i am confused. you said the grocery which doesn't accept credit card or check...what do you pay with if not cash?

i have a visa debit. i use that. i don't have to carry a bunch of "cash", but it is the same as cash. (but many times..yep..just use plain ole cash cash) i'm not relying on a line of credit for my purchases and getting a bill in the mail and then having to write a check.

whatever works for each person is great. :D i just don't buy anything on credit and i don't like spending time paying an extra bill each each month.

The things I learn on these boards!!
 

My Goodness!!

Now I know more about debit and credit cards than I ever did. Can't thank you guys enough.

Since Alan and I don't drive (I never did). And we aren't planning any hotel trips any time soon, the only time I used a debit card was at the grocery store and to buy a few things at my local drug store.

Now I probably won't even do that.

but, because I read about the pre-paid Visa things you can get at the drug store, I just might put $100 on a pre-paid visa and if I want to buy something online, I can use this, right?? Makes it a bit safer than using your bank account card, right??

Thanks,
Mel

Yes, I used to work at a hotel, and when we took a credit card impression and the "credit card' was a debit card, it would take the money from the person's account and if they were staying a week and therefore didn't expect the charge to be at the beginning of their stay, they would sometimes be overdrawn. That happened even if they were there on a Comp'd stay and weren't going to be asked to pay for anything at the end if there was no damage to their room, sort of thing.

So there are some things you need to be aware of. I just got dinged by my bank for $34, which I could ill afford to lose, because I used my debit card when the advert specifically warned against using a debit card... It's complicated, but it has to do with timing.

Still, I like mine.

Hi Mel,
I think the main problem, at least for me, is remembering exactly where I am with it.

I think they are all very safe.

But, I can still understand why some people prefer to use PayPal.

As they say, "it's all good."

:)

(IMHO)

I use paypal when I sell on ebay.

It's the best way to get paid. No waiting for people to send you money orders. I don't accept personal checks. So paypal (as an ebay seller), is the way to go.

Been doing Ebay on and off for over 10 years. As long as Ebay has been in business, I've been selling. I started with Classic Illustrated magazines. The first one was Alan's old Classic Illustrated from 30 or so years ago. They cost fifteen cents back in those days. I had one sell for $25.00 on ebay. Imagine, some old magazine and I got $25.00 for it. I wish I had more to sell.

So if I have a dress or shirts to sell, they go right up on Ebay. And I've purchased many a good deal on Ebay. I purchased an Ipod skin for $3.00 on ebay that sells for $20 at my local Radio Shack. And it came with an arm band and a lariat for around my neck. And I bought a thing for my cable box that separates the incoming cables that sells for $39.99 in Radio Shack and I paid $3.99 on ebay. The exact same thing.

You gotta love EBAY!!

Mel

I wish I understood selling on eBay. I don't know how I'd pack it and get it sent off though, since I'm housebound.

In terms of the "buys" on eBay, have you caught the news on telly recently talking about the hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of things stolen from the National Disease Centers... and auctioned on eBay? Intensely expensive spectrometers and microscopes... and then after that there was a news snippet about huge HUGE losses at Wal*Mart and the things auctioned on eBay.

I'm not enamoured of eBay to the extend that I bought a rug that looked great in the pictures, but when I got it the colors in the rug had been enhanced with magic markers. :eek:

And eBay did nothing. The shipping charges had been very high, and I thought, foolishly, that was because the item was worth far more than it might be sold for at auction...

I was taken.

Good Morning World. :D
Such a lovely sunny sunday morning here.

Hey curious,
My Debit card and my Visa Debit card are two separate cards but work on the same account.

If I don't have cash at the grocery store, then I can use my Debit card. It comes automatically with my savings account. Just key in the right account, (i.e. savings - not cheque or credit) and key in password and bob's your uncle. If I go to hire a car or wanted to buy airline tickets or some such thing (I wish!!!) then I would not be able to use my Debit card. I would need to dig out my Visa Debit Card and that would go through a completely different form of processing but would work in the same manner as a Credit Card.

