Is there really a difference in the two?

It gives me alot to think about.

Outta Debt / Credit vs. Debt

From my point of view, getting credit on a debit card will never exceed the debt that you can pay off.

Some debit cards are allowed to access a credit line in case you exceed the amount of money that your really have in the bank, but not that much to get you in trouble.

To be honest, I treat credit as debt, so always ensure that whenever I buy on credit, it's a debt I can manage simply and easily.

There's an nice extension of the argument here:
» My Credit Card Strategy*on*Blueprint for Financial Prosperity

where the guy argues for using different cards with different strategies. I already use my debit and credit cards very different, with the debit card for regular monthly expenses, and credit card for anything on top of that.

What's really interesting is the idea of using *different* credit cards for different strategies:
samerwriter » Blog Archive » Year-To-Date Credit Card Rebates

Something I don't quite understand, though - although he mentioned rebates, I can't find any mention of actual debt generated.

For example, those Amazon cards have a very high APR, and if you get suckered into paying that, those gift certificates just won;t cover it.

Credit cards can easily create debt (and in fact are designed to). You should be careful to charge what you can pay off quickly.

That's the key to "using" credit. I use my credit card to pay for expenses (that I know I have money in the bank drawing interest specifically set aside to cover that expense) and those charges earn points or cash back - depending on the card.

If you only use what you already have then you don't get caught in the debt trap. I does take self control, though.

Hmmm I diddnt really think of it like this!
Thanks for the read made interesting thoughts appear!

This is true, but it usually it comes with a large fee. I've done this before and have been charged a $35 fee for going over, definately not worth it.

I rather debit when buying things as it's very easy to go over board buying items then debt and bad creidt scores

One useful tip I found whilst using credit cards was when you balance transfer to a 0% credit card - don't use that card for anything else. The reason being they usually put attractive purchase deals on those cards as well, to get you to spend extra, and they start taking off interest from your purchases before your transferred balance so you end up with little saving in the long run.

Of course if you have a debit card with cash back when used as a credit card, you can save money. For example, I use my paypal card to buy gasoline. I use it as a credit card and get a little bit back making the cost a little lower.

I know it's not much but it does make me feel a bit better!

I use a debit card, rather than a credit card. I don't get anything that cost more than I have in my cheking account.