Help Out a Finance Noob

[xanis]

I'm graduating high school this year, so I'll be going off to college soon. I'll be living on my own (with a roomie of course) in Philadelphia. I'll be own my own for food and anything else I'll need.

What I'm looking for is some way to make managing my money and making purchases easier and more convenient. Currently I have a savings account with Wachovia, but no checking account or ATM abilities. What I was thinking about doing is setting up a checking account and linking a debit card to it. However, I'm not quite sure how this works.

Would I be better off with a credit card? Can I link a debit/credit card to a savings account?

I really have no idea how most of this works, so any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[sniperruff]

1) get checking account w/ ATM card
2) get credit card. link CC payment with checking account.
3) get cash from ATM card when you need cash
4) make purchases using CC and earn cash back. PAY ALL CC BILLS IN FULL ON TIME, with checking account.
5) Saving account can be used for parking extra cash.

Good luck.

 

[xanis]

Originally posted by: sniperruff
1) get checking account w/ ATM card
2) get credit card. link CC payment with checking account.
3) get cash from ATM card when you need cash
4) make purchases using CC and earn cash back. PAY ALL CC BILLS IN FULL ON TIME, with checking account.
5) Saving account can be used for parking extra cash.

Good luck.

Thanks! This is some good stuff. As for the payment thing, no need to worry. If I learned anything useful, it's fiscal responsibility.

 

[Ewat]

Looks like I got beat to a response

 

[LS20]

use cash

 

[Viper GTS]

sniperruff's advice is sound.

In general only use the debit card to get cash from ATM's or for POS debit purchases. If running it as a Visa/MC use the credit card. The credit card companies make a great buffer between merchants and your money.

And for god's sake use the credit responsibly.

Viper GTS

 

[Semidevil]

my opinion:

-get a checking account and ask for a debit card. This debit card will be useful where visa/mastercards are accepted. Use this as your primary card to pay for things.

-Get 1 to 2 credit cards. From my experience, chase credit cards are the ones that give you the highest credit limit. not encouraging you to go crazy with it, but in case of emergency, it's there for you.

if you get something with rewards, it'll just encourage you to use it more and more. == not so good idea.

 

[xanis]

Thanks for the advice guys. The ATM card is what I'll be using the most. I've always preferred to pay with dead presidents over plastic.

 

[sniperruff]

Originally posted by: Xanis
Thanks for the advice guys. The ATM card is what I'll be using the most. I've always preferred to pay with dead presidents over plastic.

thats what i thought too but now i go to mcdonalds and buy a McChicken with plastic =P

no more pennies for me!

 

[xanis]

Originally posted by: sniperruff

Originally posted by: Xanis
Thanks for the advice guys. The ATM card is what I'll be using the most. I've always preferred to pay with dead presidents over plastic.

thats what i thought too but now i go to mcdonalds and buy a McChicken with plastic =P

no more pennies for me!

I sure hope it doesn't come to that. 😛

 

[Yossarian]

Originally posted by: Xanis
Thanks for the advice guys. The ATM card is what I'll be using the most. I've always preferred to pay with dead presidents over plastic.

Plastic is better most of the time. Eventually you'll qualify for a good card with cash back, like Citi Dividends. Then you make money on every purchase, plus you have the grace period of the credit card to pay it off.