Most places here will hold the transaction in limbo... meaning if you need to make a deposit to a company such as a Car Rental firm (just example) then you would need to give either Credit or Debit Visa card (both work) and they will then process the paperwork in front of you, but actually hold it rather than put it through to the bank. Then at the end of the car rental period you go back and they just rip up the transaction slip.

Edited to add another couple of thoughts:

Most of the time I don't need actual cash in my wallet. Most of the time I can swipe debit card (not visa debit card) however, some places don't do EFTPOS but they're rare to find these days. Usually very small cafés and juice bars... places like that which either don't take EFTPOS or they do only over a certain quantity of money ... like $20. If I just want a tea or coffee then I need to carry a little cash all the time just in case.

There was something else I was going to say but I've forgotten. lol :rolleyes:

OH, I remember now.

I was going to say that a Debit Card (not Visa Debit) works the same basically as a Cheque book in that it withdraws money from your account. Many places won't take Cheques here anymore though.

Debit Card will also work in ATMs. Although the cost of making a withdrawal is getting very expensive. Lots of banks here are getting rid of staff and some banks actually charge you to make transactions at the counter with a "real person". Some banks also have limits on amount of free transactions and I think that all of them charge if you use another bank's ATM. They're all robbers!!! ;)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debit_card

[Note: of course Visa is only one of the types of cards there is. There are others. I am just using that one as my example because that's the one I know.]

Brian,
Here in the states our economy runs on oil and the plastic credit cards. One great advantage to a cc is you only pay for what you use (no fees ect.) Pay it off within the grace period ( it like having cash). I have been purchasing Jerrows Mythl B-12 from I herb for two years by cc and no problems. I'm one who would like supplements better monitored as there are cases where the public is getting ripped off with doses of flour, cornstarch and who knows what else.

Hi Stagger,
I sure don't want the government in the vitamin business.

So many people die each year from approved pharmaceuticals. Why people aren't more horrified, I have no idea.

I think that the answer to being ripped off is keeping notes, and if something that should help, doesn't, then buy another brand, try it, and if it doesn't help, that may not be a nutrient that body is in need of.

hi lara :hug:

silver swan was talking about using credit cards. then the post to me. confusing. lol

stores have to have a credit card terminal to accept any type of card, wether debit or credit. our business only takes credit cards or the debit cards with the visa/mc logo. i haven't heard of a business only taking debit and not credit.

the rates we are charged as a business for taking the cards vary. actualy higher for debit. the reason why chose to get the terminal and account we did.

(ps...most people don't realize how much it costs a business to take credit cards. the fees are outragous.)

Hi Lara, from working at the hotel, I know that when paperwork is processed it goes through the system in order to see if the Card is good.

With a credit card, that's the end of it.

With a debit card the processing actually creates a debit.

It can be reversed when the charge does not fully materialize, but in the interim that much money is no longer in the account.

after working at the hotel, I sold those credit card systems for awhile, and then I realized what a rip off they were... I sound disgruntled. Darn it. And I'm too tired to remember how to show it. But the service is very expensive with machines that are cheap but expensive when provided with plans...

Sorry... I should be sleeping, but I can't.

My suspicions were confirmed by some fellow workers in another business, later... I can't remember if you can find some of the info by Googling...

and, certainly your system may be a legitimate and good one.

ahhh, I get it. Thanks, Curious.
Now I know what was meant.
It is confusing!

Plus we're talking about different countries as well.
USA and Australia. :)

It's not all the same.

thanks for the input karen. it is a good machine and company. we have been with them since 1998. done many comparission shopping since then and nobody could come close to their rates. some who came to us..good grief...i couldn't even get a good reference on them. still...ugh. the cost of doing business is sure not in the businees' favor.

we get charged if somebody disputes a claim. even if we are in the right and the person doesn't get their money back.( um...just stopping payment doesn't cancel a membership somewhere :rolleyes:) we still get a huge fee!

I must have just been lucky then. :)

Last time I hired a car there were two different transactions. The card processed fine when I paid for the rental car hire but the company did NOT process my deposit. They kept that separate transaction in my file (it's processed on paper and signature required) and ripped it up at the end, therefore leaving me with that money for the deposit still in my account. The money for the deposit would only be used by the care hire place if there was a problem. I guess they're the ones taking the risk there, hey!

