I was one of the many people who thought the idea of a debit card was good when they first came out. Just think, it had so many positives. Not only would you not be charged interest, but you would be limited by what you had in your account. What could be better. That promise has quickly faded.

We now get wonderful love letters in our mail from our banks. These little letters tell us just how much they love collecting the NSF fees (non-sufficient funds). When we go back over our records many times we find out that it was debit card usage that was the problem. Now the $3 gallon of milk is costing us an additional $35. They sometimes even have the nerve to charge a $3 processing fee and an additional $35 because you did not have enough to cover your processing fee.

STOP THE MADNESS! Let's stop this legal rip-off and put more money back in your pocket. I am going to share with your three ways that you can avoid debit cards or at least lessen your dependence on them.

1. Use cash. I know this may be old school, but it actually works. Take enough cash out so that even if you get charged you will have to only pay one or two fees (remember the ATM fee and the NSF fee). This is better than being charged when you buy groceries, gas and then all the charges that will come through once you check account starts bouncing.

2. Get a pre-paid card. You can get these at Wal-Mart, Walgreens or ACE check cashing. You can pay your bills with these and they are not tied to your checking account. Another good thing is that the one that I received from ACE actually texts you your balance after every purchase.

I really did not like the fact that they needed my SSN and my drivers license number. I could not understand why they would need that for a pre-paid card, but at that point I would have given anything short of blood not to be charged another NSF. Make sure you read all the fine print, but this is a really good alternative.

3. Another alternative is to get a secured card. This is similar to a pre-paid card, however some actually report your good payment record. Some also allow you to charge more than you have secured. I will give you a list of those later. As always, make sure you read ALL the fine print.

It is time to stop giving away money. Isn't gas high enough? Can't you spend those extra dollars on reducing your debt, increasing your savings or just having fun with your family? Get the banks out of your pocket.

The debit card is a wolf in sheep's clothing. It can end up costing you a lot more than you ever would have thought about paying on a credit card. Take the steps above and stop madness. Got Credit Power-Empower Your Life!