Recommend pre paid visa card?
Posted by Jkg2116@reddit | preppers | View on Reddit | 41 comments
I'm totally expecting people to bash me for this question. What are your thoughts of having a few pre paid visa cards in your bug out bag? I know everyone of you would say cash and precious metal but I like to diversify. I have no experience in using a prepaid visa card. Any recommendation which one to get? TIA
alphatango308@reddit
Most charge you monthly service and they're pretty shady and hard to keep people getting the numbers. I would go with a PayPal account with a card attached.
Under no circumstances get a prepaid card from the store. Scum bags get the information off that card in the store and register empty cards without taking the card from the shelf. Then, someone grabs them off the shelf and loads money on it and scum bag gets a notification there's money on the card and spends it without you knowing.
Vanilla cards and netspend are particularly bad about this. I've personally gone down this road a few times with elderly people I know.
Paypal account is honestly a great tool for online shopping habits. Get a debit card attached and you've got a prepaid debit card. Boom. It's as good as your bank account and great for if you're card gets compromised. You don't lose access to your bank funds without going to the bank.
Also, I highly suggest carrying an extra card for emergencies like automated gas pump stations. Those don't take cash. Lots of gas places close the store but leave the pumps running with cards.
MagHagz@reddit
If you need to bug out in a SHTF situation, you’re assuming credit cards will work. I’d go with cash
Virginia_Hall@reddit
Depends on what you're prepping for. No electricity = credit cards are cute little pieces of plastic.
Longjumping-Army-172@reddit
You would be better off getting an actual credit card if you can. You can get extra cards to tuck away if you feel it's necessary.
Just use them responsibility!
TSiWRX@reddit
The one issue I have with credit cards is that you do have to use them occasionally, or else they will deactivate your account or downgrade your credit line, even if you have excellent (and I mean excellent, like 820+) credit score.
They'll usually contact you - and offer you either an appeals process (which is typically painless, but still a hassle of a phone call) to restore the limit or simply ask you to make a purchase within a set date, just so that they know the card is still in your possession.
Yes, this is from personal experience.
DeafHeretic@reddit
I pay certain bills with my CC - if nothing else, then subscriptions like Netflix/et. al. which get paid automatically. Also my cell phone.
Plus any online purchase (mostly Amazon) is with my CC - better fraud protection.
I also get Amazon points, and I get free use of $ for 30+ days so I can leave my actual $ in interest bearing accounts. E.G., yesterday I just charged $5300 to pay a medical bill, and that won't come due until Dec 1st (I will pay it off with $ from my Roth IRA then).
stonerbbyyyy@reddit
my econ teacher actually told me to always pay my bills with a credit card. bro didn’t even have a debit card. he also had a perfect credit score.
TSiWRX@reddit
Yup, gotta play the game!
Speaking of, I gamed it for a bit to get my score up to 850 at one of the houses. Not worth the effort, but still fun, LOL.
DeafHeretic@reddit
My FICO hovers at 800. "They" say once you get above 750 it doesn't really matter. Either way doesn't matter to me as I don't want/need more "credit" (anything even close to my current limit would just get paid by an IRA withdrawal anyway).
The only debt I have is my mortgage - only because my IRAs earn more (8-10%) - than the interest on my mortgage (4%), and paying taxes on regular IRA withdrawal to pay off my mortgage isn't worth the bump up in the tax bracket).
I ignore offers for more CCs or increased credit amounts - I don't need them. I don't take out loans. I pay "cash" for any major purchase (e.g., bought a pickup last year for $18K cash I withdrew from my Roth IRA),
TSiWRX@reddit
Yup. That's the way I understand it as well.
We dipped to 780 when we moved into our current home a few years ago. After having spent nearly 20 years in our "starter home" that was supposed to have been a 5-year waypoint (we loved the neighborhood - and also our neighbors) and not even having purchased new furniture since then, welp, it was time.
The timing of that cycle corresponded with my wife needing a new vehicle, and true to "what they say," it didn't affect our financing numbers whatsoever.
DeafHeretic@reddit
I help my kids (married adults) as they have poor credit scores - but usually only for unanticipated expenses (new roof, medical bills, car repair). Another 10-15 years they will inherit my assets anyway, so rather than having them be in a bind, I help them when I think they need it.
TSiWRX@reddit
We should all help our kids when possible - they're lucky to have a good parent like you!