PS.

Curious, some card fees are much higher here than others as well, so some businesses with not take certain cards... Diner Card is one I think. Can't think of the others right now

ConsiderThis,
I agree with you not needing the gov't regulating supplements, but a source like Consumer Guide should take a look into this. Many of us would greatly pay a membership fee to get the real scoop. We don't know how many people have died from taking products from snake oil salesmen. Kettering Sloan cancer center has a good web site showing the results of clinical trial of some herbs,supplement. Look in the Herb link.

Hi Stagger, just about everyone over here also live off their plastic cards for just about everything, as you say, as long as you are on the ball and pay within the grace period and not attracting charges they really should be fine, no problems at all.
On the other side of the fence i know a few people that have multiple credit cards, they go absolutely crazy with them and are in deeply in debt, they juggle their cards around so one of them pays for the other and so on, defiantly not a smart move, they just keep burying themselves deeper and deeper.
I think that the prepaid Visa card that Lara mentioned sounds pretty good to me, i do think i will go for that one, seeing it has nothing to do with your own bank account and i will ditch the Paypal then.
My mobile phone is prepaid as well and works really good for me, oh, cell phone i think the US people say :)

To Considerthis:

I didn't read about the ebay problems. Wow, that stinks. Getting rooked by anybody, well that really stinks. I've been very lucky. I really don't remember anyone stiffing me. Everybody paid me via paypal and I give good feedback and I have excellent feedback. I've been lucky.

Thank goodness for that.

There are powersellers who make a fortune on ebay. I only wish I was one of them.

Bye for now,
Mel

Credit card and Check Card (aka Debit Card)
 

Dear Curious:

I did stop at my bank the other day and apply for their Check Card, which is called a Debit Card by other banks, I think. It works the same as a paper check, and has the required logo on the back of the plastic card, in this case, VISA. It is swiped thorugh the store machine just like a Credit Card is. (I know that this service costs the stores fees.)

The only reason I wanted a debit card is that one grocery store I want to shop in only takes cash or debit cards. I don't like to stop at the bank for cash each time I shop for groceries, because it is time and energy consuming - and also, I don't like to carry large amounts of cash in our big city.

I have a Credit Card from the same bank, which is also VISA, mainly for convenience at other grocery stores, and in particular, the gas station, where I can use the automatic self service pumps any time of day or night.

I pay all Credit Card charges at the end of each billing period and so do not pay interest charges! For me, these cards are a convenience.

Shirley H.

I think the prepaid
 

card is a great idea. And it will allow you, Brian, some freedom in purchasing off the net. I buy many things... books, garden equipment, vitamins/minerals, and other odd things at times. But I have not done Ebay yet. And I do not have PayPal.

Our debit card came from our bank unrequested years ago. It comes off our checking acct...and is also a charge when used without the pin #.
Because I was so paranoid when it came, we started saving every receipt we get, even cash ones. My husband keeps them in a box clipped together by month. This was my way of having a sense of control, even tho the bank said we would not be held accountable for a theft of the number. Keeping the receipts has been very useful to us now, as we claim State income tax credit with them, and I have used them for price matching offers, and refunds of stuff that turns out defective after a short time. So we have actually made money keeping them so carefully. In all this time I have never had an issue.

So I hope you will be able to avail yourself of iherb. I was just there today in the wee hours getting some l-tryptophan. I see they have made the site easier to use, and the shipping is discounted and very low now. I only paid $1.52 for shipping. That is very new to me!

I'd like to add
 

That I found my rare (not commonly used) replacement earbud for my Nokia phone just now on the net. It was even less expensive than I paid for it at Radio Shack 3 yrs ago. Plantronics MX200...

I have an older model phone, that is very basic (and that suits me and my hubby fine).
It does NOT
play music
take pictures
go on the internet

And I have never sent a text message on it. But we both manage to run ours enough for our needs. (my hubby doesn't use his much except to be available to me --free family plan---and when he goes on the road to audits for emergencies.)

