How to Shop Without Credit Card

Video Transcript

"Hi. I'm Maria Enomota from Consumer Credit Counseling Service and today we're going to learn how to shop without having a credit card. Some people have had a bad experiences with credit cards so they want to stop using them for at least for awhile. And, but they also need to know that they can buy without having a credit card. One thing that you can use is a prepaid credit card. Know something that has a extend limit you put the amount that you want to carry with that and you'll use a prepaid credit card to do any purchases that you may want on line or if you are going to be renting a car or renting a hotel room if you're on travel or if you want to buy groceries. That's the way you can control your expenses by using a prepaid credit card and it's not exactly as a regular credit card because the limit is set by you. If you don't want to use a prepaid credit card, you can still use your debit card. If you have noticed, your debit card, the one that you have from the bank that is link and attached to your checking account, will have a Visa or Master Card logo. And when you buy and use that card, most of the times they ask you if you want debit or credit, it's because that small tiny debit card can be used as a credit card too. The main difference is that if you use it as a debit card and you enter your pin number and they charge the amount, the amount of this charge is going to be taken right away from your checking account. If you decide to use the same card but as a Visa transaction or a credit transaction, they're going to be taking the funds 72 hours after the transaction. So that will give you some time to put some money in your check account if you don't have a set amount at that point. But you still can shop without having a credit card. Another way will be using cash. But this is recommendable if you are going to be like going around to a reduced store. It's not a good idea to be carrying a lot of cash in your pocket or in your wallet. So these are two options that you can use if you are not having a credit card right now."