Longjumping-Army-172@reddit
I just buy my usual with it, and pay it off immediately. No interest that way, and you can build up whatever rewards you get...
TSiWRX@reddit
Yup, that's me (us) too.
But we're old-fashioned. =) A younger friend actually counseled me to be smarter about the game and it did come in handy with a very big purchase at one point, where I not only got a significant reward, but also additional cash-back, points, and with zero interest for 10 months (which I did not use, but could have).
Ultimately, it's still a game where those with benefit much more than those without. It's sad, but in the real world, oftentimes money just keeps makes money.
Dapper-Hamster69@reddit
Working in the card industry, those pre paid cards dont work fantastic at all places, but still about 90%. Some will have 'country of issue' tags on it, so if you are on the border between canada and us you may have issues for example. Some also have time limits before they deduct fees for the card of a few bucks a month until its dead. Depends on where you are and laws on that stuff.
When I have had issues in the past like a storm, one grocery store was cash only as processing was down. Another closed since they had no power.
But there is the 'prep for tuesday'. I have lost a job for a year during covid. unemployment ran longer here, so that was good, but paid rent and basic bills. Not much left for feeding the family. So a card like this would be handy, but same with cash.
My thoughts is trade. I have had people try to 'sell' me a $50 gift card for 30, but you dont know if its good. Cash is face value, so you know its good to trade in a shtf time. In other words I would not trade something I have for a visa gift card.
Jkg2116@reddit (OP)
Good point, thank you
OneQt314@reddit
Some prepaid Visa cards come with monthly maintenance fees, like you pay extra (~5 usd) to use the damn card and then lose money monthly to keep it active (I forgot how much, it's a small fee like $5?). I don't care for the extra expense & gift cash only. Read the fine print before buying.
I recommend cash because if you recall 9/11, the cell grid failed miserable and a lot of electronic experiences were affected for the entire nation & not just NYC.
Jkg2116@reddit (OP)
Awesome, thank you
Femveratu@reddit
Just make sure they don’t expire or add some sort of monthly fee that secretly eats away at your balance
busyship1514@reddit
A good option is a card and bank account in another country.
DeafHeretic@reddit
I have a debit card for ATM access ($500/day/weekend) and a CC with a $25K limit (I pay it off fully every month, never carrying a balance past the next statement date). I also have a money belt with cash - usually $500-$1500 inside. Then there is Zelle (which is limited to $500/day).
I don't have a check book - I pay all recurring bills online (except one which is a yearly road maintenance cost and I have the CU send a bank check for that). I occasionally send a bank drawn check to someone, but that is rare.
My PMs are lead/brass/et. al. - i.e., ammo. I have no gold/et. al. - the bulk (90%) of my net worth is in investments (stocks, bonds, real estate equity).
johndoe3471111@reddit
I am a fan of both cash and some cards. I prep for Tuesday, so a natural disaster, short term power outage, or personal financial disaster. I think that in most cases you will be able to get to some help or resources. In my view this is a much more likely scenario. If that is the case we live in a digital economy. Swipes and taps of cards are how things will still be done on the fringe of a crisis. I have credit cards, debit cards, and specific debit cards with separate banks that I use just for internet transactions. I also have a prepaid card that further isolates my identity from the payment. I am not sure what my crisis will be one day, but I do know the more tools you have to deal with it the better your odds are of surviving it.
TSiWRX@reddit
\^ This, +1.
As with any other prep, it pays to diversify.
Credit cards and prepaid cards are modern conveniences. It not often makes life easier, and sometimes it comes packed with tangible rewards for its use.
Our family has a shared-use card where all of our routine expenses go. Each of us carry a backup card issued from a totally separate bank, so that should the common card be compromised, we each have a unique backup. Our autopays go to yet another card that never leaves the house and is never used for online shopping, which minimizes its risk of compromise other than through the autopay vendors.
We also have prepaid cards of low value stashed in our vehicles (along with cash), again for emergency use.
my11c3nts@reddit
Honestly 🤔, yes, and no, depending on who you ask could give you a thumbs up or thumbs down if the grid is down and no electronics are available to access the cash, then no, but if in an eventuality when electronics and devices come back online, then yes, it would be useful because it's easy to carry around and it doesn't weigh as much as coins and bills, but if an entire grid is down and everything, it can not be claimed.
