Alternative Uses for Your Debit Card that Saves You Money

Bank of America will soon charge a monthly fee for using your debit card to make debit purchases depending on your banking situation. While they try to mend their image with an ad campaign , here are some alternative ways to get some good use out of that thin sheet of plastic you call a debit card. And you save money by not using your debit card to warrant a usage fee.

Caulk Applier

Hiring people to repair your home is expensive so people are turning to do it themselves for simple tasks like caulking up leaks. Advertised on television is the ProCaulk ; a set of tools used to evenly spread caulk on surfaces. You can even order the ProCaulk with a credit or debit card. But if you think about it, the ProCaulk is essentially a piece of thin plastic about the size of a credit card. Why not save your money and avoid a debit card fee by using your debit card to apply caulk as effectively as the ProCaulk?

Spreader/Cheese Slicer (Inspired by Mr. Bean )

Eating out is expensive and using your debit card to pay makes it more so. So why not cook a quick bite at home? Your debit card makes a handy tool in food preparation when you're too busy to wash a knife. A debit card is hard and thin enough to slice your favorite semi-soft cheese like cheddar or havarti just like a knife or a fancy cheese slicer you can't afford because of debit card usage fees. Layer some sliced cheese between two pieces of sliced bread. Then use your debit card to spread some softened butter on the outer surfaces of the bread slices. Place it on a heated pan for a few minutes on each side and you have a grilled cheese sandwich. It truly is your flexible friend.

Papercraft Bone Folder

As an origami hobbyist, I recently picked up a bone folder to sharpen my creases. I paid $5 for that tool and had I used my Bank of America debit card in the future, I'd have paid another $5 in fees. Then after losing my bone folder, it hit me that my debit card makes for a decent bone folder. The hard edge can score a folding line for the paper. The straight edge helps outline a straight fold when placed over paper. And sweeping the card over a fold sharpens the fold just like a bone folder.

Unlock a Room Door

You may sometimes accidentally lock yourself out of a room. Or a kid locks himself inside a room and refuses to open the door. For simple room locks like ones for bed and bathroom doors that swing open away from you, a debit card really will jimmy a door open like on television. Simply slide the debit card into the vertical crack between the door and the frame where the lock resides. Push the card to force the locking mechanism back into the door and turn the knob to open the door. You might damage the debit card in the process, but that will help discourage you from using the card and incur a usage fee.

Now with CitiBank planning to charge monthly fees for checking accounts that don't meet the minimum balance, it may be time to cancel those accounts and find even more creative uses for the voided debit cards.