I have to read this in more detail, but assuming it convinces me to stop using the debit card, doesn't that mean I should also stop carrying it? OTOH, of course if I lose my wallet I'll notice that pretty quickly, so maybe the danger with the DebitCard is that it will be skimmed and the numbers known**. So that would mean not using it is enough.
**Does skimming get the expiration date and the 3-number code on the back? If not, how do they use it?But it seems the result will be the same in the long run. If I lose the dispute or fail to dispute it, I'll lose the money, debit or credit. And if I win the dispute, I'll either retain the money or get it back, and those two are close enough to each other that I'd be happy either way.
Someone with all his money in the debit account could be, but even now that I've started keeping more money there, it's never over 4000. Except during this trip when it is up to 7000^^^. If they were to, temporarily, get the whole 7000, I'd be very unhappy, but I still have two credit cards to live on (except I think the charges for cash advances are very high. ??? But I guess I would have to do it. Yes, that's the reason I use the debit card, because the only charge for cash from the ATM is ....see below***
^^^From which is paid my supplemental health insurance, storage unit, phone, electricity, etc., at least 1200 of bills (for 3 months) back in the states, But I put more in than I'll need, just in case.
To use a credit card for this, I'd have to take out a cash advance on the CC for all the cash I expect to need for the whole trip, (or bring all that cash with me). Or I can get less, but do it several times. My recollectiion is that there's an initial charge for borrowing the money that would make doing it several times substantially more expensive.
So I'm going to predict that you will say to get cash from ATMs *at a bank^^, as opposed to a gas station etc.* with the debit card and use the credit card for everything else?????? Am I right about that?
^^On the theory that a bank's ATM won't skim my card
** well it may be mrore that the 1% I said in another post, because I didn't consider that they might use a penalizing exchange rate, or a good exchange rate and just not tell me what the local bank charges for handing out the money. They should charge something. They're not even my bank.! )One of the advantages of being thrifty all my life (and not having a wife or children, and not having great economic losses) is that I'm very far from this situation. I calculated roughtly that I have enough money (though conceivably not enough interest or energy) to take 11 week vacations like this every year.^^^^. (When I was working full time, of coursse I couldnt' take vacations over 2 weeks, but I'm
70 y.o. now and in great health except overweight and back hurts sometimes.) But even this trip is cheap by, for example, my brother's standards. He's still working, and makes a lot more money than I did. For me, this trip was under 1000 for the air fare, 1600 for the car, 2200 for the rented room^^^, maybe 500 for gasoline , 220 for the phone (plus 18 for 3 months of a skype number**** and an undeteterminable amount for restaurants and grocery food to eat at "home" (and in the car.) . So that's 5550 plus food for 11 weeks. .^^^And there were cheaper rooms. I should have started serious looking 6 weeks in advance. Instead it was 4.5. I wrote 4 emails to craigslist people, 3 replied, one could handle only parts of the time I wanted, one was never going to be there, and at 3.4 weeks I panicked and took the one that was expensive. I should have started earlier or sent more emails, though there were not, for example, 10 good choices. Maybe 6 or 7, but new ones every couple days.
^^^^It's hard to calculate how much it will eat into my savings and how much that will decrease the income on my savings. Compound interest in reverse. And how long I will live and if I'll be very sick for a while, need nursing care or nursing home. I guess I should look into long-term care insurance to take some (or could it be all?) of the uncertainty out of that expense.
**** I only mention Skype because it was a really good investment if you have people to give the number to who might call you. But what is interesting is that Verizon dumped its email on AOL, which I think it owns, and it expected me to reregister and confirm my identity with a phone number, and it only gave 10 spaces for numbers. No way online for it to call a foreign number. But the Skype number worked fine (for a phone call. First I tried twice to get them to text me. Later I saw that Skype on the PC won't accept texts, but the phone is supposed to. The phone has Skype that also rings when I get a call, but the texts never showed up. But like I say, the phone call worked.