Or used , however , like I said , if it comes back , it's an emergency fund that is lightweight , waterproof, and can probably be more durable than paper money.....
again, when the grid comes back up and the banks are swamped and have no cash on hand...... then yes,
or finding someone who would take it like payment with your word that the card has money on it....
However, as long as you keep the numbers memorized or the strip intact , you can also use the card itself as a plastic knife or shave off a little bit to use as in a fire starting setting 🤔
Ok, maybe having a few wouldn't be such a bad idea.... you would just have to watch out for the expiration dates that some cards have.........
RiffRaff028@reddit
I do keep a few MasterCard gift cards in of varying amounts in addition to a small amount of cash in one of my BOBs. My reasoning is you never know *why* you might need to bugout. A lot of people focus on catastrophic scenarios where credit cards don't work. But maybe something happens where you need to bugout and you don't want your movements tracked.
-Avacyn@reddit
We have accounts at two separate banks with debit cards linked to both. It has happened in the past that a certain bank had IT issues and their cards wouldn't process. It's good to have access to an alternative in that case.
We also travel, so we carry credit cards, one Visa and one Mastercard, just in case a particular place doesn't accept one or the other.
There have also been cases in which the national card terminal system didn't work and none of the cards worked. In those cases it's good to have cash on hand.
Figure out what issues you would realistically face and prep for those.
EffinBob@reddit
I have credit and debit cards. If the banks are still operating, pick one. Doesn't matter which one. I would stay away from prepaid cards. The fee is just too high for something you will probably never "need" if you have a debit card.
PrepperBoi@reddit
Just get an extra credit card and put a reoccurring charge on it and put it in the bag.
OwnedByBernese@reddit
If the grid's down, the plastic is worthless. I'm investing in ammo. And rice. And beans.
SaveSummer6041@reddit
And vodka!
OwnedByBernese@reddit
Yes! My cousin is going to teach me how to build my own still. Moonshine will be the new bitcoin! LOL!
invinciblethraggques@reddit
Ha great minds think Alike I am brewing my own cider and beer.
Gonna make hard liquor later also grow cannabis.
Longjumping-Army-172@reddit
The simple fact is that OP (or anybody else, for that matter) is going to experience a situation that requires money (such as a car break down or a personal/local emergency that forces them into a motel for a few nights) than it is for him to experience a situation in which hoarding ammo, rice and beans would ever be considered a "good financial decision".
OwnedByBernese@reddit
It’s always good to have cash! Then spend it before it becomes worthless. Ammo, rice and beans will never be worthless in a SHTF scenario. Just my opinion, not wanting to argue.
NefariousnessLast281@reddit
Just fyi a lot of places won’t take the prepaid Visa cards. My family member gave me one for Christmas a couple years ago and I couldn’t use it at the gas station or my nearest grocery store.
churnopol@reddit
I'm happy with my Venmo debit card. To me that's my prepaid card.
I stash Wawa gift cards in my bugout bag. Covers gas and food emergencies. I've never used Apple Cash, that could be a good backup for digital bartering.
SignificantNorth9972@reddit
EDC one primary card and a backup. You can also have your phone function as your payment device. Small cash bills is probably the better move for a backup to the EDC.
Ashamed_Tree_5668@reddit
They have ones with a set amount once you spend it it’s gone and others you can top up, if it was for prepping and long term storage I would go for the ones with a set amount and leave it unopened in your preps maybe check if it has a use by date. But I feel like it would be useless without the internet.
ryan112ryan@reddit
Just have a credit card that has a solid credit limit. If a pre paid card works so will they but you aren’t limited by the amount you loaded onto it and credit cards give out crazy limits. You can get multiple cards for the same account.
IGetNakedAtParties@reddit
I use revolut in Europe as I can order additional cards for the same account, very handy to have backups.
Not every crisis is TEOTWAWKI so using a spare card is great. My bank card got eaten by an ATM whilst abroad a couple of months ago, it was a nothing burger because I had two spares to fall back on.
wwglen@reddit
If I was doing that, I would probably limit it to what it would take to fill up my vehicle and get a few meals at the drive through. That way you can fill up at a pump without having to go inside.
We give them for gifts and generally get them at the drug store. They add about $5-$7 in purchase fees when you buy them.
Just be sure to look at the label and make sure it hasn’t been tampered with in the store and read the terms of use as some used to start charging a fee if they weren’t used after a couple years. I think they are no longer allowed to charge this fee, but am not sure.