My son however has a phone that does EVERYTHING... he even has custom rings for each person, so he knows who is calling without looking at the thing! And he paid $500 for it...it opens up and has a keyboard inside even!

My earbud cracked and died on vacation, and no stores carry this older type on a cord anymore with the special comfort clip for the ear. Since we don't have wireless features, I need this older type only. And I found it at Amazon !!! so... :Excited: happy, happy joy joy.

This is how I buy on the internet...my eccentric thingys.

MrsD's hummingbird
 

Forgive me for jumping subjects, but I had to comment on your hummingbird as I have four feeders in the yard facing the back porch and one would think the yard was O'Hara airport with all the traffic. The feeders are placed near lilac bushes for rest stops. I notice they don't like to share the bounty that's why so many feeders. Last year the wood hornets gave the lilac bushes and hummers a hard time, but they had been almost nonexistent this season. Wearing a red hat in the yard brings the hummers right in your face and the air displacement they create is rather loud for their size. Last evening while setting on the bench I counted about 14 with the red throats the most noticeable, they disappear very quickly once leaving the feeders and they will migrate out of here about the middle of October.

Mrs. D.

I have a question about phones.

Alan and I have a pre-paid phone. We add $50 every 4 months or so. We get something like 8 hours of talk time. We only use it for the Access-a-ride (you have to have a phone when you travel on those things).

Or let's say I'm around the corner with a big load of wash, I'll just ring up Alan and say "come outside and help me". This is about all we use the phone for. NO gimmicks, no pictures, no internet, just like you do with yours.

Now here's what I dont' understand at all. You mention that your son paid $500 for a phone that has a keyboard.

I have seen these things. My friends kids are on their porch. One of these phones is called The Sidekick. You should have seen my face when she flips it open and this keyboard popped up. I said "whatever will you do with this?" and she said "oh, I text message my friend". Now her friend was standing right in front of her.

So the two of them are text messaging each other. I looked at these two 26 year old women like they had lost their minds.

I said "excuse me but I have to ask a stupid question". "Why are you text messaging each other when you are standing right in front of each other?" They looked at me like I had LOST MY MIND!!!

Somebody please explain why the younger generation has lost their marbles, or is it me who has lost the marbles???

Melody

well...
 

I don't think it is just you Mel.

Besides the PHONE I really get rather horrified by the CONTENT of the conversations I am exposed to!

Now my son is techie and at work, they all have novel things. His programmer supervisor just got an iPhone. So in his line of work, I expect "some" of this keeping up with new things. (But it seems he has a new expensive phone every year!)

At my now former job (which I have just retired from) the conversations daily were stultifying. It appears to me people have to talk on the phone about their tattoos, new nail polish, hair gel, what their boyfriend/girlfriend said at breakfast, the newest movie...endlessly. These folks just cannot stand to be alone by themselves. Even up North, at the laundromat when I was trying the laptop there, and people asked me etc, and I told them I live on an island with no electricity etc... they say--"what do you do all day?" You know I am comfortable alone with my thoughts, no problem.

Having my cell phone was handy this year tho, when my husband left twice to return to work and I was there ALL ALONE...I could at least call him each morning and we'd exchange events, and set up return stuff to bring, and I'd get the weather report from him. If I got an important mail or call at home, at least he could field them for me now. When we came home, separately several hours apart, we called each other a few times, to check in. One example was a large piece of wood I passed on the freeway with about 20 nails sticking up, in the left lane. I called him to warn him to stay to the right at that spot. He called me when he left the island, finishing closing up, so I wouldn't worry that he fell off a ladder. Cell phones are ideal for this, and I appreciate mine for it. In the past I used to worry A LOT.

