We stopped using our ATM cards on our joint account because it became too hard for me keep up with dh’s using it. He’d forget to tell me about a withdrawl & it would never fail that I would bounce a check & it’d end up costing us tens of dollars + the fee + the hassel…now I stick with my prepaid card that I can fund via electronic transfer. Otherwise I use only cash.

Two caveats: 1) I have good ATMs and even a branch of my credit union in easy walking distance of where I work. 2) If you’re the type to spend faster if you have more cash on you, you might actually save money by waiting until you want to get something and then withdrawing only a small amount. That $30 you paid in one month could definitely be less than the amount of frivolous purchases a person might make if they had extra cash on hand!

Choose a credit card with no annual fee, 25-day grace period, and either cash back or some other reward of use to you. Use it for all your day-to-day purchases, then pay it off *every month*. I’ve made several hundred dollars on my CC every year for the past few years with this strategy. The receipts also help you account for where your money goes, if you keep a record of them.