wait for my $ to be re-imbursed.

Debit cards on Visa/Mastercard have chargeback protection too, but yes, the money leaves one's account until the chargeback is successful.

it's just as easy to check a debit balance as a CC balance.

and once debt is spent you cannot get it back. you get scammed you can dispute the credit card, and if the CC gets stolen you can fight any charges.

debit means the money is gone and that's it.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com