When my son was up for a week, he just tuned in his phone to the internet for our weather reports! ;)

So I think that people today, many people, not just young ones, cannot stand to be alone, by themselves for any length of time, and have to have reassurance constantly. The cell phone fills that niche perfectly. I had some people at work with TWO phones even. I never took mine in...I kept it in my car, and went out there if I had a serious reason to call home or doctor's appt or something. Sometimes I think that people will grow so dependent in these ways, that if an emergency happens, and the satellites go down, or the towers fail (they sometimes do up North) people would PANIC...having no internal coping mechanisms! But then I am very old fashioned and used to being personally accountable and resourceful.... :p

Yes MrsD, i will be getting that Visa prepaid card, its a great idea and safe which suits me fine, there has been lots of things i have wanted to buy on the net and some sellers don't accept Paypal even on Ebay, but not a problem if you have a Visa card.
My prepaid mobile phone is a must were i live as well, [ seaside/country] if something was to go wrong on my car whilst on the road, then i only have to ring for road side assistance and they will get me moving again or arrange for a tow, if it was something major, $30 of prepaid time can last me months as i only use it when i really have too, text messages are ok once you get the hang of it, i think there only 20 cents each for anywere in Australia.

I have had a good look around for Methylcobalamin in Australia but they are very expensive, one place wanted $58 for 30 x4 mg tabs without delivery charges, then i emailed another compounding pharmacy that wanted $88 for 30 tabs without delivery charges, Iherb is defiantly the cheapest by far.
all the best,
Brian :)

First of all, a question for Mel.... I live in the burbs in Atlanta. What the heck is Access a Ride? We have a cultural gap here.

Mrs. D, I know what you mean about people being so plugged in these days. I just spent a week in Virginia on my favorite niece's farm. She has two kids ages 5 and 7 that I was babysitting. She is so wonderful -- she is raising her kids with no tv, no computer games or video games. They get no cell phone reception. It was heaven. Played board games with the kids, read a lot. Of course, she also has no air-conditioning....but it is amazing how quickly you learn to cope with even that!

Hi Dakota:

In New York, it's called Access-a-ride, in California, it's called Get A Lift. In various states, well, they all have their names for it. What is IT??

It's a system where disabled people get picked up right at their front door and delivered to another place. But you only get approved for this service if you cannot take the usual public transportation, such as Buses or trains.

Because I have degenerative joint disease, I can't climb any steps and god forbid if I am on a bus and that bus moves a certain way, well, the pain goes right through me. I also have a frozen shoulder that when the weather does not cooperate, well, I can't hang on the over thing in a bus.

So when I have to go anywhere in the five boros, I just call Access-a-ride. Like for example, a few days ago Alan and I had to go to my girlfriend's funeral. They showing was from 2 to 4. You are allowed to have one guest accompany you. They pay the same fare as you do. $2.00 each way.

So we told the access-a-ride we had to be there by 1:30 p.m. If you tell them 2.P.M. believe me, you'll never get there because they are always late. That's the only downside to having this service. But beggers can't be choosers. Alan cannot drive because of his neuropathy so he was approved a few years ago for the Access-a-ride. We each have our own access-a-ride identification cards.

So you get picked up either in an Access-a-ride bus or a regular car with the words ACCESS-A-RIDE on it. In Staten Island it's always a car because Staten Island has all these hills and the buses can't go around the corners (or some such explanation as it was told to me).

So imagine having door to door service for $2.00. When they come on time, there's nothing better.

So the day of the funeral, we told them to pick us up at 4:15 p.m. They came at 4:12 p.m. This was very cool, believe me. It's better to have them come early than to wait for 3 hours.

A few years ago, Alan and I were in Staten Island attending my Aunt's 80th birthday party. We were scheduled for a 9:p.m. pickup to return to Brooklyn. Guess what time the Access-a-ride came?? 1 a.m.

I will never forget. We closed down the Chinese Restaurant, then we went next door to the catering hall, well, they closed down at midnight. So there we were, Alan and I alone in the street waiting for this darn Access-a-ride.

See, that's where the cell phones come in. You have to call them up and yell "where the heck is my ride"? Imagine being stranded at 1 a.m. without a cell phone? They kept saying: "20 more minutes". Jeez.

Well, after that incident, we have never used the Access-a-Ride for any occasion after 8 p.m. We just can't take the chance.

Not too many places to go. So we go to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast .

lol

Melody