[Maine Mariner]

We make our purchases with a bank debit card to earn interest on our checking accounts. We also have several credit cards which we pay off each month-so no interest charges. The credit cards such as Amazon and LL Bean gives us bonus points which reduces the cost of future purchases. The key point is that we pay off our credit card purchases within a week of the purchase.

[Rocco DiPippo]

I used to do the same with credit cards to get cash back bonuses. As long as I stayed disciplined and maintained a zero balance each month at the end of the month it all worked well for me. But unfortunately, a client stiffed me out of a big final payment at the end of a big job and the whole "house of cards" collapsed.

Took two years and a lawyer to get paid but by that time, due to the crazy interest rates that popped on the cards when I was late one month on several of them, I was quickly buried.

Took me several years to pay off the mess, but I did. And I never had another credit card again. That was 15 years ago. Debit cards? Yes. Credit cards? Not for me. . . Cash, as always, is king.