Cardinal RV Club

Susanna and I like to use more cash then credit while on the road. The problem is I bank with a Bank and the name is deceiving. Everywhere we go NO dang bank in that area! I have heard many long stay travelers bank with Walmart, any of you do the same? Debit cards and gas stations don't do so well when you need 200.00 plus dollars of fuel.

We charge all fuel and most of groceries with a Cabella's card.. EVERY state seemed to honor that card.. we also use Visa card through our bank..... NEVER had a problem with that!

I use walmart to get cash back when I grocery shop - so I call it my Bank of Walmart But I rarely get more than $100 at a time from them. Traveling on cash only gets tricky. Many places no longer take travelers checks and I even found an antique store that wouldn't take cash (after being held up a few times they realized credit/debit card receipts were of little value to thieves). We hate to do it, but their are times we have paid the ATM fees at another bank. Ron banks with a credit union and he will look for a credit union service center - credit unions that have a co-operative agreement to provide all or most all services.

But we do use credit cards - specifically our American Express from Costco for fuel (3% cash back ) and restaurants (2% cash back). We have a Visa for those places that don't take AE. Those cards are paid in full each month. We pay our bills online, and have recurring bills set up on auto pay (some directly from bank account, some hit AE so we get more cash back). Many years ago when I did the primary banking for a company I worked for (millions of dollars on a daily basis ) our bank officer told me of a wealthy individual that used his credit card to pay his property tax, then used the cash back from that to pay his registration for his cars or yacht.

I pay all bills online. But with fuel you pay more on credit. Never have had a problem using cash for anything and if I do I can use the debit.

I don't think we have ever paid more for fuel with credit. There is one fuel station here in OKC that has two different prices, but there are so many other places close by with better overall prices we never go there (Sams Club, On Cue, etc)

Some Flying J's advertise different prices, but seems to me we never paid more than the cash price when we used our credit card there - maybe because we had the Flying J card (but we haven't used those in a long time because they are so much higher than anyone else ).

A few weeks ago I ran into a convenience store to grab a soda. Had left my cash in the car, but had my debit card in my pocket (don't ask me why ). There at the cash register was a neatly lettered sign stating you had to make a minimum purchase of $5 to use credit or DEBIT ! When did that start???

Everywhere I have traveled charges more for fuel on credit. I go to the stations that have the best price close to where I am staying. Really don't have time or want to travel the city looking for ones that do not charge for credit. Also pump cuts you off at a certain amount which is way under what I need to fill 86 gallons. I think my best bet at this point in time is do like I do in Texas go to a bank and get cash off my debit from the teller since I do not have any limits other then whats in that account.

When Den gets cut off at the "$100. mark", he just goes inside and tells them and they turn it back on. Gas Buddy is great for telling prices, and when we are traveling, and the price is good, he tops off even when we only need 15 or 20 gallons...

Gas Buddy

And it maps to the station - which I can see in satellite or street view. Makes it easy to decide if we can get in with our bird or with our bird and Bitsy!

I have found that at Flying J and Love's and Chevron give you the cash price when using a credit card at the Car and RV Islands. Others like ARCO charge a fee to use either credit or debt card. Union 76 charges the credit card price whether you use debit card or credit card!

I receive most of my bills electronically but I do have three places that have not gotten into the 21st century yet and still only bill with paper and USPS. I pay almost all of my bills on line.

sew2bhappy wrote:A few weeks ago I ran into a convenience store to grab a soda. Had left my cash in the car, but had my debit card in my pocket (don't ask me why ). There at the cash register was a neatly lettered sign stating you had to make a minimum purchase of $5 to use credit or DEBIT ! When did that start???

A lot of the convenience stores that are franchisees have implemented that because profit on the small purchases under $5 were eaten up by the charges they were paying to use credit or debit system. The one that fries me is ARCO with all they money they are making and then still charging a 35 cent charge to use credit or debit no matter what the amount.

Don

Does anybody use Walmart as their bank?

Mike Clay wrote:Does anybody use Walmart as their bank?

Didn't know walmart has a bank. I did look at the MoneyCard and wasn't happy with all the fees.

yup I have heard from several people that they use it but not sure i want to use them.

Most of our grocery shopping is done at Walmart or Aldi around home and mostly at Winn Dixie when in Florida for the winter. I use all of them as my bank for getting cash back when paying with my debit card.

I use my credit card as much as possible and most always for fuel because I get 5% back for "pay at the pump" purchases. At 3 bucks a gallon that is 15 cents discount which is way more than 2 or 5 cents for paying with cash. When the pump shuts off at 75 or 100 dollars I just reinsert the card and start again. I have talked to my credit card company and they don't have a problem with 2 or 3 restarts in a row. This keeps my discount intact. If I go to the cashier at the station and give them my card so I can fill up all at once I would loose the discount. I have noticed that some of the pumps will also take debit cards as well as the cashiers but I don't know if it has a limit or not.

Mike, I suggest that you look into getting a credit card that makes it worth the hassle of filling up in spurts at the pump instead of paying cash or with a debit card at the cashier and always ask for cash back at the store when paying with debit to avoid ATM fees.

Now I only get upset when the pump won't print a receipt and I have to go stand in line at the cashier to get one.

Well if you only know how much I like getting fuel anyway Guess I am spoiled since they pump for you here. Susanna hates it when I say I need to go get fuel after we unhook.